MaxedOutMama
Monday, February 28, 2005
So Now The Danger
The Lebanonese government has announced its resignation, as explained in this BBC article reporting the protestors' joy:
Tuesday a meeting will be held in London. Kofi Anan will be among those attending, as will Jack Straw, and Condoleeza Rice. The goal of the meeting is to develop a strategy for Palestine to move forward with the peace process, and one assumes considerable foreign aid depends upon the perception of Abbas' seriousness:
Lebanon's Prime Minister Omar Karami has announced he and his government are resigning, two weeks after the murder of former PM Rafik Hariri.and:
"I am keen the government will not be a hurdle in front of those who want the good for this country," Mr Karami said.
"I declare the resignation of the government that I had the honour to head. May God preserve Lebanon."I think his last statement is pretty much to the point. Syria has no intention of going easily or quietly. This WND article discusses again the power struggle within Syria and its possible future plans:
It was the threat of a Lebanon crisis, sparked by the assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri, that prompted Assad's sister, Bushara Chawkat to approach her brother with a plan of ascension for her husband. She requested him to grant more authority to her husband, Assaf Chawkat, so that they would be able to avoid an end to their family dynasty begun with the rise to power of their father, Hafez al-Assad, in 1969.and:
Chawkat immediately took steps to assure Iran regarding the future of Hezbollah should Syria be forced to move out of Lebanon. General Chawkat is a firm believer in the use of force and in using the Hezbollah as a tool to settle certain Syrian political or military scores. He also gave the Iranians verbal assurances Damascus would not restrain Hezbollah should the U.S. or Israel attack Iran’s nuclear assets.Israel believes that Syria is responsible for the suicide bombing in Tel Aviv:
This calculated variant to use Hezbollah in a direct anti-U.S. campaign fully correlates with tactical theories developed by Chawkat. He plans, according to G2 Bulletin sources, to permit Hezbollah to confront the U.S. and Israel as an Iranian sub-contracted military tool – giving Syria plausible deniability for such attacks. Against the backdrop of growing tension in Beirut, Chawkat is leading the so-called “Lebanon lobby,” a group of active or retired Syrian intelligence generals and Baath Party extremists who are contemplating using Hezbollah to stir up a new Lebanese civil war.
Islamic Jihad militants in Damascus said they staged the Tel Aviv attack, but Syria denies any involvement.Of course now Sharon is faced with a difficult choice. It is difficult or impossible for him to procede with "stand-down" measures toward Palestine if Israel is being attacked in this way and Sharon is saying that he may have to step up military activities. He wants Abbas to deal with Islamic Jihad in Palestine. Abbas has called the attack sabotage. Syria, of course, says Israel did it, and also that it fears it is being set up for attack by the USA. Possibly to bolster its image, it has handed over a group of 30 Iraqi Baathists to the Iraqi government, including Saddam Hussein's half-brother.
Syria said it was facing unprecedented international pressure following the attack, and feared that it was among the US' next military targets.
Tuesday a meeting will be held in London. Kofi Anan will be among those attending, as will Jack Straw, and Condoleeza Rice. The goal of the meeting is to develop a strategy for Palestine to move forward with the peace process, and one assumes considerable foreign aid depends upon the perception of Abbas' seriousness:
On the other hand, Mr Abbas now has an opportunity to show that he will not tolerate such attacks. He has already described the Tel Aviv bomb as "sabotage."Israel now says it may not tear down the settlements it evacuates in the Gaza strip, but warns that if the settlers come under fire as they evacuate it will respond with a strong military presence. Rather reasonable, I'd say.
Both Israel and the Palestinian Authority are pointing the finger at Syria which has allowed Islamic Jihad to operate in its territory. The mutual accusations against a third party could enable Israel and the Palestinians to steer their way through the aftermath of the bomb. The way might then become clearer.
