IS SYRIA ABOUT TO PULL A GEORGIA ON LEBANON?

It sure as hell looks that way.

Syria has deployed military forces along its northern Lebanon border and Beirut officials now fear an incursion is imminent, according to a report in The Times.

Damascus has insisted its forces are involved in an anti-smuggling operation along the border, yet the Lebanese Government is braced for the first incursion since Syrian forces pulled out three years ago.

Beirut believes the unusual scale of the operation is connected to tensions between the two countries over recent sectarian clashes in northern Lebanon.

"People around here are worried. We don't know why the Syrians have arrived like this," said 18-year-old Ali, a farmer in the tiny hillside hamlet of Hekr Janin overlooking the border,told The Times.

Lebanese media report that 8000 to 10,000 Syrian special forces have taken up positions along some of the hills overlooking the Kabir river on the border.

Sunnis populate much of northern Lebanon and most of them are supporters of the Future Movement, headed by Saad Hariri, the son and political heir of Rafik Hariri, whose 2005 assassination is widely blamed on Syria.

Mahmoud, Vladmir, Hugo and now these douchebags. Games dictators play. It's far past time to smack these asshats down. Alas, these people know the US is involved in other military affairs. More importantly, they know that Europe will do nothing under any circumstance and that our friends the Democrats have systematically crippled our ability to fuel ourselves with our own oil. We're closer to World War III than many want to believe. Frankly, given that there is no other country that than the US with the will or the means to confront fascists bent on dominating world energy resources, I think it's a war we're destined to lose.

FIGHTING ERUPTS IN LEBANON

SUNNIS IN LEBANON VOW TO NEVER SURRENDER TO HEZBOLLAH

Big talk. But I honestly don't think these guys have the guts to stand their ground.

Lebanon's Sunni Muslim leader Saad Al Hariri pledged yesterday there would be no political surrender to what he called a bid by Hizbollah and its Syrian and Iranian backers to impose their will on the nation by force.

"They simply are demanding that we surrender, they want Beirut to raise white flags... This is impossible," Hariri said.

"They will not be able to obtain Saad Al Hariri's signature ... on a deed to surrender to the Iranian and Syrian regimes," he said.

This "never surrender" talk comes on the heels of a stern warning to Iran from Saudi Arabia to stay out of Lebanon. All this huffin' and puffin' means little in light of the fact that the Saudi and Lebanese armies couldn't stop a food fight at a high school cafeteria, much less pose any reason for terrorists to pause.

IRAN REVOLUTIONARY GUARD CAUGHT FIGHTING FOR HEZBOLLAH

From Debbie Schlussel:

My exclusive Lebanese Intelligence sources tell me that a number of Hezbollah terrorist fighters have been caught, over the weekend, and they cannot speak Arabic, only Farsi. They are Iranian and have identified themselves or been identified by third parties as members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. This is the same group that, under Khomeini, took over the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and kept U.S. civilians hostage for over 444 days in 1979-81, in Iran.

AL QAEDA DECLARES WAR ON HEZBOLLAH

AQ must be running out of soft targets in Iraq.

Al-Qaeda has reportedly called on its operatives to go to Lebanon and defend what it called the Sunni community of the country.

The report came while some Arab media outlets described the current clashes in Lebanon as a fight between Sunni and Shia communities.

In an interviews with Sunni clerics with links to Saad Hariri's pro-government bloc, Al-Arabiya TV network described the ongoing clashes as a sectarian strife.

Sheikh Ali al-Jozo, Mufti of the Jebel region, who is well known for his harsh stance against Hezbollah told the TV network that the clashes are a battle between Lebanon's Shia and Sunni communities and called on Arab leaders to prevent "Iran's influence in the country."

The TV network reported that al-Qaeda on all of its websites urged its operatives to defend the Sunni community of Lebanon.

The reports came while in interviews with NBN and al-Manar TV stations on Thursday, a number of Sunni clerics said that the clashes are not a sectarian strife and many Sunni Muslims in Lebanon support Hezbollah.

There is a Sunni/Shia split to be exploited in the Middle East. Of course, what can be made of this split is a mystery. None of those people think right.
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LEBANON: IRAN IS RESPONSIBLE FOR WHAT IS HAPPENING

I don't disagree at all. The question is, why? By the way, this guy's name is "Fatfat". Hahahahahaha..."Fatfat".

"Iran is responsible for what is happening in Lebanon. The subject now is the Iranian attack on Lebanon. They want us to surrender totally without any compensation," Lebanese Sports Minister Ahmed Fatfat said Friday during an interview with the Al-Arabiya television network Friday amid reports that Hizbullah gunmen seized control of large parts of Beirut.

"Hizbullah has turned from an opposition party into a militia attempting to impose its control. I think Hizbullah believes that the way to Tel Aviv passes through Beirut," he said.

Fatfat said Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah had "taken advantage of the government's decision to outlaw the (Shiite) group's communications network in order to declare war."

According to the minister, regardless of whether a "Gaza-like" revolt occurs in Lebanon, "the government will remain legitimate."

Meanwhile, Israeli President Shimon Peres played down Israeli concerns at Hizbullah's move to expand its control in Beirut on Friday but said he hoped the Lebanese people would step back from the brink of civil war.

"It's not a total surprise. We knew that Hizbullah is going to divide the country and lead it to the verge of a civil war," Israel's elder statesman told reporters.

Knesset Mmeber Silvan Shalom (Likud) said of about the escalating violence in Beirut, "The world must intervene immediately for the good of the moderate people and prevent the Iranian occupation of Lebanon.

"An Iranian takeover would create Shiite succession that could threaten the stability of the Middle East and the entire world. The UN Security Council must be convened in order to prevent this irreversible situation," he said.

Well, that may be your reason right there. Iran is trying to create a Shitte succession. Or, it could be that Iran knows its time is coming and is trying to open a new front to draw the US away from them. Or, perhaps they see these actions as another way to drive up the price of oil in an attempt to line their pockets and further damage the US economy. We shouldn't pretend that we know, or will ever know the answer. We won't.

CLASHES FOLLOW NASRALLAH'S SPEECH

Fierce gunbattles between Lebanese government and opposition supporters erupted in Beirut shortly after Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah warned of war amid fears that the current Lebanese crisis could spiral into a civil war.