Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
New York Times
March 1, 2008 By Robert F. Worth
BEIRUT, Lebanon — As American warships moved toward Lebanon on Friday, Hezbollah accused the United States of threatening regional stability, and the country’s pro-Western prime minister took pains to distance himself from the decision.
American officials said Thursday that they were sending the destroyer Cole to the eastern Mediterranean, along with at least two other ships, in a “show of support” as Lebanon entered its fourth month without a president. But the move, after American officials have repeatedly blamed neighboring Syria for Lebanon’s political impasse, seemed to be a calculated show of force, one with ominous historical echoes for Lebanese of various viewpoints.
“We are facing an American threat against Lebanon,” said Hassan Fadlallah, a member of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc, on local television.
Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, who has often been accused by Hezbollah and its allies in the Lebanese opposition of being an American pawn, said, “We did not request warships from any side.” Speaking to Arab diplomats at the government headquarters, he added that the American ships were not in Lebanese territorial waters.
Asked whether the United States had coordinated the action with the Lebanese government, Gordon D. Johndroe, a White House spokesman, said, “We have regular consultations with Prime Minister Siniora and his government.”
He said the purpose of the ships was “a show of support for regional stability.” As to Hezbollah’s concerns, he said, “I would express some of our own concerns with Hezbollah’s actions.”
The parliamentary majority, led by Mr. Siniora, has been locked in a bitter power struggle with the opposition for 15 months, and the government — with no president and a skeleton cabinet — has been crippled. But the arrival of the American warships underscored the broader meaning of the crisis, as a proxy confrontation between Hezbollah’s patrons — Iran and Syria — and the Western and Arab coalition supporting the majority, led by the United States.
Tensions have risen in recent weeks since the death of Imad Mugniyah, a top Hezbollah commander, in a car bombing in Damascus, Syria’s capital. At his funeral, Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s leader, accused Israel of the bombing and threatened to expand his group’s conflict with the Jewish state by retaliating against Israeli targets anywhere in the world. Israel has denied involvement in the killing, and no one has claimed responsibility.
More recently, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Bahrain — all Sunni Arab nations that see Iran, a Shiite nation, as a major regional threat — warned their citizens not to travel to Lebanon. The confrontation over Lebanon has threatened to scuttle an Arab summit meeting, scheduled for late March, with Saudi Arabia and other Arab states accusing Syria of prolonging the Lebanese political crisis.
In this volatile context, the arrival of the American warships is widely seen as a provocation. “It came without preliminaries or any prior signals,” wrote the pro-government daily newspaper An Nahar, “and has been wrapped in an envelope of justifications that were not to the liking even of pro-government circles.”
Others were more direct. “America repeats the adventure of ’82,” was the banner headline on Friday of Al Akhbar, a pro-opposition daily.
American warships deployed to Lebanon in 1982, during the 15-year civil war. That venture resulted in tragedy when suicide bombers struck a Marine barracks and the United States Embassy in Beirut, killing hundreds of Americans and effectively driving the United States out of Lebanon. The attacks are believed to have been organized by Mr. Mugniyah, the Hezbollah official killed two weeks ago.
The destroyer on its way toward Lebanon, the Cole, also echoes the past. Suicide bombers linked to Al Qaeda struck the ship as it was refueling in the Yemeni port of Aden in October 2000, killing 17 American sailors.
March 1, 2008 By Robert F. Worth
BEIRUT, Lebanon — As American warships moved toward Lebanon on Friday, Hezbollah accused the United States of threatening regional stability, and the country’s pro-Western prime minister took pains to distance himself from the decision.
American officials said Thursday that they were sending the destroyer Cole to the eastern Mediterranean, along with at least two other ships, in a “show of support” as Lebanon entered its fourth month without a president. But the move, after American officials have repeatedly blamed neighboring Syria for Lebanon’s political impasse, seemed to be a calculated show of force, one with ominous historical echoes for Lebanese of various viewpoints.
“We are facing an American threat against Lebanon,” said Hassan Fadlallah, a member of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc, on local television.
Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, who has often been accused by Hezbollah and its allies in the Lebanese opposition of being an American pawn, said, “We did not request warships from any side.” Speaking to Arab diplomats at the government headquarters, he added that the American ships were not in Lebanese territorial waters.
Asked whether the United States had coordinated the action with the Lebanese government, Gordon D. Johndroe, a White House spokesman, said, “We have regular consultations with Prime Minister Siniora and his government.”
He said the purpose of the ships was “a show of support for regional stability.” As to Hezbollah’s concerns, he said, “I would express some of our own concerns with Hezbollah’s actions.”
The parliamentary majority, led by Mr. Siniora, has been locked in a bitter power struggle with the opposition for 15 months, and the government — with no president and a skeleton cabinet — has been crippled. But the arrival of the American warships underscored the broader meaning of the crisis, as a proxy confrontation between Hezbollah’s patrons — Iran and Syria — and the Western and Arab coalition supporting the majority, led by the United States.
Tensions have risen in recent weeks since the death of Imad Mugniyah, a top Hezbollah commander, in a car bombing in Damascus, Syria’s capital. At his funeral, Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s leader, accused Israel of the bombing and threatened to expand his group’s conflict with the Jewish state by retaliating against Israeli targets anywhere in the world. Israel has denied involvement in the killing, and no one has claimed responsibility.
More recently, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Bahrain — all Sunni Arab nations that see Iran, a Shiite nation, as a major regional threat — warned their citizens not to travel to Lebanon. The confrontation over Lebanon has threatened to scuttle an Arab summit meeting, scheduled for late March, with Saudi Arabia and other Arab states accusing Syria of prolonging the Lebanese political crisis.
In this volatile context, the arrival of the American warships is widely seen as a provocation. “It came without preliminaries or any prior signals,” wrote the pro-government daily newspaper An Nahar, “and has been wrapped in an envelope of justifications that were not to the liking even of pro-government circles.”
Others were more direct. “America repeats the adventure of ’82,” was the banner headline on Friday of Al Akhbar, a pro-opposition daily.
American warships deployed to Lebanon in 1982, during the 15-year civil war. That venture resulted in tragedy when suicide bombers struck a Marine barracks and the United States Embassy in Beirut, killing hundreds of Americans and effectively driving the United States out of Lebanon. The attacks are believed to have been organized by Mr. Mugniyah, the Hezbollah official killed two weeks ago.
The destroyer on its way toward Lebanon, the Cole, also echoes the past. Suicide bombers linked to Al Qaeda struck the ship as it was refueling in the Yemeni port of Aden in October 2000, killing 17 American sailors.