Hezbollah Ups Ante, Lebanon On The Brink

It is my opinion that if someone doesn't step into the Lebanese mess immediately, the government of Lebanon will fall to Hezbollah by the middle of next week. If we are convinced we have seen Iranian influence and supplied arms in the Iraq War, you ain't seen nothing when you look at what will happen here in this armed conflict. The Ichabod Crane of the Middle East, Assad of Syria is calling this an "internal conflict" in Lebanon - how this fool can say this shit with a straight face as his troops funnel rockets and missiles across the border to Hezbollah is beyond me.

I simply do not understand how the West is passing up this opportunity to devastate Hezbollah. The United States alone has the blood of over 200 Marines on the hands of Hezbollah from the Marines barracks bombing many years ago (yeah, I have a long memory) and this is a documented attack on the government of Lebanon by Hezbollah - to me the door is wide open for the U.S. to send in some Apache crews or F-16's and just shock the shit out of Hezbollah. Why President Bush hasn't gone to the Lebanese government and offered assistance, is beyond me.

Anyway, here's an excerpt from the story at Breitbart:

Hezbollah gunmen seized control of west Beirut on Friday after a third day of battles with pro-government foes in the Lebanese capital pushed the nation dangerously close to all-out civil war.
Arab nations led by regional powerhouse Saudi Arabia are pushing for a special session of foreign ministers to tackle the crisis and some Middle East states have begun trying to evacuating residents.
President Shimon Peres of Israel -- whose country fought a devastating war against Hezbollah in 2006 -- claimed the violence was fomented by Iran to further what he said was Tehran's goal to control all of the Middle East.
In Damascus, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad -- whose country is Iran's closest regional ally -- said the unrest was a purely "internal affair."

There is going to be a short window here to save Lebanon - the Syrian and Iranian plan of stopping the election of a new President in Lebanon was designed for just this scenario and believe me, once Hezbollah has taken control, it will be too late. In the next few days, forces from Europe or the U.S. would be seen as aiding a distressed Lebanese government...whereas, if Hezbollah takes over, the West would be seen at "occupiers." Simple as that.

Hezbollah overruns west Beirut as Lebanon on brink

The rattle of gunfire and the thump of exploding rocket-propelled grenades rang out across mainly Muslim west Beirut during much of the morning as Sunni government loyalists fought street battles with Shiite gunmen.
At least 11 people have been killed and dozens wounded in the fighting that erupted on Thursday after Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said a government crackdown on his Iranian- and Syrian-backed group was a declaration of war.
The unrest triggered urgent international appeals for calm amid fears that the protracted political feud could plunge the divided multi-confessional nation back to the dark days of the 1975-1990 civil war.
Beirut residents were fleeing for shelter elsewhere as tanks rolled through the streets and hundreds of riot police and troops patrolled the city, but did not get involved in the fighting.
Lebanon was largely cut off from the outside world, with the international airport and Beirut port shut and some roads to neighbouring Syria blockaded by burning tyres.

Witnesses reported fierce gunbattles in several parts of west Beirut as the Sunni neighourhoods considered bastions of Lebanon's ruling bloc fell to militants from Hezbollah and its ally Amal.
"Everyone is running away," said 35-year-old businessman Imad as people rushed to stores that remained open to stock up, while others remained trapped in their homes by the fighting.
"It was a hellish night. The armed militants were everywhere shooting all over the place," said Rima, another west Beirut resident.
Hezbollah, the most powerful armed movement in Lebanon, has also forced the shutdown of all media belonging to the family of parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri, while a rocket hit the outer perimeter of his Beirut residence.
Hariri, whose father Rafiq Hariri was assassinated in 2005, had made a television appeal to try to calm the situation but this was rejected by Hezbollah.