IDF chief: Hezbollah may be planning Lebanon coup d'état

[oberliner]

A report by a United Nations panel probing the assassination of former Lebanon Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, which many estimate will indict top Hezbollah officials, could lead to Lebanon being taken over by the militant group, Army Radio quoted Israel Defense Forces chief Gabi Ashkenazi as saying on Monday.

The Wall Street Journal reported last week that the UN tribunal is close to indicting senior Hezbollah commanders for Hariri's murder, with investigators likely to indict between two and six members of the Shi'ite Muslim militia before the end of the year, including Mustafa Badreddine, brother-in-law of Imad Mugniyeh.

Mugniyeh, who was wanted by the U.S. for masterminding a string of terror attacks before he was assassinated in Damascus in 2008, is also believed to have played a role in the 2005 killing of Hariri, the Journal said.

Speaking during an official visit to Canada, Ashkenazi voiced his concern regarding Iran's growing influence in the region, adding that he feared a coup by Hezbollah, who has strong links to Tehran, could topple Lebanon's government in case the UN tribunal indeed implicates it in Hariri's killing.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/idf-chief-hezbollah-may-be-planning-lebanon-coup-d-etat-1.324888

[aquart]

1. So I assume discussions are being held on the pros and cons

of arming the Hezbullah opposition. Let me know what they decide.

[oberliner]

2. Do you mean the Lebanese Army?

If not, who is the Hezbullah opposition?

[oberliner]

3. Still would like to know who the Hezbuallah opposition is nt

[Alamuti Lotus]

5. al-Qa'idah, Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir, and car-bomber Samir Gaegea

A motley crue if there ever was one..

[oberliner]

7. Where does the Lebanese Army fit in?

What is their relationship with Hezbollah and with the people you've listed?

[Alamuti Lotus]

8. they sit in their barracks' and serve tea & hummus to invading armies

Though the state has tried to work on this, the Army is just as internally factionalized along sectarian lines as the rest of the society; add to that mostly owned and operated by whatever foreign powers are funding it at the time--that is to say, alternately US, Israel, France, Saudi Arabia, and lately Iran. All of this serves to mostly cancel itself out and it is possibly the most corrupt and ineffectual organ of the state.

[arcticken]

9. So you are cool with Hezbollah? n/t

[shaayecanaan]

10. Who isn't these days?

It wouldn't surprise me if everyone on this website is paid to spout the Hezbollah party line. You know when Persian carpet shops have a sale? Basically when that happens all the money from the rugs that get sold that day is given to Hezbollah. Its like McHappy day except instead of burn victim kids getting Big Macs Hezbollah kids get Persian carpets or some shit like that. But you won't hear about it on the BBC because all they want to do is criticise Israel.

I have given up reading the mainstream media because they are all full of Nazi goons. Instead I only read the JDL website because they are the only people that are fair and balanced.

[oberliner]

11. Straight answers are hard to come by around here with respect to Lebanon/Hezbollah

I would have hoped that folks who have more intimate knowledge of the goings-on over there would be more apt to share their knowledge and insights instead of making snarky comments.

[shira]

16. Why do you think that is? Why are they so evasive? n/t

[Alamuti Lotus]

18. I don't recall ever being evasive on the subject...

occasionally having a case of brevity, as lately, but I have never been unwilling to share my extensive knowledge on the subject or veiled in my fairly obvious, though not at all unconditional, approval..

[shira]

20. I'm just not sure why you'd be for Iran/Syria occupying Lebanon via Hezbollah...

...against the wishes of many Lebanese citizens who prefer secular democracy.

http://www.analyst-network.com/article.php?art_id=3234

You had nothing to say about this before.

Care to comment?

[Alamuti Lotus]

21. What's to say? Utter nonsense deserves little attention.

[shira]

22. Why is it utter nonsense? n/t

[Alamuti Lotus]

13. Yes

[oberliner]

14. Do you believe their existence as an independent militia group is legal or illegal under intl law?

Do you see their continued existence in this manner as a violation of UN Security Council Resolutions?

Do you think they are justified in maintaining an independent militia in spite of what these resolutions indicate?

[shaayecanaan]

17. We've canvassed this before...

the resolutions on Hezbollah (which are non-binding as they don't invoke Chapter VII) call on Hezbollah to disarm. They don't declare Hezbollah as illegal. Additionally, Hezbollah is not a member state of the UN and so its ability to be bound by UN resolutions is suspect.

If Hezbollah is in breach of UN resolutions, this makes it no more an "illegal" organisation than the fact that Israel is in breach of UN resolutions re the Golan Heights makes it an "illegal" state.

[Alamuti Lotus]

19. N/A, N/A, Absolutely

[shira]

15. Shocker. n/t

[oberliner]

12. Is that a common perception within Lebanon?

Is Hezbollah generally viewed more positively than the Lebanese Army?

[Ozymanithrax]

4. The Lebanese civil war was a very uggly period...

What are the alternatives to a civil war with mostly Shia Hezbollah on one side and Suni/Chiristians on the other?

The bigger question, what does Syria have to gain?

[proteus_lives]

6. Syria?

More pawns against Israel.

[Alamuti Lotus]

23. not quite letting this fall off my radar..

though it's almost certainly some kind of setup, oberliner asked some good questions that I don't want to ignore, for too much longer anyway.

One thing I missed at first read -- Mustafa Badr ad-Din!! w'allah that name brings back memories of what was supposed to be a short vacation. One of the "Kuwait 17" and "Revenge of Sadr Brigades", Hizb ad-Da'wa members who bombed any US/Iraqi/French embassy in the mideast they could put in their sights after Saddam martyred Ayatallah al-Uzma Sayyid Mohammed Baqir as-Sadr and invaded Iran. The "Emir" of the Kuwaiti petrol depot sentenced him and many current members of Iraq's ruling parliament to death for their terrorism. He & the shahid Mughniyah plotted the operation that sent the Marines retreating from Lebanon. He was nicer to meet in person than his dossier would suggest.