Nice job, Bushists. Al Qaeda is now spreading to Lebanon.

[BurtWorm]

I thought we were fighting them there so we wouldn't have to fight them everywhere. :eyes:

The following is from Juan Cole:

http://www.juancole.com/2006/09/negroponte-lebanon-and-al-qaeda-us.html

Negroponte, Lebanon and al-Qaeda US intelligence...
Negroponte, Lebanon and al-Qaeda

US intelligence chief John Negroponte says he is worried about al-Qaeda getting a foothold in Lebanon. Reuters quotes him as saying,


' "He <Ayman al-Zawahiri> talked about the priority attached to being successful in Iraq so it could then be used as a platform to extend their activities into the Levant, meaning Jordan, Syria and Lebanon," Negroponte told Reuters and the International Herald Tribune in an interview on Friday.

"It's not clear to me whether or not they've got a basis for successful activity in Lebanon, since the stronger Muslim sect in Lebanon is Shia. But I wouldn't rule that out. And there's been some evidence of al Qaeda activity in Lebanon . . . " '



Radical Salafi Jihadis are rare in Lebanon, where the Sunni population is probably about 20 percent of the 3.8 million population (i.e. 760,000 persons). Ziad Jarrah, one of the 19 hijackers on Sept. 11, was Lebanese. There have been a handful of religious radicals among the Palestinians in the camps, one of whom appears to have assassinated former Prime Minister Rafiq al-Hariri after having fought the Americans in Iraq. Sunnis who attacked the Danish embassy in Beirut over the caricatures of the Prophet may have included some Salafi Jihadis, though that was probably a relatively spontaneous act of an urban crowd.

But for the most part, Sunnis in Lebanon are urban and urbane, have nearly universal literacy, and many are professionals. (Prime Minister Fuad Siniora is an example of that community.) Also, there aren't actually very many of them, maybe half a million adults, and they are in a political system dominated in different ways by Christians and Shiites.

How would you avoid the radicalization of the Lebanese Sunnis, if that was really a high priority?

Uh, like, don't let the Israelis bomb the country intensively for over a month, destroying its infrastructure and setting back its economy twenty years. And don't openly block a ceasefire if you are America.

Just a guess, that kind of thing could make people angry and unemployed and more easily recruited into al-Qaeda.

[Kutjara]

1. If and when Osama does die, I'll nominate * for the leadership...

...of Al Qaeda. After all, the Chimp has done more to spread its influence globally than anyone else, Osama included.

As an added benefit, * would make such a hash of the job, Al Quada would be dead in a month.

[Nikki Stone 1]

2. Can anyone doubt that this is deliberate?

?

[radwriter0555]

3. Uh hellow? NEGROPONTE? He's trying to build a case for the US to occupy

Lebanon.

Negroponte would say his mother is al queda if it meant gaining a toe hold into any country he and his PNACers want to invade and occupy.

[BurtWorm]

4. With what?

What are they going to use to occupy Lebanon? The IDF? I wonder how the Israelis would take to that.

[radwriter0555]

6. You just answered your own question... since Israel is the ally of the US,

right? And you know that USA has to protect the planet from the mean and nasty al queda, right?

Gosh, israel is going to help the US fight them al queda tewwa wists in Lebanon!

It's like a dream come true for israel, wouldn't you say?

[BurtWorm]

8. I'm not sure Israel would go along with another long-term occupation

given how popular the last one was.

[EFerrari]

7. First you sprinkle cluster bombs all over the place.

Cuts down on the need for foot patrols. :mad:

[SammyWinstonJack]

5. Mission Accomplished!

:argh: