Tag Archives: Lebanon

There have been protests (mostly pointing up economic stress) across the region for some months: from Egypt to Iraq. But the Lebanese demonstrations have caught the global attention. And there is no doubting that the Lebanese protests represent a major phenomenon. We may ask whether they are essentially a local manifestation, reflecting only the well-attested Lebanese problems of corruption, widening disparities in wealth, nepotism and failing state structures, or do they signal something...

Backgrounder. Beyond neoliberalism. Straight up neo-feudalism.NEOBeirut is Burning: Rebellion Against the Elites has Commenced Andre VitchekSee alsoStrategic Culture FoundationWest Can’t Wash Its Hands of Lebanon’s Meltdown Now, Given That It Supported the Corrupt System for Decades Martin Jay

The IDF appears to have overcome its long-standing fear of "another 2006" and to be preparing for war against Hizbullah and indeed against all of Lebanon.... Will Iran come in? Sic Semper Tyrannis "We will destroy Lebanon..." Michael Katz, MoD of Israel in Tweet yesterday Col. W. Patrick Lang, US Army (ret.) At the Defense Intelligence Agency, Lang was the Defense Intelligence Officer (DIO) for the Middle East, South Asia and counter-terrorism, and later, the first Director of the Defense...

Excellent backgrounder. It's mostly about the intricacies of the Lebanese voting system and Lebanese politics, but this is an interesting aside on the US showing that "democratic elections" are not so democratic in the developed world as well as the emerging world. In the U.S., there is still a clear agenda to suppress wide political participation. The U.S. is one of the few countries in the world which holds the vote on a working day—and in the winter where much of the East coast is...

You guessed it. Oil and gas. AntiMedia | OpEdThe Real Reason Israel and Lebanon Are on the Verge of War Darius Shahtahmasebi

Now that Syria is off the table for regime change, effectively blocking a Saudi pipeline into the European market, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are zeroing in on Lebanon.... The DuranNow that Syria is off the table, Lebanon is targeted as the next front in Saudi-US energy warAlex Christoforou

Odds of an Israeli attack? IMO - 50%. Sic Semper TyrannisHariri resignation - Israeli attack comes next?Col. W. Patrick Lang, US Army (ret.) At the Defense Intelligence Agency, Lang was the Defense Intelligence Officer (DIO) for the Middle East, South Asia and counter-terrorism, and later, the first Director of the Defense Humint Service. At the DIA, he was a member of the Defense Senior Executive Service. He participated in the drafting of National Intelligence Estimates. From 1992 to...

More twists and turns in the snake pit. Here we go again. Yesterday [Lebanese Prime Minister] Hariri was visited in Beirut by Ali Velayati, a top advisor of the supreme leader Khamenei of Iran. The Saudis did not like either. Thamer's plan was set into motion. They sent a private jet and hauled Hariri to Riyadh. There the Saudi clown prince Mohammad bin Salman gave Hariri his resignation statement (written by Thamer?) to be read by him on Saudi TV.  Irony alert: The Lebanese PM (with a...