10-14-2021, 09:13 AM
** 14-Oct-2021 World View: Gunfight fizzles after five hours
Those who feared a new civil war are relieved that the gunfight
fizzled after almost five hours.
The al-Jazeera reporter Zeina Khodr has described that this gun battle
in an ordinary residential neighborheed, where the apartment building
on one side of the street was mostly occupied by Hezbollah supporters,
while the apartment building on the other side was mostly occupied by
Christians. The Hezbollah protesters went down the street separating
the two neighborhoods So the gunfire, and snipers at the top of the
Christian apartment buildings started shooting at the protesters, and
aiming for their hoods. Hezbollah/Amal calls this an "ambush." After
five hours, the gunfight fizzled, with six people killed and dozen
wounded.
Khodr described the residents of the apartment buildings as elderly
people who remembered bloody civil war and did not want to see it
repeated. This is what always happens after a crisis war. The people
who lived through the war are traumatized and keep the war from
recurring. In the case of an ethnic civil war, the result is
the Democide pattern which means that the government (the winning
side in the civil war) uses violence to keep the losing side
under control.
Since the port explosion in August of last year, Lebanon in general
and Beirut in particular, have been in a deep economic crisis, with no
reliable electricity or water.
Judge Tarek Bitar has been praised by the international community for
being unbiased and transparent in carrying out the investigation.
Hezbollah are demanding that Bitar be removed, and are threatening a
civil war if he isn't removed.
Christians, including president Michel Aoun, are demanding that he
continue with investigation.
There are have any number of political assassinations, and there have
been no investigations. This time, a whole city was blown up, and the
Lebanese people are saying that so many people were traumatized, and
are still traumatized, and are demanding to know who was responsible
for the explosion.
People want to know who owned the ammonium nitrate? Who refused to do
anything about it, though they were warned? Who ordered the ammonium
nitrate to be unloaded from the boat into the port in 2014?
Hezbollah is the major power in Beirut and Lebanon. However, they do
not want the investigation to proceed. The prime minister (Sunni
Muslim) Hassan Diab is apparently allied with Hezbollah. They are
demanding that the investigation end, while many people, especially
the Syriac Maronite Catholics, are demanding that it reach an end.
This disagreement has further frozen an already government that exists
just to protect Hezbollah's power.
The gunfight has fizzled in Beirut, but the situation very tense, with
everybody fearing more violence.
I should add that a lot of the above analysis is based on what I've
been hearing on al-Jazeera, which is funded by Qatar. I don't know
which side the Qatar government is on, although al-Jazeera claims
that it's reporting is independent.
**** Lebanon's 'confessional' system of government
The following is some material that I've written before.
Lebanon has a "dynastic confessional" system of government. Lebanon's
"confessional" system of government is defined in its constitution,
which requires that the three main government offices be occupied by
specific sectarian groups:
So there are three "branches" of government in Lebanon, but there are
no checks and balances, since the leader of each branch can do
whatever he wants, including skimming money and paying his cronies to
do things like beat up people in the opposition, and there is nothing
to stop them. That's why each branch forms a kind of "dynasty."
** 17-Jul-21 World View -- Lebanon's self-destruction continues as government collapses again a year after port disaster
** http://www.generationaldynamics.com/pg/x...tm#e210717
Those who feared a new civil war are relieved that the gunfight
fizzled after almost five hours.
The al-Jazeera reporter Zeina Khodr has described that this gun battle
in an ordinary residential neighborheed, where the apartment building
on one side of the street was mostly occupied by Hezbollah supporters,
while the apartment building on the other side was mostly occupied by
Christians. The Hezbollah protesters went down the street separating
the two neighborhoods So the gunfire, and snipers at the top of the
Christian apartment buildings started shooting at the protesters, and
aiming for their hoods. Hezbollah/Amal calls this an "ambush." After
five hours, the gunfight fizzled, with six people killed and dozen
wounded.
Khodr described the residents of the apartment buildings as elderly
people who remembered bloody civil war and did not want to see it
repeated. This is what always happens after a crisis war. The people
who lived through the war are traumatized and keep the war from
recurring. In the case of an ethnic civil war, the result is
the Democide pattern which means that the government (the winning
side in the civil war) uses violence to keep the losing side
under control.
Since the port explosion in August of last year, Lebanon in general
and Beirut in particular, have been in a deep economic crisis, with no
reliable electricity or water.
Judge Tarek Bitar has been praised by the international community for
being unbiased and transparent in carrying out the investigation.
Hezbollah are demanding that Bitar be removed, and are threatening a
civil war if he isn't removed.
Christians, including president Michel Aoun, are demanding that he
continue with investigation.
There are have any number of political assassinations, and there have
been no investigations. This time, a whole city was blown up, and the
Lebanese people are saying that so many people were traumatized, and
are still traumatized, and are demanding to know who was responsible
for the explosion.
People want to know who owned the ammonium nitrate? Who refused to do
anything about it, though they were warned? Who ordered the ammonium
nitrate to be unloaded from the boat into the port in 2014?
Hezbollah is the major power in Beirut and Lebanon. However, they do
not want the investigation to proceed. The prime minister (Sunni
Muslim) Hassan Diab is apparently allied with Hezbollah. They are
demanding that the investigation end, while many people, especially
the Syriac Maronite Catholics, are demanding that it reach an end.
This disagreement has further frozen an already government that exists
just to protect Hezbollah's power.
The gunfight has fizzled in Beirut, but the situation very tense, with
everybody fearing more violence.
I should add that a lot of the above analysis is based on what I've
been hearing on al-Jazeera, which is funded by Qatar. I don't know
which side the Qatar government is on, although al-Jazeera claims
that it's reporting is independent.
**** Lebanon's 'confessional' system of government
The following is some material that I've written before.
Lebanon has a "dynastic confessional" system of government. Lebanon's
"confessional" system of government is defined in its constitution,
which requires that the three main government offices be occupied by
specific sectarian groups:
- The president, currently Michel Aoun, must be a Syriac
Maronite Catholic. Michel Aoun is 83 years old.
- The speaker of parliament must be a Shia Muslim. The current
speaker is Nabih Berri, who has held the position since 1992. The
Shia Muslim sect in Lebanon is controlled by the terrorist militia
Hezbollah, which is led by Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah.
- The prime minister, must be a Sunni Muslim. Saad al-Hariri was
designated for this position, following the resignation of Hassan Diab
after the August 4 explosion a year ago. Hassan Diab has stayed on in
a caretaker capacity until political leaders can agree on a new
premier.
So there are three "branches" of government in Lebanon, but there are
no checks and balances, since the leader of each branch can do
whatever he wants, including skimming money and paying his cronies to
do things like beat up people in the opposition, and there is nothing
to stop them. That's why each branch forms a kind of "dynasty."
** 17-Jul-21 World View -- Lebanon's self-destruction continues as government collapses again a year after port disaster
** http://www.generationaldynamics.com/pg/x...tm#e210717
