Blowback in Lebanon: Another Imperial Backfire

Chris Floyd, Empire burlesque
...Fatah al-Islam was favored by the dominant Hariri faction in Lebanon as a Sunni counterweight to Hizbollah. But once again – or rather, as always – the machinations of the power-players have gone awry. Fatah al-Islam went off the reservation, allegedly robbed some banks – in addition to preying upon the defenseless Palestinian refugees who involuntarily "hosted" them – and sparked firefights with Lebanese military forces. Now the latter -- humiliated by their inability (or unwillingness) to resist the brutal Israeli attacks last summer , when the defense of the nation was left up to Hizbollah – have moved with a heavy hand against the militants, and against the thousands of innocent Palestinians housed with them in Fatahal-Islam. These refugees have been made refugees again, forced to flee their homes from the – need it be said? – American-backed assault. Ironically enough, in this clampdown – with the usual heavy "collateral damage" – Bush finds himself shoulder to shoulder with Hizbollah, who have applauded the military action. Once again, we see that all these ideological and religious labels don't matter at all to the leaders of the Terror War; the only thing that matters are the temporary expedients of power....
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