Last Man Standing...

Words of Wisdom!

...He who drank the ocean, will not choke on a stream...

Heaven

...was only 2 connections and about six hours away!

(Red Beach, Vieques, Puerto Rico)

My Countrymen

Where Does This Crap Come From?

www.cnn.com
"...Fatah Islam’s confrontation has generated Internet support messages from other Islamic militants. The Washington-based SITE Institute, which monitors militant trafficking, said Friday it had obtained a 7-minute video allegedly from a group calling itself al-Qaida in al-Sham — an Arabic name for the region of Syria, Lebanon and Jordan — warning against continued bombardment of Nahr el-Bared.
If the shelling continues, “Christians in Lebanon will suffer and tourism and trade will also suffer,” said the obscure group, which is not known to have carried out any attacks. Christians are a large minority in Lebanon..."

As far as I can remember, the prime minister is a sunni muslim, the same faith as the militants trapped in the camp, and he seems to be the one running the show here? And the army, well they are a mixed breed! Christians, muslims, druze and so on... So, how did this all of a sudden become solely a "christian" generated problem? Why is it that we (arabs) automatically point fingers at the other faith?
Why cant we share problems and find solutions together?
Is it a gene that we lack or are we just plain stupid?
The laughing stock of the world; camel jockeys and nothing more...

More History Lessons Please...

Past: We know what happened next!
...In the 1960's, the Lebanese government authority was challenged by the presence of armed Palestinian guerrillas in the south of the country, and clashes between the Lebanese army and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) became increasingly frequent. For a long time, ex-Lebanese president Charles Helou resisted their demands, but in 1969, after failing to end the rebellion militarily, he finally gave in and signed the Cairo Agreement, which permitted Palestinian guerrillas to launch raids into Israel from bases inside Lebanon, hoping that they would confine their operations to cross-border attacks against Israel and would stop challenging the Lebanese government. As it turned out, the clashes only intensified...

...The emergence of the Palestinian movement as the standard bearer of Arab resistance after the Arabs' military defeat in the June 1967 war was the next phase of Lebanon's involvement in the Palestine question. The defeat had so discredited the Arab governments and the Arab masses had become so demoralized that Arab public opinion looked to the skirmishes and commando operations of the Palestinians against Israel for some consolation...

THE 1969 CAIRO AGREEMENT
The Lebanese government had three pressing needs: to find a way to disclaim responsibility for the Palestinians' actions in order to ward off Israeli retaliation; to maintain the fig leaf of Lebanese sovereignty in order to satisfy its domestic critics; and to be seen as an advocate of the Palestinian cause to its opposition parties and Muslim constituencies. In May 1969 the Sunni Prime Minister, Rashid Karami, proposed that commando activity on Lebanese territory could be made compatible with Lebanese sovereignty if there was cooperation (tansiq) between the Lebanese Army and the Palestinian Armed Struggle Command. Although initially rejected by the Christian politicians, this proposal was eventually incorporated in the Cairo Agreement of October 1969, which gave the Palestinians the right of autonomous administrative control over their refugee camps in Lebanon.
The Palestinians in Lebanon were now officially given the right to use the camps as bases, install weapons, and recruit resident Palestinians for the resistance. In return, the Palestinians promised to control the lawless elements in their ranks, to cooperate with Lebanese authorities to ensure non-interference in Lebanese affairs, and to recognize that the "Lebanese civil and military authorities will continue to exercise their full rights and responsibilities in all Lebanese regions in all circumstances."
The Cairo Agreement did not resolve the basic issue of Lebanese sovereignty that the Christian politicians felt was being compromised by the actions of the Palestinians. This sentiment was forcefully expressed by the Kata'ib leader, Pierre Gemayel, who strongly criticized the Agreement as a betrayal of Lebanon's sovereignty and who viewed the actions of the Palestinians as not a Lebanese internal crisis but a difference between two independent and sovereign states in which one is openly attempting to interfere in the affairs of the other. The whole problem is clear: it is no longer the actions of the fida'yyun; it is our system, our regime, our institutions which are desired under the cover of the Palestinian commandos and the sacred cause of Palestine.

Present: No need to comment!
...Lebanese soldiers fight Islamic militants in the northern city of Tripoli in Lebanon. At least 22 soldiers were killed and at least 16 wounded in a battle outside Nahr al-Bared, a Palestinian refugee camp outside Tripoli. They were clashing with militants from Fatah al-Islam, a group that some Lebanese officials say has ties to al Qaeda and the Syrian government...

Future: Any thoughts?

... Exhausted !