Spanish Pundit

Many Lebanese say another civil war — like the 15-year one that started in 1975 — is imminent and that the most dangerous flash points are within the divided Christian community.Christian youth are signing up for militant factions in the greatest numbers since the end of the civil war, spray painting nationalist symbols on walls and tattooing them on their skin, and proclaiming their willingness to fight in a new civil war — in particular, against fellow Christians.“When the war begins, I’ll be the first one in it,” said Fadil Abbas, 30, flexing his biceps in Shadow Tattoo as an artist etched a cross onto his shoulder. “I want everyone to know I am a Christian and I am ready to fight.”The struggle is over who gets to be the next president, a post reserved for a Christian under Lebanon’s Constitution, and which must be filled by the end of November.
But the larger question — one that is prompting rival Christian factions to threaten war — is whether Lebanese Christians must accept their minority status and get along with the Muslim majority (the choice of the popular Gen. Michel Aoun) or whether Christians should insist on special privileges (¡! oh, yeah and all the people who are Lebanese in exile, precisely because of the civil war, and the invasion of Hizbollah, those account for nothing right??) no matter what their share of the population (the position of veteran civil war factions like the Phalange and the Lebanese Forces).The government dedicated an extraordinary cabinet session in September to reports that Christian factions had opened militia training camps in the mountains. The police have arrested two groups of Christians allegedly linked to General Aoun’s party — the most recent on Thursday — and accused them of illegal weapons training. One group said that they were on a picnic and the other that they were “playing.” General Aoun said his followers keep only “personal weapons,” like most Lebanese.

Christian Split in Lebanon Raises Specter of Civil War - New York Times
As you can see, the NYT is just confirming once again its partiality against Christians and for Muslims. How on earth it can write an entire article about the re-arming of Christian groups which would act in case of an hypothetical civil war, when they have Hizbollah that it’s armed now?

Hezbollah possesses the Katyusha-122 rocket, which has a range of 29 kilometres (18 miles) and carries a 15 kilo (33 pound) warhead. Hezbollah also possesses about 100 long-range missiles. They include the Iranian-made Fajr-3 and Fajr-5, the latter with a range of 75 kilometres, enabling it to strike the Israeli port of Haifa, and the Zelzal-1 with an estimated 150-kilometre range, which can reach Tel Aviv. Fajr-3 missiles have a range of 40 kilometres, and a 45 kilo warhead, and Fajr-5 missiles, which extend to 72 kilometres, also hold 45 kilo warheads.^[122]

According to various reports, Hezbollah is armed with some anti-tank guided missiles. Namely the Russian-made AT-3 Sagger, AT-4 Spigot, AT-5 Spandrel, AT-13 Saxhorn-2 ‘Metis-M’, ??-14 Spriggan ‘Kornet’; Iranian-made Ra’ad (version of AT-3 Sagger), Towsan (version of AT-5 Spandrel), Toophan (version of BGM-71 TOW); and European-made MILAN missiles. These weapons have been used against IDF soldiers, causing much of the deaths during the 2006 Lebanon War.^[123]

For air defence, Hezbollah possesses some anti-aircraft weapons, including the ZU-23 artillery and man-portable shoulder-fired SA-7 and SA-18 surface-to-air missile (SAM).^[124] One of the most effective weapons deployed by Hezbollah has been the C-802 anti-ship missile, a variant of the Chinese Silkworm missile.^[125]

During the 2006 Lebanon War, Hezbollah fired 3,970 rockets into Northern Israel in the course of a month, killing 43 Israeli civilians.^[126] Hezbollah officials have stated that the group has recovered fully from the previous war; during the Divine Victory rally, held shortly after the cease-fire, Hezbollah’s Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah declared that the group has “more than 20,000 rockets available”.^[127] He also spoke in retrospect of the war, saying “Tel Aviv or elsewhere, we were certain that we could reach any corner or spot in occupied Palestine and now we are certain that we can reach them.”^[128] Nasrallah has also implied that Hezbollah’s rocket force became stronger in the months following the 2006 Lebanon War than it had been during the war itself.^[129]

More here: who are the suppliers?

According to the United States, Iran has provided weapons to Hezbollah as well as provided training and funding. In addition, Syria has permitted Iran to use Damascus as a transshipment point to supply Hezbollah.^[21] There are also reports that Syria itself has supplied Hezbollah with BM-27 220mm rockets.^[13]

In another report, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps has helped build Hezbollah’s underground storerooms in the Bekaa Valley to hold huge amounts of missiles and ammunition. Hezbollah’s missile force includes some 200 technicians and experts trained in Iran.^[22] The Zelzal-2 rockets require expertise to aim and launch effectively, and Hezbollah may require direct support from Iranian Revolutionary Guards to operate the rockets.^[12]

Russia has denied sending anti-tank weapons to Hizbollah.

Israel’s Haaretz daily quoted intelligence sources Sunday as saying that Israel’s ground troops casualties mostly resulted from special anti-tank units of Hizbollah using modern Russian-made RPG-29 that had been sold by Moscow to the Syrians and then transferred to the organization.

“Such insinuations are a source of bewilderment in Moscow, to say the least,” Mikhail Kamynin said. “If there are any questions raised, they can be addressed through normal diplomatic channels. So far we have had no such inquiries, and no proof has been presented.”

Hizbollah ship attack shows Iran weapons link. July 14th, 2006.

Hizbollah’s spectacular rocket attack on an Israeli warship is proof of what Hizbollah has claimed for several years — it has an array of weapons that could trouble the Middle East’s mightiest army.
And with it proof is emerging of what many widely suspected: Iran had stepped up its arms shipments to the Shi’ite Muslim group both in terms of quality and quantity.
An Israeli military source said on Saturday that an Iranian-made C802 radar-guided land-to-sea missile with a range of 60 miles (95 km) hit and badly damaged the ship. Two missiles were fired, the other sank an Egyptian merchant ship, the source said.
“This is sophisticated weaponry. This is advanced weaponry being supplied by one terrorist state (Iran) to another,” the source said.

Hizbollah: Iran’s battle Lab.
Oh, yeah, but the really interesting are… the Christians….
Related news: Crisis in Israel… Olmert to split Jerusalem! (even when 63% of the Israelis do not want)… Please sign the petition here to save Jerusalem from splitting.
The moment can’t be worse as:

The firing of a long-range Katyusha rocket into Israel from Gaza on Sunday has ratcheted up concerns here for the increased threat of missiles against the Jewish state.
The weapon of choice of Palestinian militants in Gaza has been the Kassam rocket, which has relatively poor aim and short range, but has nonetheless caused damage and killed 14 Israelis and injured hundreds more, according to an Israeli government tally.
The Katyusha rocket is the type of weapon that was used by Hizbullah in Lebanon to hit Israeli cities during last year’s war. Unguided but better constructed, it has twice the range – about 12 miles – and the potential to carry about twice the payload, missile experts here say.
The Katyusha was fired at the southern town of Netivot, about seven miles east of Gaza. It landed in an open space, doing minimal damage. The Popular Resistance Committee, a Palestinian militant group in Gaza that includes Hamas, claimed responsibility for the Katyusha attack.

So, what does this mean? Who is giving Hizbollah these missiles?

But EU is worried about the “humanitarian crisis” in Gaza, and blames Israel for it:

One British MEP, Chris Davies, said it should be Israel and not EU taxpayers who should foot the bill to solve the Palestinian humanitarian crisis.
“What does it have to do with the EU? Gaza is an Israeli prison camp. It is the Israelis who should be responsible. They are the ones that keep them in misery,” said Davis.

Hmm, yeah, and what about terrorism, Mr Davies? Do I have to remember you have kept for 38 years the British Army in Northern Ireland to prevent terrorist acts? Something wise to do, I must add. So you can do it, but others cannot defend themselves? If it’s British is OK, but if it’s an Israeli idea, then it’s bad? Or what?

NYT was very worried yesterday about the Israeli justification to bomb Syria a month ago. Today it says “Syria tells journalists Israeli raid did not occur“. But:

Israel has been unusually quiet about the attack on Sept. 6 and has effectively imposed a news blackout about it. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli opposition leader, on Sept. 19 became the first public figure in Israel to acknowledge that an attack had even taken place. Some Israeli officials have said, though not publicly, that the raid hit a nuclear-related facility that North Korea was helping to equip, but they have not specified where.

Related posts: Israel admits strike on Syria.

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EL NYT en su línea. Tenemos a los terroristas de Hizbolá, armados hasta los dientes con misiles anti-tanque, tierra-aire y tierra-mar (que dañaron gravemente un barco israelí en 2005)… y escribe un artículo entero diciendo que, como hay espectros de una nueva guerra civil en marcha, los cristianos están empezando a sumarse a facciones armadas para enfrentarse a ellos. Si la misión de la ONU hubiera cumplido con lo que prometió (desarmar a Hizbolá) no habría necesidad de guerra civil. Pero como la ONU no quiere reconocer que, eliminado/reducido Hizbolá, se habrían acabado muchos de los problemas de la región (quedarían Hamas y Al-Fatah), no se le dio a la misión ese objetivo como prioritario.
Al final, si se desata la guerra, tendrán la culpa los cristianos por no obedecer a Hizbolá.
El Katiusha: un arma rudimentaria y aterradora. (guerra del 2006)

Un problema clave es el arsenal en manos de Hezbollah. Al comienzo de la guerra, se estimaba que tenía por lo menos 12.000 cohetes de corto alcance -capaces de llegar a unos 20 kilómetros de distancia- que le fueron provistos por Siria e Irán. Si la cifra es cierta, todavía le quedan por lo menos 9000.
Pero lo que cuenta no es sólo su número, sino sus características. […] Estos cohetes pueden ser disparados rápidamente sin grandes preparativos. Basta con que un militante se esconda dentro de una casa, coloque un trípode y dispare. A veces, hasta por control remoto. “Puede disparar por un sistema de tiro retardado o por telecomando -dice el general Dayan-, mientras que las coordenadas para el blanco pueden ser transmitidas por teléfono o por mensaje de texto.”
No se requiere casi nada especial antes del disparo, a diferencia de lo que ocurre con los cohetes de mayor alcance -como los que llegan a Haifa-, que necesitan de otros elementos para ser lanzados.
Un tema clave en esta guerra es que Israel está lidiando con una organización que ataca desde concentraciones civiles, que ha construido búnkeres bajo viviendas de la población y que dispara desde escuelas, junto a posiciones de la ONU y aldeas habitadas.
Israel se impone limitaciones en sus ataques contra blancos de Hezbollah. A pesar de las duras críticas de las que ha sido objeto desde diferentes sectores de la comunidad internacional, si hubiera utilizado todo su poderío aéreo en territorio libanés, el número de bajas civiles se contaría por miles y la destrucción sería de dimensiones mucho mayores.

Noticias relacionadas: 63% de los israelíes no quieren entregar Jerusalén. Firma aquí la petición para salvar Jerusalén.
Posts relacionados: Siria, Corea del Norte y el programa atómico: China juega al escondite.

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Tags: Lebanon, Líbano, Syria, Israel, Siria, Hizbollah, Hizbulá, Katyusha, missiles, misiles, Gaza, UN, ONU, Christianity, Cristianismo, Islam, Islamism, Islamismo, terrorismo, terrorism, Iran, Irán,

After all the polemic surrounding the Israeli strike on Syria (whose most possible cause were some nuclear weapons from North Korea being transferred to Syria, link in Spanish): From BBC:

Israel has confirmed that it carried out a strike on a Syrian military installation last month.

Syria accused Israel at the time but Israeli officials refused to comment, and the Israeli military censor imposed a strict blackout on information.

The censor’s office has now allowed some details to be released.

On Monday, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad told the BBC that a Syrian military construction site was hit in the Israeli air strike on 6 September.

President Assad said the raid demonstrated Israel’s “visceral antipathy towards peace” - and that Syria would retaliate.

Syria and Israel are formally at war. Israeli has occupied the Golan Heights since 1967. Peace talks between them collapsed in 2000.

Mystery remains

In the early hours of 6 September a number of Israeli jets appeared to enter Syrian airspace from the Mediterranean Sea.

Later, unidentified drop tanks, which may have contained fuel from the planes, were found on Turkish soil near the Syrian border, indicating a possible exit route.

Witnesses said the Israeli jets had been engaged by Syrian air defences in Tall al-Abyad, north of Raqqa and near the border with Turkey.

It is still not known why Israel carried out the strike or what exactly was hit.

In it they analyse the probability of a link to NKorea.

The North Koreans are looking to liquidate at least part of their enrichment programme, and perhaps want to offload the centrifuges and so on that they obtained from Pakistan.”

The alleged Israeli incursion happened near Tall al-Abyad

So the Syrians might be “dabbling” with enrichment technology, but this would not represent “a near-term threat”, Mr Samore says.

“There are North Koreans in Syria in connection with missile technology,” he said, but on the nuclear front “we just don’t know”.

One thing he saw as strange, however, was the possible location of the “target” that the Israelis may have hit.

This seems to have been very close to the border with Turkey - an odd place for a potential nuclear research establishment.

We just have to wait…

And we have had clashes errr, how many times now?

Just read this post from Bloodthirsty Liberal. An excerpt:

Hamas and Fatah loyalists clashed Saturday at a mosque in the southern Gaza Strip, leaving nine people wounded in the latest flare-up of violence between the two factions, witnesses and medical officials said.

The melee erupted after Hamas tried to replace an independent cleric at a mosque in the town of Khan Yunis with one of its own religious leaders, witnesses said.

Hmm, yeah, the “independent” was not hard enough, eh?? And just to underline their peaceful nature they clash with each other in a mosque…

But that’s not all:

For the past few years, both Fatah and Hamas have been involved in a smear campaign against each other. The two parties have devoted tremendous efforts to manipulate the media, often feeding reporters with false information.

Isn’t this Taquiyya, again???
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Traducción: Leales a Hamas y a Fatah lucharon ayer en una mezquita en el sur de la Franja de GAza, dejando a nueve personas heridas en la último episodio de violencia entre las dos facciones, según testigos y equipo médico.

La melée se produjo después de que Hamas intentara reemplazar al clérigo independiente de la mezquita en la ciudad de Khan Yunis por uno de sus líderes religiosos, según los testigos.

Hmm, así que el clérigo independiente, lo era de Hamas y no era suficientemente duro, ¿eh?

Ahmadinejad, when leaving Teheran, thought US nationals love him:

Nonetheless, before he left Tehran for New York on Sunday, Ahmadinejad told Iran’s state-run media that he believes Americans want to hear him out.

Although these were how he was described:

‘TEHRAN’TING LUNATIC … bloody handed villain … bearded blowhard” —New York Post.

“Iranian thug … madman” — New York Daily News.

“Maniac” — Republican Rep. Vito Fossella of Staten Island.

“Can’t get a decent haircut” —Post columnist Andrea Peyser.

Iran’s Ahmadinejad: No attack on Israel - Yahoo! News

NEW YORK - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Monday that Iran would not launch an attack on Israel or any other country, and he does not believe the U.S. is preparing for war against Iran. “Iran will not attack any country,” Ahmadinejad told The Associated Press, when asked if his country would ever strike first against Israel.Iran has always maintained a defensive policy, not an offensive one, he said, and has “never sought to expand its territory.”

He said he did not believe the U.S. was preparing for war.

“I believe that some of the talk in this regard arises first of all from anger. Secondly, it serves the electoral purposes domestically in this country. Third, it serves as a cover for policy failures over Iraq.”

Ahmadinejad dismissed statements by U.S. military officers and intelligence reports that Iran secretly provides weapons to insurgents fighting against U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, particularly the shaped projectiles that have harmed U.S. troops in roadside attacks.

“Why would we want to do that?” Ahmadinejad declared. “This would really be inappropriate for us. We are friends with both Iraq and Afghanistan. Insecurity in Iraq and Afghanistan undermines our own national security; it basically goes against what we believe.”

Hehehehe! This man is un-be-lie-va-ble! He has said repeatedly that he wants to wipe Israel off the map and now he says he does not want to attack anyone.

The problem can be even worse because it appears Iran has bought three nuclear heads from Kazakhstan. Paolo has left me a comment to tell me about the news:

According to Regnar Rasmussen, who was worked as an interpreter and analyst for the Special Forces of the Danish Army, and in the Criminal Police Department of his country, the key to the Iranian nuclear problem happened back in 1991, when the President from Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbaiev sold three nuclear warheads to Iran.

In autumn 1991 Nursultan Nazarbayev, the president of Khazakhstan, sold three nuclear warheads to the Iranians. The Iranians wanted to use them as a prototype for their own bomb manufacturing. The price was said to have been 7.5 billion USD. Whether this amount is true or just the fantasies of a less paid government official, I cannot verify. The amount was to cover all bribes and kick-offs and military protection during transport. Every country involved had demanded their fair share of the deal.

Anyway, the warheads were removed from a military depot somewhere in Kazakhstan and transported by train down to Makhachkala in Daghestan. Here they were reloaded onto huge trucks and then taken through the Caucasian region and into Turkey. In the city of Dogubeyazit the Iranians met the convoy and took over. The three vehicles were then driven by Iranian drivers down to the border post Bazargan, where they entered Iranian territory.

The warheads were brought down to Teheran and parked in the military campus Lavizan. Here they were seen by a soldier who later defected to Israel and told the story to the Israeli intelligence services who at that time were unable to verify the matter further. Various rumours have been circulating ever since. Some stories say two bombs, some say four. The correct number, however, is three.

Long before the downfall of communism in 1989 nuclear technology had been proliferated by the Soviet Union. The Mullah Regime had had connections and cooperation with the Soviet Union since the early days of the Islamic Revolution in 1978/79, but after 1989 hundreds and hundreds of Russian nuclear scientists were hired on by the Iranians who offered exorbitant wages and golden palaces to them in order to secure their loyalty. This has to be seen on the background of Soviet living conditions in those days. No wonder the Iranians could pick and choose as they wished.

I am personally convinced that Iran quickly managed to duplicate the bombs and that their only obstacle was to produce sufficient quantities of enriched uranium or other substances for their bombs. As of today I am convinced that Iran has had the nuclear bomb already for some years and is now only waiting for a good opportunity to wipe Israel off the map.

(Question: Are there another warheads who were sold like this? And to whom?)

But that’s not all:

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad questioned the official version of the Sept. 11 attacks and defended the right to cast doubt on the Holocaust in a tense appearance Monday at Columbia University, whose president accused the hard-line leader of behaving like “a petty and cruel dictator.”

Ahmadinejad smiled at first but appeared increasingly agitated, decrying the “insults” and “unfriendly treatment.” Columbia President Lee Bollinger and audience members took him to task over Iran’s human-rights record and foreign policy, as well as Ahmadinejad’s statements denying the Holocaust and calling for the disappearance of Israel.

“Mr. President, you exhibit all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator,” Bollinger said, to loud applause.

He said Ahmadinejad’s denial of the Holocaust might fool the illiterate and ignorant.

“When you come to a place like this it makes you simply ridiculous,” Bollinger said. “The truth is that the Holocaust is the most documented event in human history.”

Ahmadinejad rose, also to applause, and after a religious invocation, said Bollinger’s opening was “an insult to information and the knowledge of the audience here.”

“There were insults and claims that were incorrect, regretfully,” Ahmadinejad said, accusing Bollinger of falling under the influence of the hostile U.S. press and politicians. “I should not begin by being affected by this unfriendly treatment.”

During a question and answer session, Ahmadinejad appeared tense and unsmiling, in contrast to more relaxed interviews and appearances earlier in the day.

Ohh, little Ahmi was sad because they haven’t treated him as good as he though, hein??

Kate has linked to a live-blogging post from Columbia. Read it all. But I’m going to reproduce an excerpt which is very significant of Ahmi’s behaviour:

In response to a question about the treatment of homosexuals in Iran, Mr. Ahmadinejad was initially evasive, instead talking about the death penalty, which, he pointed out, exists in the United States. “People who violate the laws by using guns, creating insecurity selling guns, distributing guns at a high level are sentenced to execution in Iran,” he said. “Very few of these punishments are carried out in the public eye.”Pressed by Dean Coatsworth on the original question about the rights of gay men and lesbians in Iran, Mr. Ahmadinejad said: “In Iran, we don’t have homosexuals like in your country. We don’t have that in our country.”

The audience booed and hissed loudly. Some laughed, uncomfortably.

“In Iran, we do not have this phenomenon,” Mr. Ahmadinejad continued, undeterred. “I do not know who has told you that we have it. But as for women, maybe you think that maybe being a woman is a crime. It’s not a crime to be a woman. Women are the best creatures created by God. They represent the kindness, the beauty that God instills in them. Women are respected in Iran.”

And this other one, specially striking considering that he has defined himself before as a “university instructor“:

In his most pointed arguments yet, Mr. Ahmadinejad said that science and research had been used in the West as tools of oppression.

But it’s much more shocking the attitude of Daily Kos readers towards Ahmadinejad. What a collection of moonbats!!

Last may I wrote:

16-year-old girls hanged for having pre-marital sex [while stating that hanging is less cruel than being stoned to death…], beating peaceful young protesters in the street and women not-dressed Islamic way, detaining dogs for being Un-Islamic and beating (130 lashes) to a Norvegian-Iranian for drinking two beers, obliging the shop-keepers to saw off the mannequin breasts, etc, etc..

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Así que según Ahmadenijad:

1. decir “voy a borrar a Israel del mapa” no es tener una actitud ofensiva, es más, es querer tiernamente a Israel. Hay amores que matan… La cosa se complica porque, al parecer, en 1991, Kazajstán vendió tres cabezas nucleares a Irán, que fueron transportadas por varios contrabandistas, almacenadas en Lavizan. Los iraníes pudieron duplicarlas. Quien lo dice es un traductor y analista para las Fuerzas Especiales del Ejército Danés que estaba destinado a misiones en la zona de Oriente Medio en esa época.
2. en Irán no hay un solo homosexual, pero luego se les detiene en manada.
3. a las mujeres se las trata maravillosamente (maravillosamente mal, vamos), incluso se las pega si no se tapan (derecha).
4. se define como un “instructor universitario” “que discute científicamente con sus alumnos semanalmente”, pero luego dice que “la ciencia y la investigación han sido usadas por Occidente como instrumentos de opresión”. Ejem…

En Irán, como podeis ver en los links de arriba “se ha colgado a chicas de 16 años por tener relaciones sexuales prematriamoniales, mientras se afirma que es mejor colgarlas que no lapidarlas ( ), se ha pegado a chicos porque estaban manifestándose pacíficamente y a mujeres como la de la imagen porque no iban vestidas a la manera islámica, se ha detenido a perros por no ser islámicos o se han dado 130 latigazos a un hombre de nacionalidad noruego-iraní por beber dos cervezas, se ha obligado a los propietarios de tiendas de moda a tapar los pechos de los maniquíes de los escaparates, etc“.

En fin, un mentiroso compulsivo.