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Intelligence Flash May 27, 2005

U.S. Intel: Plutonium sent by N. Korea this year makes Iran direct threat
U.S. intelligence officials have told President Bush news that has left him stunned: Iran has completed all of the elements required for an atomic bomb. The intelligence information asserted that North Korea this year transferred components to Iran to assemble a plutonium-based nuclear warhead. The components were believed to have originated in Pakistan.

Damascus: Information coming out of the intelligence community in Syria indicates a possible assassination of Syrian General Rustom Ghazaleh in the next few weeks.
The Syrian regime is worried that the assassination of Prime Minister Rafic Hariri of Lebanon might implicate the top political hierarchy of the Syrian Regime.
A secret plan has been drawn in the Syrian Intelligence to eliminate General Rustom Gazaleh who masterminded Hariri's assassination. Should it happen, the International commission researching Hariri's crime will hit a dead end in the investigation . By doing so, the Syrian regime will be spared from an international embarrassment.

Another Syrian "Fool Up"by Nagi N. Najjar
The day the CIA understands Syria and its dirty tricks, Iraq, and the Middle East, will probably be lost. From the bombings of Beirut in 1982, to the kidnapping and murder of William Buckley and other US hostages, to the Syrian backed terror bombings in Baghdad today, there is one message: A US intelligence failure to understand the Syrian terror message in the area and the failure to send the right signal to Damascus. Operation Matador was a good military operation for the US Forces but another "fool up" from the Syrian Intelligence. This military operation near Al Quaim border isn't over; it left 9 US Marines dead from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina and dozens of Sunni insurgents dead, wounded, and detained. This military operation concentrated on cities near the border with Syria, in an area where foreign fighters allied with the Syrian regime, Saddam's remnants hiding in Syria and Zarquawi slip around the Syrian-Iraqi border, using smuggling routes to reinforce the Iraq insurgency against the US Forces there. This area enjoy a special status, it has the same Sunni families and tribes on both side of the border , they have loyalty to each other and all of them are manipulated by both the Syrian Intelligence and Saddam Hussein Intelligence officers who are hiding in Syria to stage ground attacks and inflict maximum casualties against Americans. Syrian General Ghazi Kanaan, the father of all terror sins against the US Forces Beirut in the past and Iraq today, wanted to provide "humanitarian assistance" to the Americans: In good faith, he dispatched and regrouped dozens of Sunnis insurgents with weapons, explosives , mortars and rocket material in towns along the Syrian border and tipped the CIA off saying that Abu Musaab Al Zarquawi is hiding in the area with scores of Sunni fighters with him. For Ghazi Kanaan, it was excellent business: The Americans are his enemies and the Sunnis also the enemies of his regime. Why does the Alawite regime has to kill the Sunnis in Syria? Let the Americans do it , for Syria, it was two enemies killing each others, of course, in the name of helping the Americans in Iraq. "What happened? Another Syrian "fool up.” America eliminated the insurgents, seizing large weapons caches and leaving behind dozens of insurgents dead. Zarquawi wounded? Not so sure. As a diversion, an Islamic Web site claiming responsibilities for Al Qaida attacks in Iraq declared the wanted terrorist wounded and asked for prayers. Syria wanted compensation for the "tip"on Operation Matador for helping the Americans "consolidate" the security in Iraq. A few days later, Syrian Ambassador to Washington, Imad Mustafa declared that Syria stopped cooperating with the US Forces and the CIA.Has the violence stopped? No, it gradually increased , at a time Zarquawi was "declared" wounded as a Syrian-Iraqi diversion. Another Syrian "fool up" to relieve the pressure on Damascus. Where does Syria stand Today? Helping the devil himself! Damascus remain the main central nerve feeding the Iraq insurgency through Sunni proxies, with the help of Iraqi Intelligence officers hiding in Damascus. Damascus fuels the violence in Israel using Hezbollah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad as a proxy to prevent Israel-Palestinian stabilization and political rapprochement in the area. Damascus assassinated Prime Minister Hariri in conjunction with Hezbollah and a few intel. services on the ground in Lebanon, all under the blessing of Syrian General Rustom Ghazaleh. Damascus left a considerable Intelligence presence in Lebanon to destabilize the country in conjunction with Hezbollah armed to the teeth and four armed pro-Syrian militias on the ground . When will this chaos stop? The answer to the question is when America or Israel will destroy this terror regime in Damascus who practices daily terrorism in Iraq, Lebanon, Israel and the Middle East . This week end alone, 12 US Marines were dead in Iraq, the casualties toll is mounting, there is no end in sight for the violence in Iraq. Donald Rumsfeld said there is no exit strategy for Iraq, there is only a winning strategy for that country. Mr Secretary, I don't know what it takes to convince the President and the CIA that the only viable exit for America in Iraq is a regime change in Syria and a military strike for the Syrian-Iranian terror bases in Lebanon. This is the only blueprint for a US victory in Iraq and the region, if not the US is heading to another major disaster in Iraq after Vietnam. The Lebanese elections are a masquerade for what America is doing in Lebanon: Washington is promoting a cosmetic Saudi influenced "democratic" Parliament for a substance of terror still functioning on the ground through Hezbollah and other pro Syrian militias. Having Prime Minister Sharon giving more concessions in the Gaza withdrawal will not stabilize the Middle East. At the contrary, it will reinforce terrorism. The US is sunk in a quagmire in Iraq, "fooled up" on the Syrian front, applying the wrong political pressures for concessions on Israel, America seems determined for another major failure in the Middle East. Tomorrow there will be another 5 US soldiers killed on the headline news, there will be no change to this situation unless there is a change of management in Damascus regime . Unless Washington reverse a radical change in the balance of terror for Syria and Lebanon, Iraq and the whole region will blow up in Washington's face without control. Its price will be the Bush Administration in General and the President of the United States in particular.

Miss Universe 2005 contestant Nadine Njeim of Lebanon models during the Swimwear competition in Bangkok, May 26, 2005. The Miss Universe 2005 pageant will take place in Bangkok on May 31, 2005. REUTERS/Adrees Latif

Miss Universe 2005 contestant Nadine Njeim of Lebanon models her outfit during the National Costume show in Bangkok May 25, 2005. The Miss Universe 2005 pageant will take place in Bangkok on May 31. REUTERS/Chaiwat Subprasom

POISON PRESS

Newsweek: America is dead
.Newsweek's false, retracted story about American guards flushing the Koran down a toilet at Guantanamo doesn't necessarily mean the magazine's staff hates America or Bush, or wants us to lose in Iraq. To be charitable, let's just chalk that one up to sloppy journalism.But I'm at a loss to explain this, from the February 2 issue of Newsweek's Japanese edition:
As you can see, the cover story shows an American flag, dirtied and tossed in a trash can, its staff snapped in two. The large white text reads, "Amerika ga shinda hi", which translates to "The day America died."The equivalent international edition of Newsweek, the January 31 issue, featured a picture of Bush on the cover, with the caption "America Leads ...But is Anyone Following?":
Both of the above editions featured a cover-story article by Andrew Moravcsik, titled "Dream on, America". (This was translated into Japanese as "Yume no kuni Amerika ga kuchihateru toki", which is even harsher; it means, roughly, "America, the dream country, is rotting away".) According to Newsweek itself, the article described "the world's rejection of the American way of life." Moravcsik's article did not run in the American edition of that same issue. The cover was also a bit different. It featured Hilary Swank, Leonardo DiCaprio and Jamie Foxx, with the title "Oscar Confidential":
If you look carefully, you'll see that one of the articles from the other two editions is mentioned in a small blurb at the top: Fareed Zakaria's "High Hopes, Hard Facts" — here billed as "A reality check on Bush & 'Freedom'". Sure, they put scare quotes around "Freedom", but pretty tame stuff, all things considered.It's one thing for Newsweek to actively promote the notion that America is a "dead", "rotting" country overseas. But it's quite another thing indeed to hide those efforts from its American readers.

 

Newsweek clams upon U.S. flag in trash Magazine fails to respond to criticism over anti-American magazine covers
By Ron Strom© 2005 Despite receiving national TV and Internet media attention for its international magazine editions that have been branded as anti-American and even treasonous, Newsweek has refused to respond to the growing criticism.
,Newsweek, still reeling from its forced retraction of the Quran-in-the-toilet story, has been hammered for publishing anti-American cover images and stories overseas that did not appear in the U.S.
Japanese edition of Feb. 2 Newsweek
While a Japanese edition of Newsweek dated Feb. 2 published a cover story featuring an American flag in a trash can under the headline, "The day America died," and the international edition featured a photo of President Bush with the headline, "America Leads ... But Is Anyone Following?," the U.S. edition cover story was an "Oscar Confidential" featuring Hilary Swank, Jamie Foxx and Leonardo DiCaprio.
The cover story in the foreign editions, titled, "Dream on, America," about what Newsweek characterized as "the world's rejection of the American way of life," did not run in the U.S. edition of the magazine.
Multiple calls to Newsweek, including several messages left with Communications Director Ken Weine, went unanswered this week.
Meanwhile, blogs are further investigating the story, with one publishing a partial translation of the article from the Japanese edition, which was penned by Andrew Moravcsik.
International edition of Feb. 2 Newsweek
According to a translation on RickAdams.org, a precede to the story reads: "Although Bush calls for an 'expansion of freedom,' the world is not yearning after the 'country of freedom,' the United States, any longer. New evidence of a decline of the United States in every sphere has been confirmed."
An editor's note states: "'Since Newsweek is an American magazine, why would it tell us of problems with Bush?' we are occasionally asked in an ironic tone. However, we do not take sides, but only analyze the meaning of events from various viewpoints. Perhaps this has led to misunderstandings.
U.S. edition of Feb. 2 Newsweek
"What have Americans lost due to the Bush administration in the last four years, and what will the world lose in the next four years? Verified facts, not opinions from any viewpoint, are laid forth in the special report in this issue."
Another description of the report states: "The era in which every corner of the globe yearned for the freedom and equality of America has ended. The brightness of the American dream has faded, while the influence of anti-American sentiment, and the EU, has grown. We examine the cause of this decline in politics, the economy and foreign policy."
Japanese cover with headlines translated to English. (Image: RickAdams.org.)
"It's one thing for Newsweek to actively promote the notion that America is a 'dead,' 'rotting' country overseas," wrote the blogsite Riding Sun. "But it's quite another thing indeed to hide those efforts from its American readers. If Newsweek really think America is dead, and our flag belongs in the trash, why won't it tell us?"

Who was Newsweek's source?Analyst believes anti-Bush CIA 'weasel' set up reporter Isikoff

A disgruntled former CIA operative hoping to hurt President Bush was likely Newsweek's source on the fake Quran-in-the-toilet story, says geopolitical expert Jack Wheeler, and his action now means journalists will no longer trust the ex-Langley agents forced out by chief Porter Goss.
In a column on his intelligence website, To the Point, Wheeler writes of this "silver lining" to the Newsweek story penned by reporter Michael Isikoff.
Says Wheeler: "It looks like Isikoff was suckered. It's not easy to do this. Isikoff is a very savvy guy who would never use a questionable source for such a story. He had to be convinced his source was solid. Yet it turns out the story was a lie – and Isikoff's source knew it.
"So who was Isikoff's source for QuranToilet, and why did he lie?
"We don't know his name, but it's pretty sure he's a CIA Rogue Weasel."
Wheeler explains the "CIA Rogue Weasels," whom he has written about before, are agency officials "so far on the left they would embarrass Teddy Kennedy." Since taking over at the CIA's Langley headquarters, Director Goss "has fired or pushed to quit scores of them," Wheeler notes.
"The Weasels hate Bush and want him to fail," writes Wheeler. "One of them, now ex-CIA, desirous of damaging Bush's progress with democratizing the Muslim world, who could plausibly claim access to classified information about interrogation at Gitmo and whom Isikoff had used as a source before, foisted QuranToilet on Isikoff.

"So where's the silver lining? It's that the Weasels have poisoned their well. No reputable journalist is going to believe any of them from now on. Isikoff will never publicly disclose his source's identity, but all his colleagues in the MSM world know how he got burned."
Concludes Wheeler: "The left has damaged one of their most powerful ways to influence the media: Langley lefties whispering super-secret tips into journalists' ears. The Weasels are going to have a lot harder time peddling anti-Bush, anti-America lies. That's a silver lining worth a riot in Pakistan."

We have George W. Bush to thank for the Arab democratic spring
By Fouad Ajami Commentary by Monday, May 23, 2005
"George W. Bush has unleashed a tsunami on this region," a shrewd Kuwaiti merchant who knows the way of his world said to me. The man had no patience with the standard refrain that Arab reform had to come from within, that a foreign power cannot alter the age-old ways of the Arabs. "Everything here - the borders of these states, the oil explorations that remade the life of this world, the political outcomes that favored the elites now in the saddle - came from the outside. This moment of possibility for the Arabs is no exception."
A Jordanian of deep political experience at the highest reaches of Arab political life had no doubt as to why history suddenly broke in Lebanon, and could conceivably change in Syria itself before long. "The people in the streets of Beirut knew that no second Hama is possible; they knew that the rulers were under the gaze of American power, and knew that Bush would not permit a massive crackdown by the men in Damascus."
My informant's reference to Hama was telling: It had been there in 1982, in that city of the Syrian interior, that the Baathist-Alawite regime had broken and overwhelmed Syrian society. Hama had been a stronghold of the Muslim Brotherhood, a fortress of the Sunni middle class. It had rebelled, and the regime unleashed on it a merciless terror. There were estimates that 25,000 of its people perished in that fight. Henceforth, the memory of Hama hung over the life of Syria - and Lebanon. But the people in the plazas of Beirut, and the Syrian intellectuals who have stepped forth to challenge the Baathist regime, have behind them the warrant, and the green light, of American power and protection.
To venture into the Arab world, as I did recently over four weeks in Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan and Iraq, is to travel into Bush Country. I was to encounter people from practically all Arab lands, to listen in on a great debate about the possibility of freedom and liberty. I met Lebanese giddy with the "Cedar Revolution" that liberated their country from the Syrian prison that had seemed an unalterable curse. They were under no illusions about the change that had come their way. They knew that this new history was the gift of an American president who had put the Syrian rulers on notice. The speed with which Syria quit Lebanon was astonishing, a race to the border to forestall an American strike that the regime could not discount. I met Syrians in the know who admitted that the fear of American power, and the example of American forces flushing Saddam Hussein out of his spider hole, now drive Syrian policy. They hang on George W. Bush's words in Damascus, I was told: the rulers wondering if Iraq was a crystal ball in which they could glimpse their future.
The weight of American power, historically on the side of the dominant order, now drives this new quest among the Arabs. For decades, the intellectual classes in the Arab world bemoaned the indifference of American power to the cause of their liberty. Now a conservative American president had come bearing the gift of Wilsonian redemption. For a quarter-century the Pax Americana had sustained the autocracy of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak: He had posed as America's man on the Nile, a bulwark against the Islamists. He was sly and cunning, running afoul of our purposes in Iraq and over Israeli-Palestinian matters. He had nurtured a culture of anti-modernism and anti-Americanism, and had gotten away with it. Now the wind from Washington brought tidings: America had wearied of Mubarak, and was willing to bet on an open political process, with all its attendant risks and possibilities. The brave oppositional movement in Cairo that stepped forth under the banner of Kifaya (Enough!) wanted the end of his reign: It had had enough of his mediocrity, enough of the despotism of an aging officer who had risen out of the military bureaucracy to entertain dynastic dreams of succession for his son. Egyptians challenging the quiescence of an old land may have had no kind words to say about America in the past. But they were sure that the play between them and the regime was unfolding under Bush's eyes.
Unmistakably, there is in the air of the Arab world a new contest about the possibility and the meaning of freedom. This world had been given over to a dark nationalism, and to the atavisms of a terrible history. For decades, it was divided between rulers who monopolized political power and intellectual classes shut out of genuine power, forever prey to the temptations of radicalism. Americans may not have cared for those rulers, but we judged them as better than the alternative. We feared the "Shiite bogeyman" in Iraq and the Islamists in Algeria, Egypt and Tunisia; we bought the legend that Syria's dominion in Lebanon kept the lid on anarchy. We feared tinkering with the Saudi realm; it was terra incognita to us, and the House of Saud seemed a surer bet than the "wrath and virtue" of the zealots. Even Yasser Arafat, a retailer of terror, made it into our good graces as a man who would tame the furies of the masked men of Hamas. That bargain with authoritarianism did not work, and begot us the terrors of Sept. 11, 2001.
The children of Islam, and of the Arabs in particular, had taken to the road, and to terror. There were many liberal, secular Arabs now clamoring for American intervention. The claims of sovereignty were no longer adequate; a malignant political culture had to be "rehabilitated and placed in receivership," a wise Jordanian observer conceded. Bush may not be given to excessive philosophical sophistication, but his break with "the soft bigotry of low expectations" in the Arab-Islamic world has found eager converts among Muslims and Arabs keen to repair their world, to wean it from a culture of scapegoating and self-pity. Pick up the Arabic papers today: They are curiously, and suddenly, readable. They describe the objective world; they give voice to recognition that the world has bypassed the Arabs. The doors have been thrown wide open, and the truth of that world laid bare. Grant Bush his due: The revolutionary message he brought forth was the simple belief that there was no Arab and Muslim "exceptionalism" to the appeal of liberty. For a people mired in historical pessimism, the message of this outsider was a powerful antidote to the culture of tyranny. Hitherto, no one had bothered to tell the Palestinians that they can't have terror and statehood at the same time, that the patronage of the world is contingent on a renunciation of old ways. This was the condition Bush attached to his support for the Palestinians. It is too early to tell whether the new restraint in the Palestinian world will hold. But it was proper that Bush put Arafat beyond the pale.

 

Miss Universe 2005 contestant Nadine Njeim of Lebanon takes part in a fashion show in Bangkok May 24, 2005. The Miss Universe 2005 pageant will take place in Bangkok on May 31. REUTERS/Adrees Latif

Following the recent assassination of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri -- and decades of Syrian hegemony over Lebanon -- hundreds of thousands took to the streets of Beirut, suspecting Syrian involvement in Hariri's murder and demanding the withdrawal of Syrian troops. It was an unprecedented display of Lebanese solidarity. FRONTLINE/World reporter Kate Seelye -- the daughter of an American diplomat who has lived in Lebanon and Syria for much of her life -- navigates the forces in play and asks whether democracy or war will be next for Lebanon. read more and watch the video

Declaration of Independence
When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security.
Declaration of Independence(Adopted 4 July 1776)

The Star-Spangled Banner
Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous fight'O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming.And the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air,Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.Oh, say, does that star-spangled banner yet waveO'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
On the shore dimly seen, thro' the mists of the deep,Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,In full glory reflected, now shines on the stream;'Tis the star-spangled banner: oh, long may it waveO'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
And where is that band who so vauntingly sworeThat the havoc of war and the battle's confusionA home and a country should leave us no more?Their blood has wash'd out their foul footstep's pollution.No refuge could save the hireling and slaveFrom the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave,And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth waveO'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Oh, thus be it ever when free men shall stand,Between their loved homes and the war's desolation;Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n-rescued landPraise the Power that has made and preserved us as a nation.Then conquer we must, when our cause is just,And this be our motto: "In God is our trust";And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall waveO'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Change is Coming - but How?
Change is coming to Syria - there is no way to deny it. How it will happen and how controlled it will be, no one can say. As one Syrian friend said to me, "Will it be in five years, ten years, or next year? I cannot say, but it is coming."The signs are everywhere. One top Alawite official joked to a Sunni friend, "Will you treat us well in the future?" This kind of remark revealing the anxiety of regime figures about the future, but still couched in a joke to indicate insouciance, would not have been heard a year ago.Everyone at the dinner table had a story like the one related above, indicating that that the elite is anxious and beginning to take evasive action to prepare for change - what kind of change? Who knows?Some top officials are beginning serious campaigns to improve their images, carrying out high-minded social projects to beautify Damascus or support cultural life. Others are finding ways to deny their connection with and involvement in the darker chapters of regime history. They are pondering judgement day and vacuuming the house, putting out flowers, and making themselves presentable.Sami Moubayed's excellent article "Soft de-Baathification in Syria," published in al-Ahram Weekly points out that "The Baath Party Conference, scheduled for June, is expected to pave the way for a general amnesty, releasing political prisoners and permitting the return of those banished for political reasons."One of the reasons driving this reconciliation project, directed at healing the old wounds caused by Syria's long years of political turmoil and dictatorship, is undoubtedly the fear of revenge. Sami points out that it was begun by Basil al-Asad in 1994, but that others, such as Mustafa Tlas, have been pushing it hard by getting the portraits of Syria's past leaders added to the Parliament walls. They had been "airbrushed" from Syrian history, as Sami wrote.If Syria is to have a soft transition to a new political order, and avoid sinking into the sort of bloodletting and vendetta driven chaos that has overtaken Iraq, a reconciliation process is crucial. Only by making amends, can the present power-brokers hope to secure their safety in the future. To truly make amends, there is still much reconciliation to come.All the same, the rapid augmentation of the reconciliation process indicates that people at the top are getting nervous and thinking of the day when they may no longer be in power.

Berri: full independence within grasp
Lebanon's Parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri has announced the establishment of a Lebanese Embassy in Damascus, and a Syrian Embassy in Beirut.It would be the final step in establishing full bilateral relations, and would signal that Syria has come to accept Lebanon's full independence.In a similar vein Berri announced that the two countries are to set up a joint negotiating committee, ready for any future peace negotiations with Israel "should the Jewish state have mercy on us". Previously Syria had negotiated on Lebanon's behalf. It is generally accepted that joint negotaitions will bring about better results than if Israel is able to play the two countries off against each other.

Hama killer Rifaat to return to Syria
The mass-murderer Rifaat Al-Assad is returning to Syria 20 years after he was forced into exile in Europe.He led the team to 'quell' an uprising in the Northern city of Hama. Days later 20,000 people were dead, and most of the millennia-old city was flattened.He pushed tanks through the city to destroy a city he couldn't win. His opponents were the Muslim Brotherhood (spiritual grandfathers of Al-Qaeda) who are also seeking a return to Syria after the disastrous coup attempt.A couple of years later Rifaat attempted a bloody coup of his own - against his own brother. He claimed to have established a free independent state of Lattaqia - all under his control. He fled days later.Many in Lebanon believe that Rifaat was connected with Basil Al-Assad's death. Basil (Bashar's brother) was being groomed for the Presidency when he died in car crash at Damascus Airport. He had a great deal more support than even Bashar has, and was seen as the people's (not just his father's) choice for President.When Bashar Al-Assad came to power in 2000, Rifaat made an announcement that he was the only legitimate president of Syria - all the way from London.This time round he claims that he is returning to "fulfil his political responsibilities".With Lebanese warlord Michel Aoun, the Muslim Brotherhood and Rifaat Al-Assad all returning, and Samir Jaja's campaign to be let out of a Lebanese prison almost over, the Levant is a more dangerous place than it was last night.

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Bukra Btishroq Shams el 3eed
Sattouta Ya Sattouta
Messainaakom

Let Reason Prevail

Let prejudice and local interest yield to reason. Let us look to our national character and things beyond the present period.” George Washington
The victories that the Lebanese opposition has achieved are momentous. The withdrawal of Syrian troops, the resignation of the Syrian appointed government, and the removal of the security chiefs were but a few of the aspirations of the Lebanese people. These historic events would not have been possible without the support of the US government and international community and for this the Lebanese people both inside and outside the country will be forever grateful. However, many more milestones need to be reached before an empowered and capable Lebanese nation, proud of its heritage and modern in its structure will emerge. The Lebanese people will certainly encounter many roadblocks on their journey of reestablishing democracy and renewal.
The insistence by the Syrian-appointed speaker of the parliament, Mr. Nabih Berri, on imposing the Syrian designed electoral law of 2000 is one such roadblock. The Council of Lebanese American Organizations (CLAO) strongly condemns such an action, as it is undemocratic in form and substance. By its very nature, this law can only result in a parliament that does not represent the people and promotes political feudalism. It was designed by Syria’s former viceroy in Lebanon to recycle and re-empower its handpicked allies even without the presence of their military and security apparatus. Such is the irony of this law, which can only result in giving the Syrians the last laugh.
If faced with the choice of elections with a flawed law or elections delayed for few weeks, CLAO strongly recommends the latter option. Getting it right is infinitely more important than being on schedule. True grassroots representation in a broad social spectrum across all sectarian lines must be respected and ought to be considered an unquestionable priority over deadlines. For Mr. Berri to blame the US and France for his decision to stick to the scheduled dates while admitting that the 2000 law is unfair, is unacceptable and insulting to democratic processes.
The electoral law of 2000 is designed to appoint and certainly not to elect the members of the Lebanese parliament. Given that the current Lebanese government’s policy is to impose such an electoral law and since CLAO considers the law inherently flawed and manifestly unjust it believes the act of monitoring the elections would not only be a waste of time, but would provide a sense of legitimatization of the process and its results. Hence, CLAO hereby rescinds its previously announced plans to participate in monitoring the election proceedings.
The issue of electoral gerrymandering is a familiar and controversial one to the American people even when implemented for noble purposes, as was recently the case in the 12th Congressional District of North Carolina, which resulted in the first black man being elected to Congress from that state in 100 years. But imagine how would the American people react to the arbitrary reversal of such a law e.g., the redistricting of established voting districts (designed to ensure minority participation) mere weeks before an election, such as is now the case in Lebanon? Such a controversial act would cause a political firestorm, be denounced as undemocratic and find a fast path to the US Supreme Court. No modern-day US administration would support such a situation in the US, so why should this one give its tacit support to it in Lebanon? A large proportion of these soon-to-be disenfranchised voters come from the ranks of Lebanon’s pro-democratic movement, which has been dubbed the “Cedar Revolution”. Their peaceful demonstrations regularly turned out crowds that numbered in the hundreds of thousands and at one point 1.5 million. This is unprecedented for Lebanon and for the entire Middle East. They had been hopeful for US support of their democratic ideals, particularly in light of the Bush administration’s proclamations on the spread of democracy in the Middle East and especially since the President himself has often referred to them as validation of the wisdom of this US policy direction. Isn’t it in US national interests to see such people provided the opportunity for democratic representation? Isn’t this the type of democratic groundswell that the US had hoped to engender? CLAO thinks so, and it appeals to the US administration to reconsider its position on this matter and support a delay of the election and an overturning of this unfair law. These people should not be left to feel that they have been used like a convenient prop or that they are the victims of some unknown and unspoken political agenda.
CLAO believes that true democracy could only be established with an electoral law that provides a just and fair process to allow a true representation of the people. The 2000 electoral law negates the will of the majority of the Lebanese and must be replaced. That is the reasonable course of action.
Since 1989 CLAO’s mission has been to work to further the cause of freedom and sovereignty for Lebanon and act to promote ties of friendship and cooperation between the United States and Lebanon based on the principles of democracy and human rights. We are resolute in our mission and in our belief that the US can always be counted on to champion these revered causes. We urge the US administration to act expeditiously and resolutely while there is still time.

Hypocrisy Most HolyMuslims should show some respect to others' religions.By Ali Al-Ahmed
With the revelation that a copy of the Quran may have been desecrated by U.S. military personnel at Guantanamo Bay, Muslims and their governments--including that of Saudi Arabia--reacted angrily. This anger would have been understandable if the U.S. government's adopted policy was to desecrate our Quran. But even before the Newsweek report was discredited, that was never part of the allegations. As a Muslim, I am able to purchase copies of the Quran in any bookstore in any American city, and study its contents in countless American universities. American museums spend millions to exhibit and celebrate Muslim arts and heritage. On the other hand, my Christian and other non-Muslim brothers and sisters in Saudi Arabia--where I come from--are not even allowed to own a copy of their holy books. Indeed, the Saudi government desecrates and burns Bibles that its security forces confiscate at immigration points into the kingdom or during raids on Christian expatriates worshiping privately. Soon after Newsweek published an account, later retracted, of an American soldier flushing a copy of the Quran down the toilet, the Saudi government voiced its strenuous disapproval. More specifically, the Saudi Embassy in Washington expressed "great concern" and urged the U.S. to "conduct a quick investigation." Although considered as holy in Islam and mentioned in the Quran dozens of times, the Bible is banned in Saudi Arabia. This would seem curious to most people because of the fact that to most Muslims, the Bible is a holy book. But when it comes to Saudi Arabia we are not talking about most Muslims, but a tiny minority of hard-liners who constitute the Wahhabi Sect. The Bible in Saudi Arabia may get a person killed, arrested, or deported. In September 1993, Sadeq Mallallah, 23, was beheaded in Qateef on a charge of apostasy for owning a Bible. The State Department's annual human rights reports detail the arrest and deportation of many Christian worshipers every year. Just days before Crown Prince Abdullah met President Bush last month, two Christian gatherings were stormed in Riyadh. Bibles and crosses were confiscated, and will be incinerated. (The Saudi government does not even spare the Quran from desecration. On Oct. 14, 2004, dozens of Saudi men and women carried copies of the Quran as they protested in support of reformers in the capital, Riyadh. Although they carried the Qurans in part to protect themselves from assault by police, they were charged by hundreds of riot police, who stepped on the books with their shoes, according to one of the protesters.) As Muslims, we have not been as generous as our Christian and Jewish counterparts in respecting others' holy books and religious symbols. Saudi Arabia bans the importation or the display of crosses, Stars of David or any other religious symbols not approved by the Wahhabi establishment. TV programs that show Christian clergymen, crosses or Stars of David are censored. The desecration of religious texts and symbols and intolerance of varying religious viewpoints and beliefs have been issues of some controversy inside Saudi Arabia. Ruled by a Wahhabi theocracy, the ruling elite of Saudi Arabia have made it difficult for Christians, Jews, Hindus and others, as well as dissenting sects of Islam, to visibly coexist inside the kingdom. Another way in which religious and cultural issues are becoming more divisive is the Saudi treatment of Americans who are living in that country: Around 30,000 live and work in various parts of Saudi Arabia. These people are not allowed to celebrate their religious or even secular holidays. These include Christmas and Easter, but also Thanksgiving. All other Gulf states allow non-Islamic holidays to be celebrated. The Saudi Embassy and other Saudi organizations in Washington have distributed hundreds of thousands of Qurans and many more Muslim books, some that have libeled Christians, Jews and others as pigs and monkeys. In Saudi school curricula, Jews and Christians are considered deviants and eternal enemies. By contrast, Muslim communities in the West are the first to admit that Western countries--especially the U.S.--provide Muslims the strongest freedoms and protections that allow Islam to thrive in the West. Meanwhile Christianity and Judaism, both indigenous to the Middle East, are maligned through systematic hostility by Middle Eastern governments and their religious apparatuses. The lesson here is simple: If Muslims wish other religions to respect their beliefs and their Holy book, they should lead by example.

The Saudi - Iranian Influence Will Not Promote Democracy in LebanonAt the contrary, it will produce another disaster for the Bush Administration:Is Lebanon heading towards Saudi political Influence after the Syrian withdrawal? Did the assassination of Prime Minister Hariri by Syria and Hezbollah should justify a Saudi takeover of Lebanese political and social life in Lebanon? A Saudi takeover in Lebanon's politic means the Islamization of Lebanon Presidency (Through a Christian Puppet), The Government and the Parliament. If the implementation of UN Resolurion 1559 in these conditions means the marginalization of the Christian Community in Lebanon. It means also another new civil war is brewing under the ashes. What kind of victory on terror Washington is achieving with the new Lebanese election insisting to be on time in an atmosphere the next "Iranian- Saudi influenced" elections in the country will leave the terrorist organiation Hezbollah in full arms, in addition to the militias in the Palestinians Camps and the militias of the Syrian National Party, the Baath Party militia and the extremist Sunni "Tawhid" militia in the city of Tripoli, Northern Lebanon? The Lebanese Foundation for Peace deplore all Christian participation in these Iranian-Saudi dynamics in Lebanon politics. This Lebanon will not bring success to the Bush agenda in promoting Democracy for the Middle East. It will promote an Iranian (Shiaa) -Saudi - (Sunni) power struggle on Lebanon's soil, in similarity from what is happening in Iraq. The time for Lebanon's independence has not yet come. It dosen't mean that this day will not come. Maybe not from Saudi Arabia, neither from Washington too dependent on Saudi Oil.

The Saudi - Iranian Influence Will Not Promote Democracy in LebanonAt the contrary, it will produce another disaster for the Bush Administration:Is Lebanon heading towards Saudi political Influence after the Syrian withdrawal? Did the assassination of Prime Minister Hariri by Syria and Hezbollah should justify a Saudi takeover of Lebanese political and social life in Lebanon? A Saudi takeover in Lebanon's politic means the Islamization of Lebanon Presidency (Through a Christian Puppet), The Government and the Parliament. If the implementation of UN Resolurion 1559 in these conditions means the marginalization of the Christian Community in Lebanon. It means also another new civil war is brewing under the ashes. What kind of victory on terror Washington is achieving with the new Lebanese election insisting to be on time in an atmosphere the next "Iranian- Saudi influenced" elections in the country will leave the terrorist organiation Hezbollah in full arms, in addition to the militias in the Palestinians Camps and the militias of the Syrian National Party, the Baath Party militia and the extremist Sunni "Tawhid" militia in the city of Tripoli, Northern Lebanon? The Lebanese Foundation for Peace deplore all Christian participation in these Iranian-Saudi dynamics in Lebanon politics. This Lebanon will not bring success to the Bush agenda in promoting Democracy for the Middle East. It will promote an Iranian (Shiaa) -Saudi - (Sunni) power struggle on Lebanon's soil, in similarity from what is happening in Iraq. The time for Lebanon's independence has not yet come. It dosen't mean that this day will not come. Maybe not from Saudi Arabia, neither from Washington too dependent on Saudi Oil.

The Saudi - Iranian Influence Will Not Promote Democracy in LebanonAt the contrary, it will produce another disaster for the Bush Administration:Is Lebanon heading towards Saudi political Influence after the Syrian withdrawal? Did the assassination of Prime Minister Hariri by Syria and Hezbollah should justify a Saudi takeover of Lebanese political and social life in Lebanon? A Saudi takeover in Lebanon's politic means the Islamization of Lebanon Presidency (Through a Christian Puppet), The Government and the Parliament. If the implementation of UN Resolurion 1559 in these conditions means the marginalization of the Christian Community in Lebanon. It means also another new civil war is brewing under the ashes. What kind of victory on terror Washington is achieving with the new Lebanese election insisting to be on time in an atmosphere the next "Iranian- Saudi influenced" elections in the country will leave the terrorist organiation Hezbollah in full arms, in addition to the militias in the Palestinians Camps and the militias of the Syrian National Party, the Baath Party militia and the extremist Sunni "Tawhid" militia in the city of Tripoli, Northern Lebanon? The Lebanese Foundation for Peace deplore all Christian participation in these Iranian-Saudi dynamics in Lebanon politics. This Lebanon will not bring success to the Bush agenda in promoting Democracy for the Middle East. It will promote an Iranian (Shiaa) -Saudi - (Sunni) power struggle on Lebanon's soil, in similarity from what is happening in Iraq. The time for Lebanon's independence has not yet come. It dosen't mean that this day will not come. Maybe not from Saudi Arabia, neither from Washington too dependent on Saudi Oil.

Syria's Horrendous Track Record in Lebanon

August 26, 1973: As a prelude to igniting the war Syrian President Hafez Assad announces that Lebanon and Syria are one country and one people but with two governments.
September 10, 1975: El Saaka Syrian forces attack the village of Deir Ashash, in Northern Lebanon, killing three priests and causing its residents to flee.
September 11, 1975: The Saaka forces and forces from the Syrian Baath Party attack the village of Beit Mallat killing seven of its residents and kidnapping 10 others.
September 26, 1975: Egyptian newspaper El Ahram accuses Syria of meddling in Lebanon and attempting to impose the Syrian Baath Party on Lebanon by force.
October 9, 1975: Saaka forces traveling across the Syrian border attack the village of Tal Abbas in Akkar killing 15 people and injuring many others. The local church is set on fire with the hope of igniting religious strife between the Lebanese.
November 2, 1975: A whole Syrian battalion of Syrian Special Forces enter Lebanon through the Bekaa Valley.
January 7, 1976: In a statement published by a Kuwaiti newspaper Syrian Vice President Abdel Halim Khaddam announces that Lebanon is part of Syria and that it will be returned to it adding that this concept should be very clear to everyone.
January 15, 1976: A battalion from the Palestine Liberation Army, the Yarmouck division, which is under Syrian command, enters the Bekaa and has confrontations with Lebanese Army in the area.
January 19, 1976: More forces from the Yarmouck division along with some other forces from the Saaka enter Northern Lebanon and proceed to attack Lebanese police and internal security forces positions; they are helped by local armed Palestinian militias.
January 21, 1976: The Yarmouck and the Saaka forces, under the command of Syria, attack the Christian town of Damour in the Shouf uprooting its residents, killing a large number of people and reducing the town to rubbles. Druze leader Kamal Jumblatt tries in vain to stop the attack and prevent the massacres but all his efforts are useless in the face of the Syrian plan to ignite religious strife among the Lebanese.
March 5, 1976: Saaka forces encircle the towns of Kobeyat and Anduct in Akkar in Northern Lebanon and proceed to bombard the area with heavy artillery and mortar fire. Meanwhile falsified or imaginary statements are being distributed supposedly from the residents of the two towns asking for the Syrian forces to intervene and help them…
April 4, 1976: Druze leader Kamal Jumblatt expresses his astonishment about the fact that Syrian forces are deploying in areas of Lebanon where there is absolutely no legal justification for their presence.
April 5, 1976: Bashir Gemayel, the leader of the Lebanese Forces announces that the different parties in Lebanon were on the verge of reaching an agreement when Syria intervened and disrupted all agreements.
May 31, 1976: Syrian tanks under the command of the Syrian army enter the Akkar area in Northern Lebanon for the first time ever.
June 1, 1976: The Syrian army advances into the Bekaa Valley and starts taking over all strategic and vital positions.
July 20, 1976: Syrian president Hafez Assad gives his famous speech on the stairs of the University of Damascus in which he states that he did not ask anyone's permission to send his forces into Lebanon.
November 11, 1976: The Syrian Saaka Forces attempt to assassinate the leader of the National Bloc Party, Mr. Raymond Edde.
December 15, 1976: Forces from the Syrian army and from the Syrian intelligence services attack the offices of the El Moharrar, Beirut and El Doustour newspapers, kick out their editors and take over their offices and their printing facilities.
December 17, 1976: Syrian forces attack the offices of the El Safir newspaper and occupy the premises.
December 19, 1976: Syrian Forces occupy the offices of the El Nahar and L'Orient-Le Jour newspapers.
December 20, 1976: Syrian defense minister General Nagi Jamil justifies all these attacks against the press by saying that these newspapers are being used for Zionist propaganda.
March 16, 1977: The Syrian Secret services assassinate Druze leader Kamal Jumblatt in the Shouf region a few meters away from a Syrian checkpoint, then proceed to commit revenge killings against the Christians of the Chouf which left 250 civilians dead.
November 5, 1977: The Saaka Syrian forces attack the village of Aishiyeh killing 41 of its residents and displacing most of the others.
February 4, 1978: The Syrian army attempts to occupy the army headquarters at Fiyadiyyeh. Resistance from the Lebanese Army leaves 30 Syrian soldiers dead. Officer Abdallah Hadchity is killed during this operation.
June 14, 1978: The Syrian forces bombard the village of Deir El Ahmar in the Bekaa with heavy artillery.
June 28, 1978: Armed gunmen affiliated with the Syrian intelligence services attack the villages of Ka'a, Ras Baalbeck and Jdeidet El Fakaha, kidnapping a large number of people. Many of them are found dead while a good number of them remain missing.
June 30, 1978: The Syrian army, using ground and air forces, attack regions of Northern Lebanon, and invade Bcharre and the heights of Batroun after fierce battles with the residents and the Lebanese Forces.
September 30, 1978: Fierce battles take place between the Syrian army and the residents of East Beirut when the Syrian forces try to advance into the area. The Syrian forces retaliate with heavy artillery, which leaves hundreds of innocent civilians dead and many more injured.
February 2, 1980: The Syrian special forces attack the village of Kanat. The villagers resist for six days but, after heavy bombardment, with tanks and canons, the Syrian forces are able to take over the village.
February 23, 1980: Syrian agents kill Maya Gemayel, the little daughter of Bashir Gemayel.
February 24, 1980: Lebanese journalist Selim Lowzi is found dead in the forests of Aramoun, near a checkpoint for the Syrian Special Forces. He has been missing for nine days, having been kidnapped on his way to the International airport of Beirut. Lowzi was known for his articles opposing the Syrian regime.
March 13, 1980: Syrian agent Hussein Mostapha Tlass tries to assassinate previous president of the republic Kamil Chamoun.
July 22, 1980: The Syrian intelligence services kill Riad Taha, the head of the union of editors.
August 27, 1980: Syrian agents attempt to assassinate John Gunther Dean, the American Ambassador to Lebanon.
November 10, 1980: Syrian agents detonate two car bombs in Achrafieh in east Beirut killing tens of people and injuring many.
December 23, 1980: Syrian artillery bombard the town of Zahle in the Bekaa on Christmas Eve, killing and injuring many.
February 20, 1981: In an attempt to reignite religious strife in the country, the Syrians attempt to assassinate the Greek Catholic Patriarch, Maximos the fifth Hakim in the town of Bhamdoun a few meters away from a Syrian checkpoint.
April 2, 1981: Syrian artillery stationed in Aramoun suddenly and furiously bombard East Beirut at a time when students were leaving schools to head home. Casualties and injuries are in the Hundreds.
April 3, 1981: The Syrian army and its agents mount a full-scale attack against the town of Zahle in the Bekaa in an attempt to control it. It is reported that thousands of Syrian soldiers participated in the attack and that they were met with resistance from the residents, which lasted about four months.
September 3, 1981: Syrian agents assassinate French Ambassador Louis DeLamare.
December 15, 1981: Iraq accuses the Syrian intelligence services of blowing up the Iraqi embassy building in Beirut, a crime which left 30 people dead and 120 injured.
April 27, 1982: Syrian agents kill Sheikh Ahmad Assaf for his patriotic stands.
May 1, 1982: Syrian agents, to create religious strife between the various factions in Lebanon, kill Father Phillipe Abou Sleiman, a priest in Aley.
May 24, 1982: An explosion in front of the French embassy in Beirut leads to 9 deaths and 26 injuries. The operation is the work of Syrian agent Hussein Tlass.
May 25, 1982: French newspaper "Le Matin" accuses the Syrians of blowing up the French embassy and present a report complete with names and motives.
July 11, 1982: Heavy Syrian artillery shells the Eastern sections of Beirut leaving dozens of people dead and many more injured.
September 14, 1982: Syrian agents assassinate President-elect Bashir Gemayel.
April 19, 1983: Syrian agents blow up the American embassy in Beirut killing and injuring many.
April 20, 1983: The media in Egypt, Jordan, Israel and the United States reveal that the Islamic Jihad organization, that claimed responsibility for the bombing of the American Embassy in Beirut, is nothing but a front for the Syrian intelligence services.
September 2, 1983: Various Palestinian organizations controlled by Syria attack many positions of the Lebanese Army in Souk El Gharb with the intent of occupying the area and reaching the presidential palace in Baabda.
September 9, 1983: The Lebanese government, then headed by Chafic Wazzan, notifies the United States and the governments of Europe that Syrian and Palestinian forces are the major forces participating in the onslaught on the Lebanese mountain with the intent of bringing down the legal government of Lebanon.
September 8, 1983: A spokesman for the Syrian regime states that Syria is ready to enter the war in the mountains of Lebanon if its "allies" asked her to.
September 8, 1983: Alan Romberg, a spokesman for the US State department, announces that Syria bears the bulk of the responsibility for what is going on in Lebanon and that it is the main source of weapons used by the various militias that it controls, in addition to the role of its 40 thousand soldiers who are in Lebanon.
September 9, 1983: A French source notes that Damascus is working hard to take advantage of the talks between the various Lebanese factions, confirming that the French embassy in Beirut was bombarded from positions under Syrian control.
December 27, 1985: Syria tries to impose what was called the tripartite agreement on the Lebanese; but is met with an armed rebellion in the Eastern section of Beirut which brought down the agreement-conspiracy which aimed to make the Syrian hegemony over Lebanon constitutional. This was later achieved with the Taief Accords.
September 18, 1986: French military Attaché Christian Gauthier is shot in front of the French embassy with a revolver equipped with a silencer by Hussein Mostapha Tlass who now resides in Syria.
October 7, 1986: Syrian agents murder the head of the Islamic Shiite Higher Council, Sheikh Soubhi Saleh, who is shot in broad daylight.
November 22, 1986: The Syrian army kidnaps hundreds of civilians from the town of Tripoli in Northern Lebanon in retaliation for attacks against Syrian military and intelligence positions. The bodies of many who were kidnapped were found in the streets of Tripoli and its suburbs.
November 30, 1986: The Syrian Special forces liquidate 34 residents of Tripoli on charges of "opposition to the Syrians."
August 2, 1987: Syrian agents assassinate Dr. Mohammad Choucair, an advisor to President Amine Gemayel. He is killed inside his home in West Beirut.
March 14, 1989: Heavy Syrian artillery, specifically the 52nd brigade controlled by the Syrian special Forces, equipped with 240 and 160 millimeters canons, positioned in the hills of Aramoun, pounds both the East and the West side of Beirut, especially targeting the Unesco area. Tens of Lebanese are killed in the onslaught. Following these attacks, and in complete coordination with Israel, the Syrian forces using various heavy weapons surround the areas controlled by the constitutional regime.
May 9, 1989: The Syrian Intelligence Services assassinate the Sunni Mufti of the republic, Sheikh Hassan Khaled after he notified the Kuwaiti ambassador that the Syrian artillery is the one responsible for shelling both the Christian and the Moslem sides of the city, and that the Syrians, from their positions in Aramoun, are responsible for the massacres at Unesco.
November 22, 1989: The Syrians assassinate president-elect Rene Moawad due to disputes he had with the Syrian leaders and his refusal to obey their orders.
August 1, 1990: The Syrian forces surround the area controlled by the legitimate Lebanese government to bring down the transitional government.
November 12, 1990: Syrian agent Francois Halal makes an attempt to assassinate Prime Minister General Michel Aoun at the presidential palace. The head of the Syrian Baath party proclaims that he was responsible for the failed attempt.
October 13, 1990: The Syrian Forces invade the Eastern areas which support the Lebanese Army under heavy air strikes (the only instance where Syria was able to fly its airforce over Lebanese space without drawing the Israelis), artillery shelling and rocket launching. Both the people and the army attempt to resist this onslaught but the Syrians are able to take over the area committing massacres in Dahr El Wahsh, Souk El Gharb, Bsous, Hadeth and Beit Mery, massacres that left hundreds of people dead and many more injured. Large numbers of soldiers and officers from the Lebanese Army are executed with a shot in the back of the head, or are captured and taken to Syrian jails where they are still being held to this day. An estimated 700 people were killed by the Syrian invaders that day. For three days the Syrians proceed to steal what they could find inside the defense ministry, such as archives, equipment, computers, maps, and strategic historic information, which they transported to Syria. The Syrian invasion is "legitimized" by the collaboration of current Lebanese President Emile Lahoud, a privileged and largely ineffectual Navy officer serving as the "legitimate" front for the Syrians. In his bid as a traitor and collaborator, General Lahoud became the Général Pétain of Lebanon and was rewarded by the Syrians with the "Presidency" of Lebanon. As the ultimate puppet, Lahoud will never challenge his puppeteers in Damascus, lest he loses his career if not his life.
October 14, 1990- Present: Syria totally dominates Lebanon; economically, politically, militarily and diplomatically.

The Top Pro-Lebanon US Legislators
In the House
Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY 17th)
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL 18th)
Rep. Jim Saxton (R-NJ 3rd)
Rep. Steven Rothman (D-NJ 9th)
In the Senate
Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA)
Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA)
Sen. Bob Graham (D-FL)
Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL)

What is so unique about Lebanon?
1- 18 religious communities
2- 40 daily newspapers
3- 42 universities
4- Over 100 banks
5- 70% of the students are in private schools
6- 40%of the Lebanese people are Christians (this is the highest % in all the Arab countries)
7- There's 1doctor/10ppl (in Europe & America there's 1doctor/100ppl)
8- The name LEBANON appears 76 times in the Old Testament
9- The name CEDAR appears 75 times in the Old Testament
10- Beirut was destroyed and rebuilt 7 times
11- There's about 4 million Lebanese in Lebanon
12- There's about 13 to 15 million Lebanese outside Lebanon Other Interesting Facts:
1- The country was occupied by over 16 countries :(Egyptians-Hittites-Assyrians-Babylonians-Persians-Alexander the great-The Roman Empire-Byzantine-The Arabian Peninsula--the Crusaders-the Ottoman Empire-Britain-France- Israel - Syria)
2- Byblos is the oldest city in the world
3- Lebanon's name has been around for 4.000 years non-stop (it's the oldest nation's name in the world)
4- Lebanon is the only Asian African country that doesn't have a desert
5- There are 15 rivers in Lebanon (all of them coming from its mountains)
6- Lebanon is one of the most populated countries in its archeological sites in the world
7- The 1st alphabet was created by Cadmus in Byblos
8- The only temple of Jupiter (the main Greek god) is in Baalbeck (the City of the Sun)
9- The name of the BIBLE comes from the name of our city BYBLOS
10- Lebanon is the country that has the most books written about it
11- Jesus Christ made his 1st miracle in Lebanon
12- The Phoenicians created the 1st boat ever
13- Phoenicians reached America long before Christopher Columbus
14- The 1st law school was built in Lebanon
15- People say that the cedars were planted by God's own hands (this is why they're called God's trees)

Egyptian Christians Express Concern over Abuses
In a May 18 letter to President George W. Bush, U.S. Copts Association president Michael Meunier commended the President for his commitment to democratic development in the Arabic-speaking world but requested that he present the nation’s concern over the discrimination and persecution suffered by Egypt's indigenous Coptic minority. “As members of an endangered native religious and cultural minority, Egypt’s Coptic Christians request you relay to Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif the U.S.’s concern over the discrimination and persecution suffered by Egypt’s indigenous Copts,” Meunier wrote in the letter.According to the U.S. Copts Association, Egypt's indigenous, pre-Arab Christian Copts — numbering over 12 million and constituting between 15 to 20 percent of the Egyptian population — continue to suffer human rights abuses and discrimination under Egyptian law.Meunier's letter, which was signed by Coptic leaders around the world, outlined several human and civil rights abuses — “both tacitly and openly endorsed by the Egyptian government — including police-sanctioned hate crimes such as the kidnapping and forced conversion of young Coptic women and the destruction of Christian villages and houses of worship,” the U.S. Copts Association reported.Adly Youssef, chairman of the Zurich International Coptic Symposium, said, “The international Coptic community believes that to effectively address Egyptian Christians' concerns, Egypt needs to implement several key legislative reforms and affirmative actions." However, Meunier noted that, “Despite the censure of the U.S. State Department, United Nations, NGOs such as Amnesty International, and bipartisan members of Congress, the Egyptian government — led by President Hosni Mubarak — remains impervious to legitimate Coptic grievances."Thus far, Copts have not reaped the benefits of limited reforms proposed by President Mubarak," he added. Meunier's letter also included a list of recommended reforms, assembled by a panel of internationally-recognized scholars at the Symposium. The reforms suggested by Meunier include altering Egyptian legislation to affect a complete separation of religion and state, abolishing outdated laws such as the Hamayouni Decree limiting church construction, and allocating positions for Copts in high-ranking government, law enforcement, and other official occupations.
Kenneth ChanThe Christian Post

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La Llave (Albi w Meftaa7o)

Congressman Tom Lantos remarks on Lebanon Before The U.S. House of Representatives
May 18, 2005
The resolution before the Committee expresses Congress ongoing concern that the withdrawal of Syrian troops and intelligence officials from Lebanon be verifiably complete and that the Lebanese people be allowed to choose their own leaders freely and fairly. I commend my colleague and friend Ms. Ros-Lehtinen for bringing these important issues before the Committee.

I join with all my colleagues in admiration of Lebanese people power, which defied the odds and succeeded in expelling all or, at least, nearly all -- of Syrias uniformed forces. And I welcome what we all hope will be a peaceful transition to sovereign, democratic rule in Lebanon.

The Lebanese people are scheduled to vote for their new parliament on four consecutive Sundays beginning May 29. This is an important and welcome step. It is nevertheless regrettable that they apparently will conduct their elections according to a law passed under full Syrian occupation in the year 2000, which could stack the deck in favor of the Syrian elements, particularly Hizballah. We hope that the wisdom of the Lebanese people, displayed in vast numbers, will over-ride the structural deficiencies of the law.

I fully endorse this resolutions advocacy of US assistance to help Lebanon restore democratic rule, including the separation of powers, the rule of law, and the respect for fundamental freedoms. It is firmly in our interest to support this process, as the flourishing of democracy in Lebanon will no doubt have a multiplier effect throughout the region.

Mr. Chairman, Syrian withdrawal and the restoration of democracy in Lebanon absorb our attention at the moment, but we must not forget that it is also vital that the new government in Lebanon fulfill all of its own obligations under UN Security Council resolution 1559. That especially includes the requirement that all militias, including Hizballah, be disarmed and disbanded and that the Government of Lebanon assert its authority over all of Lebanons territory. We will expect the Lebanese Armed Forces -- as a first step -- to put an immediate halt to the flow of arms across the Syrian border to Hizballah.

Mr. Chairman, as you know, I sponsored legislation passed by Congress four years ago, with your support, which made a portion of US aid to Lebanon contingent upon Lebanons taking control of all of its borders. I do not intend to introduce a similar resolution at this moment, as I am hopeful that the new Lebanese government, once it gains its footing, will take the necessary actions to demonstrate its adherence to all aspects of UN Security Council resolution 1559 the resolution that made possible Lebanons rebirth as a nation.

But I will remain seized with these issues regarding Lebanons borders and Hizballah and, in the near future, I will introduce a resolution that I hope will demonstrate that this Committee and this Congress share these concerns. The stability of the entire region depends on an end to militia rule in Lebanon and full implementation of Lebanese sovereignty throughout that country on all of its borders.

The resolution before us focuses on certain crucial ingredients of Lebanese sovereignty the withdrawal of Syrian troops and the holding of free and fair elections. It is an important resolution. I support it, and I urge all of my colleagues to do likewise.

I thank you, Mr. Chairman.

The invisible occupation of Lebanon
By Ghassan Rubeiz csmonitor.com
Syrian's withdrawal from Lebanon has increased freedom there, but Lebanon still faces internal threats: self-serving political leaders, a strange power-sharing formula that divides up power among religious sects, and a scary national debt.
Sectarian politics is the most fundamental structural problem in Lebanon.
Political representation and government positions are apportioned to 17 sects, in three religious communities: Christian, Muslim and Druze. The exuberant energy and phenomenal organization of popular demonstrations after the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Harari brought people across the religious divides to the street to demand Syrian withdrawal and democratic reforms.
Three months after the demonstrations, this energy may be starting to dissipate in the face of the challenges of nation building -- including national elections.
Voting for a new parliament starts May 29. The parliament will elect a new president who is expected (according to the Taif Accord, a legal document that ended the civil war) to be a Maronite Christian. The President will assign a prime minister from the Sunni community. The parliament will elect a Shiite speaker of the house.
The Taif Accord was written in an ambiguous style making it difficult to create a working democracy. Taif assigns political representation to sects according to Lebanon's demography. Demography changes rapidly, and as a result, the representatives become more preoccupied with numbers than with problem solving.
Regrettably, the traditional leaders who led Lebanon into its current quandary are back in command of politics, organizing lists of candidacy for the new parliament. Ideology is secondary to money and social status in the contest for political power. Among the Sunnis, the Harari family is enlisting candidates from the various sects and forming hard-to-beat electoral lists for the election. Rafik Harari's son and his sister have emerged as powerful national politicians.
Hezbollah leads the Shiites, which are an estimated 35 percent of the Lebanese population. The group is likely to score well in the elections, given its significant demographic representation and its popularity as a "resistance" force. Walid Jumblat, a master of rhetoric and theatrical politics, leads the Druze minority community in the electoral campaign.
General Michael Aoun is the most popular politician in the Christian community, which has shrunk demographically over the last few decades. Aoun's popularity is not easy to explain. He has a large following among the educated youth, who dream of radical change. He is a former army commander, secular and non-sectarian. He recently returned to Lebanon after a period of exile in France.
Aoun's popularity, however, makes him a threat to many traditional politicians within the Christian establishment. And his bloody factional fighting in the civil war and his sudden emergence on the scene, as a strong presidential figure, scare many people who worry that he made had made too many questionable deals for support, such as from groups like Hizbullah.
Political observers do not expect much from the new parliament. Christians complain bitterly about the current election law. They claim that the law is structured to disqualify the best representatives.
They argue that leading Muslim candidates are likely to carry too many co-opted Christian candidates on their lists, thus depriving Christians of an independent voice. The Shiites, for their part, complain (covertly) that their share of 20 percent of the parliamentary quota is not fair, given that every third Lebanese is a Shiite.
The Lebanese abroad, who are as a whole, rich, educated and influential, are not allowed to vote in the Lebanese elections. The majority of the Lebanese diaspora is Christian.
The international diaspora is vital to Lebanon's future.

Hezbollah: "A-Team Of Terrorists"
Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hasan Nasrallah (Photo: CBS/60 Minutes)"It has a significant presence of its trained operatives inside the United States waiting for the call to action."Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla.
Hezbollah activists at a rally in Jibshet, Lebanon. (Photo: AP)
(CBS) This is what deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage had in mind a few months ago when he pinned this label on Hezbollah. "Hezbollah may be the 'A-Team of Terrorists' and maybe al-Qaeda is actually the 'B' team. And they're on the list and their time will come,” says Armitage. “There is no question about it - it's all in good time. And we're going to go after these problems just like a high school wrestler goes after a match. We're going to take them down one at a time." What he's talking about started about two decades ago as a ragtag militia group fighting the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon. But there's no longer anything ragtag about Hezbollah now, Correspondent Ed Bradley reports. The Islamic government of Iran reportedly subsidizes Hezbollah to the tune of $100 million a year, providing its several thousand well-trained fighters with sophisticated weapons systems. Iran also sends advisors, and according to U.S. intelligence, issues its marching orders. Sen. Bob Graham, the Florida democrat who chaired the Senate Intelligence Committee in the last Congress, and is now running for president, says the Bush Administration should be more concerned with Hezbollah than they are with Saddam Hussein. “Does Saddam Hussein or Hezbollah represent the greater threat to the United States,” asks Graham. “In my opinion, there's no question that Hezbollah is that greater threat, and yes, we should go after it first and go after it before we go to war with Iraq.” Graham says Hezbollah has a global network of radical Islamic supporters, with enough operatives in the U.S. to pose a terrorist threat here. “It has a significant presence of its trained operatives inside the United States waiting for the call to action,” says Graham. But if we were to know that classified information, would we be more concerned? Would we be more afraid of Hezbollah than we are today? “Well, I'm more concerned and more afraid than if I did not know what the scale of their presence was in the United States,” says Graham, without any hesitation. “They are a violent terrorist group. And they have demonstrated throughout their now 25-year history a hatred of the United States and a willingness to kill our people.” Senator Graham is referring to the 1983 truck bombing of the Marine barracks in Lebanon, which resulted in the death of 241 U.S. Marines. Hezbollah's supporters say that attack was a response to shelling by U.S. warships of Islamic factions in the Lebanese civil war. The U.S. called it terrorism. But Hezbollah's leader, Sheikh Hasan Nasrallah, who we met in Beirut, insists that his group no longer poses a threat to the U.S. Unlike the leadership of al-Qaeda, he isn't hiding from anyone. You may never have heard of Nasrallah before, but he is a hugely popular figure, not just in the region but also among Arabs living in the West “ I believe the Americans are just saying what the Israelis want them to say. I consider this to be an Israeli accusation coming out of an American mouth and nothing more,” says Nasrallah. When he became its leader ten years ago, Nasrallah turned Hezbollah into a formidable fighting force. Few people know more about him than journalist Nick Blanford, who has covered Lebanon for eight years and is now writing a book about Hezbollah and Sheikh Nasrallah. “People adore him. I mean, I talked to some Hezbollah fighters that speak of him almost as they would a wife or a mother,” says Blanford. “They think of him before they go to sleep at night, that he's always in their thoughts, so he has this tremendous power over the rank and file.” The militant Islamic group has enough power and trained skilled commandos who are specialized in attacking Israeli forces that have occupied southern Lebanon for 22 years. Their most effective weapon: remote-controlled roadside bombs that were detonated when Israeli patrols passed by -- as in the 1983 attack in southern Lebanon. All told, Israel lost more than 900 soldiers in Lebanon. In May 2000, the Israeli Army withdrew. What did Israel's withdrawal do for Hezbollah in the eyes of the Arab world? “Well, there's enormous boost for Hezbollah,” says Blanford. “I mean, this was a small Arab organization that had defeated the mightiest military force the Middle East has ever seen.” With the Israelis out of Lebanon, Nasrallah encouraged, and assisted, the Palestinian uprising against Israel. He has acknowledged sending secret agents carrying weapons to the West Bank, where he is considered a hero. Some kids in the Gaza Strip even dress like him, down to the beard and the glasses. At one event, a boy playing Nasrallah was flanked by one child who played a security guard, and another child dressed as a suicide bomber. In Lebanon, where Hezbollah runs a network of schools and hospitals and participates in local elections, Nasrallah, a Muslim, is a hero even to the country's Christian President, Emile Lahoud. “For us Lebanese, and I can tell you a majority of Lebanese, Hezbollah is a national resistance movement,” says Lahoud. “If it wasn't for them, we couldn't have liberated our land. And because of that, we have big esteem for the Hezbollah movement.” President Lahoud has such high esteem for Hezbollah, he's ceded control of the border with Israel to them -- a border where Hezbollah and Israeli soldiers now confront each other just a few yards apart. This side is controlled by Hezbollah. The other side is controlled by Israel. Hezbollah has already fired rockets across the border, and U.S. officials believe that in the past two years they've been stockpiling rockets in this area hidden in caves and underground bunkers -- higher quality Iranian rockets that could reach Haifa about fifty miles away. Openly calling for terrorism against Israel, Nasrallah is also urging on suicide operations. "In Palestine, these operations are the only way to root out the Zionists," says Nasrallah during a speech. That's the kind of material Hezbollah broadcasts daily on its own television station, Al Manar, which reaches a worldwide audience by satellite. Because of Washington's support for Israel, Hezbollah is conducting a ferocious propaganda offensive against the United States. This propaganda message broadcast on Al Manar portrays U.S. foreign policy as Satanic and shows an image of the Statue of Liberty, a skull for her face, wearing a gown dripping with the blood of other nations. But even though he's one of the most powerful anti-American voices in the Middle East, Nasrallah says he has no use for Saddam Hussein. In fact, he blames the U.S. for Saddam's rise. “The U.S. provided political and military support to the Iraqi regime for decades. They created this mess. I don't believe Saddam alone should be held accountable. We should also go after those who supported him -- like the American government.” Nasrallah has described the war on Saddam as a Satanic American-Zionist plan to dominate the Arab world. But what is Satanic about removing Saddam from power? “The United States isn't seeking democracy in Iraq. It's after the oil in Iraq,” says Nasrallah. “And that isn't exactly a humanitarian pursuit. The U.S. wants to impose its political will on Iraq and wants to impose Israel's domination in the region. Certainly these objectives are not moral objectives in my opinion. In fact, we say they are satanic objectives.” And yet, Nasrallah has spoken out against terrorist attacks on the U.S., including the 9/11attack. “We reject those methods, and believe they contradict Islam and the teachings of the Quran, which do not permit this barbarity,” says Nasrallah. But Senator Graham doesn't buy it. “There are a number of lessons we should learn from Sept. 11th. One of those lessons is that these terrorist groups tend to do what they say they're going to do,” says Graham. “If they define the United States as being Satanic - and that therefore they want to kill us - they will find ways to carry out that objective.” Is he convinced that they possess weapons of mass destruction? “I'm not certain whether they possess them,” adds Graham. “But I am confident that they could possess them through their close affiliation with Iran, which has a larger warehouse of chemical and biological weapons, and is closer to gaining nuclear weapons capability than Iraq.” So if Iran wants them to have weapons of mass destruction, will they have it? Graham believes they will, and in large quantities, too. Iran isn't the only country that supports Hezbollah. Syria allows Hezbollah to train fighters in remote camps in Syria and territory under its control in Lebanon. “In recent years they have been infiltrating into this core in the United States people who have gone through their training camps and have the skills of terrorist activity,” says Graham. According to the FBI, Hezbollah has never conducted a terrorist attack in the United States. The FBI says that its members here are raising money for activities overseas and nothing more than that. But there has to be a first for every organization. The first for al-Qaeda was Sept.11, 2001. When will the first attack against an American in America by Hezbollah take place? We asked Lebanon's President Lahoud, a political ally of Hezbollah, if Americans have anything to fear from them. “Americans? For sure not,” says Lahoud. The United States is the strongest backer of Israel. But it's the same kind of thing you see with al-Qaeda, attacking the United States to get at Israel. “Well, believe me, they don't have anything to attack the U.S. or any U.S. citizen for sure,” assures Nasrallah. “But Israel is our enemy. That's something else. It has nothing else to do with the U.S.” But that's not what he said last month just days before the war began. "We are confident," says Nasrallah. "The Iraqi people cannot accept the humiliation of a U.S. occupation government," which he added, "would be a Zionist occupation government." Then he warned the Americans they'd be met with rifles, blood and suicide operations. “American policies in the region encourage this kind of retaliation, whether we agree with it or not. I am expressing the reality,” says Nasrallah. “I believe the continuation of American policy will make enemies of all Arabs and Muslims - meaning hundreds of millions of Arabs and one billion four hundred million Muslims around the world. Lots of groups will surface, not necessarily al-Qaeda, and they'll be impossible to bring to justice.”

Berri's 'Muted Bombshell': Embassies with Syria Soon

Milhim Barakaat
To listen click here:
Zuhour el Amar
Rja3eeli

Miss Universe 2005 contestants (L-R) Irma Dimas of El Salvador, Nadine Njeim of Lebanon and Meriam George of Egypt dance during a beach party on the Thai resort island of Phuket, May 19, 2005. The Miss Universe 2005 pageant will take place in Bangkok, Thailand, on May 31, 2005. REUTERS/Adrees Latif

click here to listen: Kazem al Saaher
2-A7ebeeni Bela 3oqaden

Where is the newsweek to report about this factual events?
In the evening of Friday May 6, 2005, an explosion fully destroyed the Sawt al-Mahabbah (Voice of Charity; VOC) radio station and badly damaged the neighboring St. John's Maronite Catholic church in the Christian town of Jounieh, some 15 kilometers north of Beirut, in the Christian heartland. Two persons were reported to have died and seven others seriously wounded. Earlier on that day, the Voice of Charity radio had broadcast a live sit-in by relatives of Lebanese detainees held in Syrian prisons within an all-day program dedicated to Lebanese prisoners in Syrian and Israeli prisons. Two masses were also simultaneously held for the Lebanese detainees in front of the UN house in Downtown Beirut and at the St. John's church in Jounieh. The Voice of Charity operates under the auspices of the Assembly of the Catholic Patriarchs and Bishops in Lebanon. It was founded in 1984 by the Congregation of the Lebanese Maronite Missionaries, who is the custodians of the station ever since its inception.

In his Sunday sermon in Bkirki, Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir, who visited the explosion site Saturday morning, said there was still an "invisible evil hand" who insists on bringing terror and instability to Lebanese civilians. "However, nothing and no one will stand in the way of the people's independence," the Patriarch added. A Lebanese MP claimed the joint Lebanese-Syrian secu

Today's Song Mil7im Zain
Click here to listen 1. Riddou 7abeebi




Implementing Bush's Vision
To Effectively Spread Democracy, We Must Balance Values and Geopolitical Challenges
By Henry A. KissingerMonday, May 16, 2005;
Extraordinary advances of democracy have occurred in recent months: elections in Afghanistan, Iraq, Ukraine and Palestine; local elections in Saudi Arabia; Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon; the opening up of the presidential election in Egypt; and upheavals against entrenched authoritarians in Kyrgyzstan. This welcome trend was partly triggered by President Bush's Middle East policy and accelerated by his second inaugural address, which elevated the progress of freedom in the world to the defining objective of U.S. foreign policy.
Pundits have interpreted these events as a victory of "idealists" over "realists" in the debate over conduct of American foreign policy. In fact, the United States is probably the only country in which "realist" can be used as a pejorative epithet. No serious realist should claim that power is its own justification. No idealist should imply that power is irrelevant to the spread of ideals. The real issue is to establish a sense of proportion between these two essential elements of policy. Overemphasis of either leads to stagnation or overextension.
Values are essential for defining objectives; strategy is what implements them by establishing priorities and defining timing.
Strategy must begin with the recognition that the freedom agenda does not make geopolitical analysis irrelevant. There are issues for which crusading strategies tend to be off the mark. The rise of China is, in essence, a geopolitical challenge, not a primarily ideological one.
U.S. relations with India are another case in point. During the Cold War, India saw no imperative to support the cause of democracy against communism. Its national interest was not involved in issues such as the freedom of Berlin. Now India is, in effect, a strategic partner, not because of compatible domestic structures but because of parallel security interests in Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean, and vis-a-vis radical Islam.
In its own terms, a clear-eyed commitment to the freedom agenda should keep these principles in mind:
· The process of democratization does not depend on a single decision and will not be completed in a single stroke. Elections, however desirable, are only the beginning of a long enterprise. The willingness to accept their outcomes is a more serious hurdle. The establishment of a system that enables the minority to become a majority is even more complex.
· Americans need to understand that successes do not end their engagement but most probably deepen it. For as we involve ourselves, we bear the responsibility even for results we did not anticipate. We must deal with those consequences regardless of our original intentions and not act as if our commitments are as changeable as opinion polls.
· Elections are not an inevitable guarantee of a democratic outcome. Radicals such as Hezbollah and Hamas seem to have learned the mechanics of democracy in order to undermine it and establish total control.
As the world's dominating democratic power, we must relate values to power, institutional political change to geopolitical necessities. In countries where a vacuum must be filled and U.S. forces are present, the American capacity to affect events is considerable. Even then, however, it is not possible to automatically apply models created over centuries in the homogeneous societies of Europe and the United States to ethnically diverse and religiously divided societies in the Middle East, Asia and Africa. In multiethnic societies, majority rule implies permanent subjugation of the minority unless it is part of a strong federal structure and a system of checks and balances. To achieve this by negotiation between parties that consider dominance by the other groups a threat to their very survival is an extraordinarily elusive undertaking. It will, however, determine the degree to which democratic goals in Iraq and, to a lesser extent, in Afghanistan can be achieved.
Lebanon illustrates another aspect of these considerations. The upheaval that expelled Syrian forces is a testimony to the growth of popular consciousness but also to the changed strategic environment. Syria, too weak to resist international pressures, may calculate that withdrawal eventually will return the situation to the chaos that triggered Syrian intervention in the first place.
Three times since 1958 -- the United States that year, Syria in 1976 and Israel in 1981 -- foreign intervention held the ring in Lebanon to prevent collapse into violence and to arbitrate among the Christian, Sunni, Shiite and Druze groups that constitute the Lebanese body politic. The internal conflict is made all the sharper because the established constitutional arrangement no longer reflects the actual demographic balance.
CONTINUED 1 2 Next >
May 19, 2005, 04:30
Syria is the main conduit for foreign militants fighting for al Qaeda-ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in Iraq, a senior US administration official said yesterday. "We're concerned that Zarqawi is supported by a foreign fighter network that gets foreign fighters largely through Syria," the official said to a small group of reporters on condition of anonymity."There are locations in Syria where foreign fighters and money and logistics come together and then transit to Iraq, and those foreign fighters and money come from elsewhere in the Muslim world. That's really been the Zarqawi connection we have been most focused on," the official said. Jordanian-born Zarqawi is a main figure behind the bombings, kidnappings and other attacks which have disrupted U.S. efforts to stabilize Iraq since the 2003 US-led invasion which ousted President Saddam Hussein.Syria has taken "some cosmetic steps" to address the concerns of Iraq and the United States about the infiltration of foreign fighters into Iraq, but "not nearly what they ought to be doing," the administration official said. The Bush administration has made building democracy and stability in the Middle East a top priority but has had little success in its efforts to engage Syria. "They are a major disruptive force, they are disruptive in Iraq, they are disruptive of the efforts between Palestinians and Israelis to come up with a Middle East peace," he said.The United States has also appealed to Syria to stop interfering in Lebanon, let elections move forward and stop supporting militant groups like Hamas and Hizbollah, the official said. Lebanon is set to hold its first general election without direct Syrian influence for 33 years starting on May 29."Syria in some sense has been a source of instability in the region, it is time for them to make a strategic choice and get on the other side on these issues," the official said. - Reuters