From DailyStar online Beirut (24/09/01)
Government ad gives show of support for US
The government took out a full-page advertisement in several leading newspapers in the United States Sunday, expressing Lebanon’s sorrow at the attacks in America two weeks ago. “This proactive government initiative implies a cohesive Lebanese stand and sends a message of sympathy, solidarity and condemnation in an assertive, Western yet locally relevant tone that’s likely to be adequately received by the US public, as well as Lebanese expatriates and Arab-Americans,” a source close to the government said.
The advert ran as follows: “We the people … “‘It felt like Beirut …’ on the morning of Sept. 11, the words of a young New Yorker struck a haunting chord in the hearts of a people an ocean away. Watching the unspeakable unfold, the people of Lebanon felt a pain all to chillingly familiar: the immeasurable human suffering and the assault on the principles of civilization.
“The values which make America great are cherished the world over. These shall never perish. Tolerance, democracy and freedom will emerge intact from the ashes. “We the people of Lebanon, stand by the people of the United States of America, in this hour of sadness and anger. We are joined in sympathy for the innocent and in our condemnation of deeds beyond imagining. We are also joined in the determination to see peace reborn. “What joins us makes us strong.”
Imad Mughniyeh is the Lebanese who runs overseas operations for Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed terrorist group. I seem to remember Colin Powell having a hissy fit not long ago when the Israelis had had enough of him. So how can we go after him now? I guess we have to wait for him to blow up one of our embassies,