Let's keep the Dem's on the run!
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Posted on 10/08/2003 1:24:32 PM PDT by anotherview
Oct. 8, 2003
Lebanese ayatollah: US helped Israel attack Syria
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
BEIRUT, Lebanon
A top cleric in the Shiite Muslim world accused the United States on Wednesday of conspiring with Israel to strike Syria and urged Arabs to revive an economic boycott of the Jewish state.
"America, which is playing the role of a policeman in the world, wants Israel to be the region's policeman," said Grand Ayatollah Sheik Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah.
"The matter is no longer a threat to one state, or a threat to the region only, because America and Israel constitute a danger that threatens the security of the entire world," Fadlallah said in a statement issued by his office.
Israeli fighter-bombers hit what Israel called a training camp for Islamic Jihad militants about 15 miles (25 kilometers) from Damascus on Sunday. Villagers nearby said Palestinian militants had abandoned the camp years ago. The attack retaliated for a suicide bombing that killed 19 people in Israel on Saturday. Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the bombing.
U.S. officials have said that Israel did not inform Washington in advance of its retaliatory strike.
Fadlallah, 68, enjoys wide respect among Shiites in the Arab world and is the top religious authority for Lebanon's 1.2 million Shiites. His rank of grand ayatollah is the highest a Shiite cleric can attain. During the Lebanese civil war of 1975-90, Fadlallah was linked to the militant group Hezbollah, which kidnapped Westerners and bombed the U.S. Embassy in Beirut. Subsequently, Fadlallah moved away from Hezbollah.
Fadlallah said Sunday's airstrike on Syria was driven by Israel's "failure to stop the Palestinian uprising."
"Field facts and political data after the aggression (on Syria) indicate that Israel was not alone in planning and coordinating the aggression, and that the U.S. administration was a real partner with it," Fadlallah said. U.S. President George W. Bush has said Israel's airstrike was part of an "essential" campaign to defend the country against terrorism.
Fadlallah claimed the airstrike had been planned in "American and Israeli circles" a long time ago, and that Israel waited for the "right political time" to strike after receiving the "American green light."
The ayatollah criticized Arab and Muslim countries for failing to take steps to stop Israeli attacks on Arabs and Muslims. "If Israel is besieging the Palestinians in all aspects (of life), why don't the Arabs use the simplest weapon - such as an economic and political boycott - against Israel?" Fadlallah asked rhetorically.
An Arab economic boycott of Israel and its trading partners has faded to insignificance since Egypt in 1979, and Jordan in 1994, made peace with Israel and began trading with it.
Let's keep the Dem's on the run!
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Yeah,...and???
Good, I hope that indeed we did help Israel.
The Syrian air defense system sat there and watched.
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