October 30, 2008
In the wake of Sunday's counterterrorist raid into Syria by U.S. special operations forces, a number of America's traditional enemies - specifically Iran and the leaders of its regionally based terrorist allies and proxy armies, including Hizballah, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), and others - have sharply condemned the U.S. action. The PFLP, for instance (as reported in the Teheran Times), states that the strike: "requires a united Arab stance against the policies of the United States in the Middle East, and that this strike comes in order to boost John McCain in his elections campaign." (So at least we know who the bad guys do not want to be elected in the U.S. next Tuesday.)
PFLP representative Jamil Majdalawi adds, "The U.S. administration and its security agency always spread lies about Iraqi weapons, and now are spreading lies about Syria. ... This all falls as part of the lies and manipulation practiced by the U.S. security agency."
Such rhetoric is not at all surprising.
What may be surprising to many Americans, however, is to hear Lebanese Pres. Michel Sleiman and Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora also condemn the attacks.
Siniora says the raid was "unacceptable."
Sleiman says it was a "flagrant violation of a sisterly Arab state's sovereignty," and he reportedly told Syrian Pres. Bashar Assad that the raid "contradicts international law."
I must confess I'm not surprised by either Sleiman's or Siniora's comments. They have both proven time-and-again that they are not willing to confront Hizballah, a Talibanesque Shia terrorist kingdom operating outside of UN convention and within the sovereign state of Lebanon (Hizballah also has frequently called for the "death of America" and - with the very strong support of Iran and Syria -- Hizballah continues to expand its operational scope far beyond Lebanon's borders).
Sleiman and Siniora also have proven time-and-again that they are nothing less than "puppets" of Hizballah's primary supporters, Iran and Syria (I have written about this extensively). And both men are clearly smacking up to Iran and Syria despite the fact that both Iran (through Hizballah and elements of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps operating in Lebanon) and Syria (with its army massed on the Lebanese borders, special operators purportedly on the ground at certain times and in certain sectors of Lebanon, and intelligence operatives working throughout Lebanon) pose a clear and present danger to the sovereignty of Lebanon.
And if nothing else, the Lebanese government's cavalier - perhaps "cowardly" is a better word - acceptance of the Iranian-Syrian-Hizballah axis in Lebanon is slowly (so as not to attract too much international attention) and methodically crushing the life out of the majority, pro-democracy movement in Lebanon.
Yet we - the American taxpayers - may be indirectly supporting this madness.
The Lebanese government is eagerly accepting millions-of-dollars worth of U.S. support for the Lebanese armed forces (Read my analysis on this). And the U.S. government is foolish enough to continue throwing money into this weak, terrorist-infiltrated Lebanese government (a government that refused to fight terrorists killing their own people on their own territory in May and since then) that now condemns our own counterterrorist actions.
Are we crazy? Are they?
- Visit W. Thomas Smith Jr. online at uswriter.com.
