Update: Israel to attack Lebanon soon:
U.S. diplomats warned as Hizbullah threat to weakening Beirut government grows
I object to all the coverage in the shit War Dailies on bullshit politics and rigged elections.
No matter what country they cover, it's always the same.
That's why newspapers are shit now.
See:
Everyone Knows About the New York Times
The New York Times' McClellanGate Watch
"Presidential vote in Lebanon is derailed; No consensus on a successor" by Laila Bassam/Reuters November 23, 2007
BEIRUT - President Emile Lahoud said he will take action before leaving office if there is no deal. Like the opposition, he says the government of Prime Minister Fuad Saniora is illegitimate.
Although he has not said what he plans to do, one option is asking the army to take over.
Lahoud told a Hezbollah-led delegation: "I stand by my position that this government is illegitimate and unconstitutional. If it thinks it can go on without the election because of outside backing, it will bring catastrophes on the country sooner or later. Therefore, even if I stand alone, there are duties I must perform."
The governing coalition rejected as unconstitutional a proposal by Christian opposition leader Michel Aoun for him to name a candidate for the presidency, which is reserved for a Maronite Christian in Lebanon's sectarian power-sharing system.
Aoun said the candidate, whom he did not name, would not belong to his parliamentary bloc and would be replaced after legislative elections in the spring of 2009.
The leader of the largest Christian bloc in parliament, Aoun has insisted the presidency is rightfully his. Lahoud and the opposition say Saniora's government lost its legitimacy when all of its Shi'ite ministers resigned last year.
The anti-Syrian majority contends that Saniora's government would automatically take over presidential powers until a new head of state can be elected, a view supported by European ministers in Beirut on a mediation drive.
The United States and its local allies blame Syria for the deadlock. Hezbollah and its Christian allies say the US-backed majority wants to keep them from their rightful share in power, and accuse Washington of trying to control Lebanon.
Troops and police tightened security in Beirut ahead of the scheduled parliamentary session. There was no military parade or other key events to mark the 64th anniversary of independence."
Aw, the whole thing kept the Lebanese from celebrating independence.
As if they really had any from USrael's manipulations.
Israel's Dirty Games
The Redirection
Wanna meet the candidates?
"Lebanon’s Leaders Unable to Agree as Deadline Nears" by THANASSIS CAMBANIS
BEIRUT, Nov. 22 — Nassib Lahoud, a contender for president lives in a security cocoon far from the public eye. Almost all of Lebanon’s important politicians do these days, including Mr. Lahoud’s competitors in the presidential contest, who are confined to their apartments, barricaded in family compounds, or like the Hezbollah leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, hiding in a secret location.
That's because Israel is trying to kill him (Nasrallah).
Such is the nature of Lebanon’s exceedingly opaque presidential campaign, whose outcome is being negotiated in a series of last-minute deal-making sessions in this intractably divided country.
More distressing than the need for such security, some politicians say, is the risk of reinforcing a political culture that alienates the public. The president is selected by Parliament, not by a direct popular vote.
Boutros Harb, the other declared candidate of the governing majority coalition, leaves his home only at night. Mr. Harb remains mostly confined to his sprawling apartment in the hills overlooking Beirut, protected by an armed guard.
Gen. Michel Aoun, the candidate of the opposition, conducts most of his business in a fortresslike compound in a mountain suburb north of the capital.
And these candidates, as cut off as they are from the public, have it better than many members of Parliament, who, in fear of assassination, have lived barricaded for the last two months in the luxurious waterfront Phoenicia Hotel, where they endlessly recalculate the odds of the different presidential contenders.
Yup, our toady parliamentarians living in the rich houses and luxurious hotels.
As usual!
Looming over them all is Mr. Nasrallah, the powerful leader of the Shiite Islamist group Hezbollah. His authority could unleash or restrain hundreds of thousands of followers. But he rarely appears in public, delivering most of his pronouncements by video, as he did last week in a speech that threatened chaos if anyone tried to disarm Hezbollah’s militia.
Yup, the "enemy' Nasrallah "looming" over everything.
And the U.S./Saudi/Israeli roles in destabilizing the place shall go unmentioned!
Only three of the plausible presidential candidates — all of them considered part of the governing coalition — have actually published platforms explaining their positions on the nation’s pressing issues: Hezbollah’s militia, how to deal with Israel and how to reform the economy.
All the "plausible" candidates are ones the U.S. has selected!
The compromise candidates who have passed preliminary, if halfhearted, muster with both the governing coalition and the opposition remain ciphers.
Well, "halfhearted" plausibility, anyway! Pffft!
One of them is a 79-year-old former cabinet minister named Michel Eddé, famed for his fine cooking and lively conversation. He is widely respected but considered a weak leader with little executive experience.
So how did we end up with Bush?
The strongest compromise candidates are the army chief of staff and the governor of the central bank — Gen. Michel Suleiman and Riad Salameh — both technically barred by the Constitution from assuming the presidency, although politicians say that if the two sides reach a deal, that restriction could be overcome.
General Suleiman issued an Independence Day statement on Wednesday, the day before Lebanon’s national holiday.
General Suleiman, urging soldiers to ignore the disputes: “Any attack on security is national treason, and any weapon directed internally is a treacherous weapon [that have] almost split the country into scattered parts.”
If he wins the presidency, General Suleiman would be the second head of the army in a row to be named to the office.
A strongman like General Suleiman or an unknown quantity like Mr. Salameh could at least begin to bridge the chasm between the government and the opposition, whose politicians have rarely spoken to each other directly during the last two months of negotiations.
Oh, so Lebanon is due to get a MILITARY STRONGMAN that the U.S. LIKES!!!
That's what inserting Fatah al-Islam via the Saudi stooges was all about!
Arm Lebanon's military to take over. So when do they go after Hezbollah?
When USrael orders them to?
Antipathy runs high between the sides. Mr. Nasrallah, in his most recent speech, called the current government “a bunch of thieves” whom he accused of selling out Lebanon’s interests to Israel and the United States.
Unfortunately, Amurkns, Nasrallah is correct!
Mr. Lahoud, a construction magnate who was the top presidential choice of the governing majority, has all but written off his chances of taking office, acceding to the confusing dictates of Lebanon’s selection process.
His main hope is that at the end of the process, the increasingly divided political groups will begin to work together directly:
“How can you restore trust if you’re not talking?”
Tell it to the U.S. and Israel, bud!
