Posted on 02/18/2005 9:35:02 AM PST by HAL9000
ALARM - Lebanon: the opposition announces the "insurrection for independence "
BEIRUT - the Lebanese opposition antisyrienne, joined together at a plenary sitting, announced Friday evening the "insurrection for independence "and claimed a" government of transition "to supervise the Syrian withdrawal.
MORE...
"insurrection for independence "
Don't you know that people seeing others exercise their new found freedom and a taste of Democracy has to be a pain in the a$$ for the Mullahs, extremist Muslims and other dictators?
Bush's Fault
freedom bump!
When you stand for liberty we stand with you..
If Syria insists on aiding and abetting the insurgency in Iraq, it is only fair, fitting and appropriate that we should return the favor.
This may well be the start of something. I wonder if we have a carrier posted in the Eastern Med. That would be the thing to watch, I suppose.
The old media has interest only in all things negative about our military, our present administration, and all things conservative.
Isn't it always interesting to hear the AFP complain about the occupation of Iraq but say nothing about the occupation by Syria of Lebanon by France? Read on:
[snip] In 1919, British forces withdrew from the area assigned to France, leaving French troops in control. The following year France, with the understanding that Syria and Lebanon were to become independent within a reasonably short time [me: remember this phrase], was granted a mandate over them by the League of Nations.
Anti-Turkish sentiment in Syria soon developed into anti-French sentiment and more determined nationalism. The French quelled one armed rebellion in 1920 and a second and better organized uprising from 1925 to 1927. In 1938, soon after French and Syrian leaders had reached agreement on a treaty providing for substantial Syrian independence, the French government refused to ratify the treaty, partly because France regarded control of the area as vital to its military position. The following year France ceded to Turkey the former Turkish administrative district (sanjak) of Alexandretta, in which the ancient Syrian capital of Antioch is located.
These events raised Syrian hostility toward France to a high pitch. Many prominent political figures in Syria declared their loyalty to France and the Allies, nevertheless, when World War II broke out in 1939. After the surrender of France to Germany in 1940, Syria came under the control of the Vichy government. British and Free French forces, however, invaded and subdued Syria in 1941. Later in the same year, the Free French government formally recognized the independence of Syria but continued to occupy the country. With the elections in 1943, a new government was formed under the presidency of the Syrian nationalist Shukri al-Kuwatli, one of the leaders of the 1925 to 1927 uprising against the French. After the end of World War II in 1945, France persisted in trying to exercise influence over Syria. Resultant anti-French uprisings subsided only after the British military intervention on the side of the French and the withdrawal of all French troops and administrative personnel. In 1946 the British troops left Syria. Syria became a charter member of the United Nations (UN) in 1945.[/snip]
Syrian History - The French Mandate
That's an interesting bit of history, jriemer. Thanks for posting that.
They should have called it an "intifada." That'd tick 'em off.
Do the militias even still exist??
haaretz.com - 20:14 - Sources in Lebanon say unarmed intifada has been declared in the country against Syrian occupation (Channel 2)
So we support ant-Syrian Sunnis now? Lebanese Christians and Shia suuport Syria.
So we support ant-Syrian Sunnis now? Lebanese Christians and Shia support Syria.
Lebanese opposition: 'Intifada' for independence
Friday afternoon the Lebanese opposition announced its intention to carry out an "intifada for democratic independence," Channel 2 reported.
Lebanon's opposition has blamed Syria for the massive blast Monday which struck former prime minister Rafik Hariri's motorcade, killing him and another 16 people.
The Lebanese opposition called a press conference Friday evening to declare the uprising, AFP reported.
We support an unconditional withdrawal of Syria from Lebanon.
The Lebanese Christians support Syria? I'm having trouble finding information to confirm that - you know where I can find some?
The Lebanese president invited them. In 1976, a little more than a year after the start of Lebanon's bloody civil war, the Maronite Christian president, Ilyas Sarkis, requested military aid from Syria. The war was a struggle among religious and ethnic groups in Lebanon—the ruling Christians wanted to maintain power over the Sunnis, Shiites, and Druzes, and to evict the large population of Palestinians that had just been expelled from Jordan. Syrian troops entered the country on June 1, 1976, and beat back both Palestinian forces and Soviet-backed Muslim militias. A few months later, the Arab League attempted to enforce a cease-fire by creating the Arab Deterrent Force, a Syrian-dominated military presence in Lebanon.
At maximum 5% of them, and the remaining 95% absolutely hate the Syrians.
Let's roll. Scouts out, Cavalry Ho!
(I have to take a shower)
The Lebanese president invited them. In 1976, a little more than a year after the start of Lebanon's bloody civil war, the Maronite Christian president, Ilyas Sarkis, requested military aid from Syria. The war was a struggle among religious and ethnic groups in Lebanon—the ruling Christians wanted to maintain power over the Sunnis, Shiites, and Druzes, and to evict the large population of Palestinians that had just been expelled from Jordan. Syrian troops entered the country on June 1, 1976, and beat back both Palestinian forces and Soviet-backed Muslim militias. A few months later, the Arab League attempted to enforce a cease-fire by creating the Arab Deterrent Force, a Syrian-dominated military presence in Lebanon.
WORLD from the May 08, 2001 edition [ Editor's note: The Christian Science Monitor archive includes stories dating back to 1980. Some early articles lack sufficient formatting, and will appear as one long column without paragraph breaks. We apologize for the aesthetics and hope that the information will still be of value to you. ] Pontiff's presence in Syria stirs sectarian tensions Nick Pelham Special to The Christian Science Monitor DAMASCUS, SYRIA - Officials traveling with Pope John Paul II in Syria have told reporters that the historic visit to a mosque was actually proposed by Syrian officials. And in the Arab world, it's noted, Syria is one of the few nations that doesn't designate Islam as the state religion. But there are elements within Syria's Muslim community here who see the pope's visit this week as a threat. And some see it as a political misstep by Syria's new president that might be used to challenge his leadership. Now, a controversy aroused by the pope's debut visit to a mosque is threatening to sully Syria's religious harmony. Muslims heard prayer leaders fume that the pope was insulting Islam by sporting a crucifix on his vestments, when the Koran says Jesus never died on the Cross. "History teaches us that Western pilgrimages have covert political motives," says Dr. Bouti, Syria's foremost Sunni imam. In addition to gripes about the pontiff's costume, the standard bearers of conservative Islam attacked the pope for his insistence on praying at the tomb of St. John the Baptist, which lies beneath the pillar of the mosque. Leading imams feared it was a wily first step to re-Christianize the mosque, which was a Christian church until the 8th century.
"Would the pope let Muslims give the call to prayer from St. Peter's? Should he not warn his followers of the threat to Christianity?" asks Sheikh Al Hout, as a plainclothes policeman with a Kalashnikov monitors his Amara mosque in Damascus, which has a reputation for fundamentalism.
Others asked why the pope had chosen to make his first mosque appearance in Syria - a country whose leaders belong to the heterodox Alawite sect and are snubbed by Sunnis as non-Muslim.
The growing Sunni dissent could pose a new challenge to 34-year-old President Bashar al-Assad as he struggles to maintain the hold of his Alawite sect over Syria after his father's death last June. For 20 years, no one has dared test the waters of Syria's latent sectarian divide.
In 1982, President Hafez al-Assad crushed the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood with a month-long massacre, killing 20,000 Sunnis in their heartland of Hama. Mr. Assad then established a pecking order, which Sunnis say reduced them to a fourth estate, and ensured that the minority Alawites reigned supreme. Sunnis say other religious minorities were co-opted to form a bulwark against them. They had ruled Syria largely uninterrupted for the previous 1,400 years.
The row over the pope's visit is proving fertile ground to sow the seeds of Sunni revenge. "Now we have three sectarian coastal states on the Eastern Mediterranean," says a preacher once jailed on suspicion of Brotherhood sympathies. "With Western help, Israel, Lebanon, and Alawite-led Syria have all combined to break Sunni dominance."
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