Lebanon

nation state

Lebanon  link Sourcewatch
Capital city	Beirut
Location	Middle East
Type	nation state
Religiously diverse Middle Eastern country.

Lebanon was on a list of seven countries which retired 4-star general Wesley Clark (former supreme commander of NATO forces in Europe 1997-2001) stated the US military had plans to invade:

In 2001, in the Pentagon, a general told me : ‘I just received a classified memo from the Secretary of Defense: we will take seven countries in five years, starting with Iraq, then Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and finally, Iran.’

Deep state

No Lebanese are known to have visited the Bilderberg, but Lebanon has had two known visitors to Le Cercle: Pierre Eddé and Charles Malik.

2020 Beirut blast

Full article: 2020 Beirut blast

On August the 4^th, a giant explosion destroyed the port in Beirut.

2023

Lebanon was deemed even more bankrupt following 2020 Beirut blast as the Central bank of Lebanon devalued their own Pound by 90%.

2nd largest US embassy

The United States is about to build it's second largest embassy worldwide in Lebanon, some 13 kilometers (about 8 miles) from the center of Beirut. The biggest embassy being in Iraq with heavy military presence and the requirement for fortifications.

Wikileaks cables

Wikileaks released cables leaked to them by US officials in 2010.

Lebanese Civil War

In a 1976 diplomatic cable, a US diplomat stated "if I got nothing else from my meeting with Frangie, Chamoun and Gemayel, it is their clear, unequivocal and unmistakable belief that their principal hope for saving Christian necks is Syria. They sound like Assad is the latest incarnation of the Crusaders."

2006 Lebanon War

Two years after a 34-day military conflict in Lebanon and northern Israel, then Lebanese defense minister Elias Murr gave a message to US diplomats, to be passed on to Israeli authorities, stating that the Lebanese authorities would not take revenge if Israeli military attacked Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Murr argued that Israel support and keep the support of Lebanese Christians if they do not attack Christian communities, and that they should not pass re-write borders to avoid legal retaliation from Hezbollah.

According to the diplomat supplying the cable, "Murr's opinion is that an Israeli action against Hizbollah would not be a war against Lebanon and that Syria and Iran did not ask Lebanon's permission to equip Hizballah with its rockets. As such, the LAF has been ordered to not get involved with any fightingTemplate:Nbsp..."

The message was discussed with the president of Lebanon, Michel Suleiman, who at the time was also the commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces, with Murr stating that "he promised Suleiman the political cover for LAF inaction."

A cable from 17 July 2006, quotes Nabih Berri suggesting that he supported limited strikes against Hezbollah in a meeting with Jeffrey D. Feltman and describe "It's like honey. A little bit is good, but if you eat the whole jar you get sick." Berri's press office denounced reported cable leaks and described them as part of a "conspiracy".

Nabih Berri and Amal

Nabih Berri and the Amal movement had significant support among Shi'a in Lebanon, but that the movement is rife with corruption saying that "Amal is near universally derided as corrupt to the core, but it is also considered the only alternative for moderate, secular Shia.

Berri was described as giving social services in the south only through "wheeling, dealing, and stealing", and that Berri receives US$400,000 a month from Iran, using a fourth of the sum to shore up his support and pocketing the rest.

Amal was declining as its supporters turned to Hezbollah. Berri was allegedly grooming his son to be the leader of Amal, and expelled other popular candidates who could have posed problems for him.

Emirati and Saudi involvement

According to an April 2009 cable, Saudi Arabia did not financially support the March 14 Alliance. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton supported military involvement in the election and was said to promised "the need to support Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) in the run up to the elections with concrete displays of support". Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs Jeffrey Feltman stated that "the UAE had been particularly helpful already by funding the delivery of the first ten refurbished tanks for the LAF".

Saad Hariri's-Hezbollah animosity

Saad Hariri has vowed to crush Hezbollah once the Lebanese Army was consolidated. Druze leader MP Walid Jumblat, leader of the Progressive Socialist Party, talked with the US Charge d'Affairs warning the US and Michele Sisone, over reports that Prime Minister Saad Hariri's Future Movement was training a Sunni militia of 15,000 men in Beirut and 10000s others in Tripoli to fight Hezbollah. Jumblat said that private security companies by Hariri in Beirut and Tripoli were proof that "some persons", like Major General Ashraf Rifi, director general of the Internal Security Forces (ISF), were giving Hariri bad advice.

Wissam al-Hassan, the then head of the ISF's intelligence branch right hand of Hariri, said Rifi was wrong in advising Hariri to establish a Sunni militia. Jumblat was worried that Hariri's militia caused damage to the March 14 groups, especially since the Lebanese Forces led by Samir Geagea and Suleiman Frangieh's Marada Movement were training their supporters all along.

Lebanese Army's Incompetence

Nimrod Barkan, an Israeli official, said that "The March 14 camp is brave, but it has been castrated." Feltman wanted the US to support the Lebanese army against Hezbollah, but Barkan screamed at Feltman that's useless "because the LAF would never directly confront Hezbollah and it could eventually fall under its control". Barkan wanted a US-Saudi funded Sunni army.

Iranian takeover of Lebanon

The Lebanese Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh complained 'Iran Telecom is taking over the country!' Hamadeh had seen reports of 'the complete fiber optic system that Hezbollah had established throughout Lebanon' which he claimed were a Zionist and Iranian 'strategic victory for Iran, since it creates an important Iranian outpost in Lebanon, bypassing Syria.' 'The value for Hezbollah is the final step in creating a nation state. Hezbollah now has an army and weapons; a television station; an education system; hospitals; social services; a financial system; and a telecommunications system'.

'Hezbollah is like a tumour'

Lebanon's prime minister-designate Najib Mikati said Hezbollah was a "tumor that must be removed, whether benign or malignant" and "Lebanon could not survive with a Hezbollah mini-state" and it would bring Lebanon to a 'sad ending" and argued it must be removed.

Iranian and Syrian conspiracy

Israeli Mossad Chief Meir Dagan said "it is necessary is finding the right way to support PM Fouad Siniora. He is a courageous man, Syria, Iran and Hezbollah are working hard against him". Dagan noted that "Hariri, Jumblat and others had their parents executed by the Syrians". Although the odds were against him, he was motivated because Anti-Syrian people killed his family members.