| Author | Message | ||
     Paul Surovell Supporter Username: Paulsurovell Post Number: 265 Registered: 2-2003 |
All reports on yesterday's Hezbolla-led demonstration calling on Syrian troops to remain in Lebanon say that it "dwarfed" the prior demonstrations calling for Syria to leave Lebanon. Estimates of yesterday's anti-US demonstration (where "death to the USA" was a popular chant) range from "hundreds of thousands" to "five hundred thousand" to "perhaps one and a half million" -- compared to the earlier anti-Syrian demonstration of 70,000. In response to yesterday's demonstration in Beirut, President Bush repeated his demand for Syrian troops to leave Lebanon, saying: "Today, I have a message for the people of Lebanon," Bush said. "All the world is witnessing your great movement of conscience. "Lebanon's future belongs in your hands, and by your courage, Lebanon's future will be in your hands. The American people are on your side." Does Bush's definition of "democracy" include accepting the will of the people? Or will he recognize only those people whose positions he supports? Will the US media give as much coverage -- including photos and videos of the crowd -- of a demonstration that was at least seven times LARGER than demonstrations given headline coverage for several days? Here is the report on yesterday's anti-US demonstration in today's Globe & Mail:
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| Guy Supporter Username: Vandalay Post Number: 572 Registered: 8-2004  |
Paul, did you think Syria was going to give up without a fight? Some 800,000 Syrians work in Lebanon and send home over $1 billion per year. This demonstation was set up by Syria and possibly Iran. Witnesses report that busloads of Syrians were seen crossing the border heading for the rally. Iran and the Soviet Union were famous for these coerced rallies that included poor citizens who were paid to be there. When former President Clinton was asked about this rally he said "I find it inconceivable that most Lebanese wouldn't like it if they had their country back. You know, they want their country back and they ought to get it." Paul, a bit of advice from someone who doesn't share your political views. Your message will be better received by a larger more diverse group if it is seen as pro peace and not just anti -Bush. | ||
| Phenixrising Citizen Username: Phenixrising Post Number: 468 Registered: 9-2004 |
Paul, They showed part of the demonstration on NBC Nightly news last night. They said the number of pro-Syrian supporters at the demonstration was 7 times bigger than the previous. I think they estimated 500,000. I guess their democracy doesn't include American involvement. | ||
| Robert Livingston Citizen Username: Rob_livingston Post Number: 937 Registered: 7-2004 |
"Your message will be better received by a larger more diverse group if it is seen as pro peace and not just anti -Bush." I seriously doubt that. An insurgent in Iraq catches a cold and dies, and his demise advances peace, freedom and democracy in the entire mid-East...all thanks to Bush!! By the way, Guy, can you think of any other countries in that area that would like their country back from their occupiers? | ||
| Strawman Supporter Username: Strawberry Post Number: 4626 Registered: 10-2001 |
Paul, This is simply your most disappointing anti-U.S post to date. Hezbollah is a terrorist organization which receives support from Syria and Iran. They organized the protest, and it hardly represented the Lebanese people. You do remember similar demos in Germany during the Nazis reign, don't you? Were they the good guys also? Your lack of knowledge is the region is in a word, baffling. | ||
| Phenixrising Citizen Username: Phenixrising Post Number: 469 Registered: 9-2004 |
"Your message will be better received by a larger more diverse group if it is seen as pro peace and not just anti -Bush." Hmmm… tell that to the Lebanese people. The whole uprising in Lebanon began because of the assassination of their popular Prime Minister (which the Lebanese people believe Syria was behind). Regardless of the next election in Lebanon, who's to say the next government will be a "friendly" government towards the US? Remember what happen in Iran? “Quandt recalled how, during his tenure at the White House, President Carter had nudged the shah of Iran to loosen his hold on the country's political system and how, after the shah's fall, some of the administration's most respected experts on Iran had predicted that Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini would be a Gandhi-like spiritual advisor to a moderate new Iranian government. "You get something that looks pretty good at the time, but then it eventually turns out very differently," he said. ” The largest, best-organized opposition group in the country, is the Shiite Muslim militant group Hezbollah. The organization is strenuously anti-American, yet an important player in Lebanese politics. As a major supplier of social services to the country's large Shiite population, Hezbollah would probably poll well in free elections. | ||
| Sgt. Pepper Citizen Username: Jjkatz Post Number: 737 Registered: 12-2003  |
Robert -- "can you think of any other countries in that area that would like their country back from their occupiers?" If that's a reference to Israel, sorry, the analogy doesn't work. Lebanon didn't attack Syria. If they had, and in the ensuing war Syria had captured some Lebanese land, I'd be saying <sarcasm> boo hoo for the poor Lebanese. </sarcasm> | ||
| Robert Livingston Citizen Username: Rob_livingston Post Number: 938 Registered: 7-2004 |
Sgt.: I wasn't talking about Israel. | ||
| Strawman Supporter Username: Strawberry Post Number: 4627 Registered: 10-2001 |
yes you were. | ||
| Sgt. Pepper Citizen Username: Jjkatz Post Number: 738 Registered: 12-2003 |
Hi Robert: If you were talking about Iraq, I'd like to see them have their country back too, but we can't just up and leave. We created the current situation and we have the responsibility to clean up our own mess. | ||
| Robert Livingston Citizen Username: Rob_livingston Post Number: 940 Registered: 7-2004 |
Sgt: It's simply laughable that neo-con warmongers see one country's occupation of another as unjust (which it is) and fail to see the irony and/or hypocricy of it all... I agree that we need to clean up Iraq before handing it back over, but Bush has no intentions of doing that, since his on-the-surface reasonings of offering the Iraqi people freedom take a backseat to long-term, possibly permanent, managing and reaping the financial benefits of Iraq's oil fields. | ||
| Strawman Supporter Username: Strawberry Post Number: 4628 Registered: 10-2001 |
"I agree that we need to clean up Iraq before handing it back over, but Bush has no intentions of doing that, since his on-the-surface reasonings of offering the Iraqi people freedom take a backseat to long-term, possibly permanent, managing and reaping the financial benefits of Iraq's oil fields." holy stupidity. | ||
| cjc Citizen Username: Cjc Post Number: 3237 Registered: 8-2003 |
Rooting for the continued occupation of Lebanon by Syrian flunkees just to take a whack at Bush. How sad this all is. Hezbollah has now definitively come down against freedom and democracy in Lebanon. This will not serve them well in the long term with the people of Lebanon. Yes, Hezbollah engineered a counter-freedom demonstration, although Syria started moving troops to Syria and the Bekaa region regardless. The protest was to say "thank you" to Syria and denounce 'outside intervention' as I read the story. The demonstrators didn't block the tanks leaving Beirut. You can bet on Assad for political gain. I'll bet on democracy, Bush and the Lebanese because it's the right thing to do. | ||
| Robert Livingston Citizen Username: Rob_livingston Post Number: 941 Registered: 7-2004 |
For anyone interested to learn more on the real reason this war is being fought, check out the criminal activity of Halliburton and how they are robbing you blind. | ||
| Strawman Supporter Username: Strawberry Post Number: 4629 Registered: 10-2001 |
or you can just ignore the above troll. | ||
| Michael Janay Citizen Username: Childprotect Post Number: 1685 Registered: 1-2003  |
Lebanese protest against Syria despite the threat to their lives and limbs. Lebanese protest in support of Syria because of the threat to their life and limbs. "This is a goodbye party, not a show of support for Syria," said the opposition leader Jibran Tuweini, editor of the Lebanese daily An Nahar. "If they wanted this to be a challenge to us, they would have brought their party's yellow flags. But Hezbollah doesn't want to burn its bridges with anyone because ultimately they will have to return to the Lebanese people once everything is over." (Hat tip TKS.) | ||
| Paul Surovell Supporter Username: Paulsurovell Post Number: 266 Registered: 2-2003 |
Those who claim that the 500,000 to 1,500,000 demonstrators chanting "death to the USA" were shipped in from Syria are suffering from a bad case of avoidance and denial of reality. It appears that the Arab "street" has finally taken to the streets, and you can be sure that even the neocon advisors in the Bush administration are having anxiety that their invasion and occupation of Iraq may have put into motion an explosion of extremism and fundamentalism that will sweep the Middle East. Bush ignores the implications of yesterday's demonstration at our peril. We are faced with the near-simultaneous spectacle of nation-wide demonstrations in Italy of anger against the US, reaching even the soccer stadiums. Both of these events which undermine US national interests and security are results of the Bush administration policy of invasion, occupation and domination in Iraq that has now resulted in the deaths of more than 1,500 American servicemen and women, more than 100,000 Iraqi civilians and a cost of about $160 billion, with a total of $300 billion in the pipeline. It's time to reverse direction, turn over responsibility of Iraq to the United Nations and set a timetable for withdrawal, as Senator Kennedy has proposed. The longer we wait the worse it's going to be. | ||
| tjohn Citizen Username: Tjohn Post Number: 2937 Registered: 12-2001  |
Paul, Are you proposing that we place U.S. troops under U.N. command in Iraq or are you proposing that we withdraw completely and allow, say, Nigerian, Indonesion and, perhaps, Thai soldiers to keep the peace? Please - whether you love the U.N. or hate it, you can't tell me they have anything resembling a military capabilty. I don't think this is a viable option. The minute we crossed the border into Iraq, we assumed irrevocable responsibility for Iraq. | ||
| Guy Supporter Username: Vandalay Post Number: 574 Registered: 8-2004 |
Paul, Iran has a history of staging huge rallies by paying off the poor with money and food. I will stand by Clinton's comments. The UN doesn't want responsibility for Iraq, so this is a dead issue. The UN also has no track record of success in these areas anyway. Kofi's latest take on Hezbollah whom they still will not call a terrorist organiztion: UNITED NATIONS - The United Nations must recognize Hezbollah as a force to be reckoned with in implementing the U.N. resolution calling for the withdrawal of all Syrian forces from Lebanon and the disarmament of the country’s militias, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Tuesday. He was responding to a question about the disarmament of Hezbollah, which showed its strength Tuesday at a huge pro-Syrian rally in Beirut attended by hundreds of thousands of people who chanted anti-U.S. slogans. Two huge banners read in English: “Thank you Syria” and “No to foreign interference.” Annan said the world needs to accept that in every society different groups may hold different views. “Of course, we need to be careful of the forces at work in Lebanese society as we move forward,” he said. “But even the Hezbollah — if I read the message on the placards they are using — they are talking about non-interference by outsiders ... which is not entirely at odds with the Security Council resolution, that there should be withdrawal of Syrian troops,” Annan told reporters. “But that having been said, we need to recognize that they are a force in society that one will have to factor in as we implement the resolution,” he said. | ||
| Phenixrising Citizen Username: Phenixrising Post Number: 471 Registered: 9-2004 |
The minute we crossed the border into Iraq, we assumed irrevocable responsibility for Iraq. This I do agree with. Bush started this Sh**t…let him finish it! The lives, homes & business of the Iraqi people have been destroyed from this wrongful invasion of the Bush Adminstration. Why should others clean-up after him? As far as the Lebanese people…let them chart their destiny without US and Syrian interference. |
