On the Lebanese bombing

On Friday 19 Oct 2012 at 2:50 pm local time, a bomb went off in the Ashrafiyeh neighborhood of east Beirut, killing Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hassan and four others.

The blast created a large crater, and blew the balconies off nearby buildings. Gen. al-Hassan’s remains could only be identified by his revolver and his watch. The assassins wanted to make sure they got the job done.

Logically, there are only two motives for the bombing: (1) retaliation, or (2) false flag.

A false flag is the most plausible….

RETALIATION

Gen. al-Hassan (a Sunni) was an intelligence official who was staunchly pro-NATO, and anti-Hezbollah / anti-Assad. On 9 Aug 2012 he had Information Minister Michel Samaha arrested for allegedly plotting to use explosives stoke sectarian violence within Lebanon. As part of this, Gen. Hassan had a friend of Samaha suggest a terrorist act. Samaha responded that he would need Syrian approval before contemplating any such a thing. Voila: Samaha was a “terrorist.” This was probably done on U.S. orders, since Mr. Samaha was pro-Assad. The USA considers Mr. Samaha a “terrorist,” and has imposed sanctions on him.

However the whole arrest story have been a scam. Pro-Assad regime parties in Lebanon (including Hezbollah) did not come to Samaha’s defense. They say he is an asset of French intelligence. It is not known what happened to Samaha after his arrest. He could be relaxing in a Swiss chalet.

Further, the parties that want sectarian violence in Lebanon are the NATO-Israeli-GCC alliance, and anyone who opposes Assad and Hezbollah. They want Syria’s civil war to spread to Lebanon.

Hezbollah does not want this, since it will give Israel an excuse to attack again. 

FALSE FLAG

The blast was in a Greek Orthodox neighborhood that tends to be anti-Assad and anti-Hezbollah, and has the headquarters of the March 14 Alliance (anti-Hezbollah) and the Kataeb Party (anti-Hezbollah). That made it perfect for a false flag. All false flags are designed for maximum terror effect. The more bystanders killed and wounded, the better. The Beirut bomb exploded in a highly crowded area, wounding 80+ people, some of them horribly.

Gen. Hassan made no secret that he worked with Saudi intelligence against Assad. This again made him perfect for a false flag attack. Who would anyone suspect other than Assad and Hezbollah? Certainly not Israel, since Israel never perpetrates false flags. Right?

If Hezbollah wanted to eliminate Gen. al-Hassan, then it could have been done elsewhere. Why would Hezbollah or Assad bring condemnation on themselves by killing and wounding bystanders? Why would they want Syria’s war to spread to Lebanon? Why give Israel an excuse to start bombing and invading again? Syria's Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi described the bombing as a "cowardly, terrorist act.” Iranian foreign minister Ali Akbar Salehi condemned it as well, saying it was part of a plot to spread Syria’s war to Lebanon.

Recently Gen. al-Hassan had Hezbollah under surveillance, and stumbled upon Mr. Fayez Karam, a high-ranking official in the Free Patriotic Movement, which is pro-Hezbollah. No one in Lebanon likes Israel, and politicians score points by claiming to break up “Israeli spy rings.”
 
Therefore Mr. Karan was found guilty of providing Israel with information on Hezbollah and the Free Patriotic Movement. He was sentenced to two years in prison, but served a shorter sentence, which raised an outcry over the preferential treatment given to elite political figures accused of collaborating with Israel.

Gen. Al-Wassan’s removal of Mr. Karan (an Israeli asset) once again made the general a perfect target for a false flag. Mossad gets revenge, and also gets sectarian clashes in Lebanon.

STANDARD PATTERN

The assassination of prime minister Rafik Hariri in 2005 was definitely a false flag (probably done by Mossad) that caused the Syrian government to pull its troops out of Lebanon. The NATO powers told Assad that if he pulled out his troops, and continued with neo-liberal “reforms,” then Assad would have no problem. In reality, the NATO powers had always targeted Assad for removal, in order to weaken Russia and Iran.

The assassination of Rafik Hariri in 2005 was blamed on Assad and Hezbollah.  Likewise Friday’s bombing is being blamed on blamed on Assad and Hezbollah.  So say the western corporate media, plus everyone in Lebanon who is pro-NATO.

The former prime minister Saad Hariri (pro-NATO, and billionaire son of the assassinated Rafik Hariri) told CNN that “he had no doubt that the Syrian president Bashar al-Assad was responsible for the attack.”

Prime Minister Najib Mikati (pro-NATO) portrays himself and all Sunnis as “victims” of Hezbollah and Assad. Today at a news conference, Mr. Mikati said (with no proof) that Assad was behind Friday’s bombing.

Pro-NATO Sunnis are demanding that Mr. Mikati attack Hezbollah, or resign. Therefore a whiny Mr. Mikati made a faux offer to resign, saying, “I am going through a very critical phase, because my (Sunni) sect feels that it is being targeted (by Hezbollah and Assad).”

THE “SWING VOTE”

Lebanon is split between Sunnis (27%) Shiites (27%) and the various Christian groups (41%). Most Sunnis (not all) are pro-NATO. Most Shiites are pro-Hezbollah, or pro-Amal. Most Alawites in Lebanon are pro-Assad.

Regarding the 210,000 Druze (5% of Lebanon’s population) their leader, Walid Junblatt, 73, alternates back and forth between allying with Hezbollah, and allying with Israel and the March 14 Alliance (pro-NATO) according to what he thinks will get a better deal for himself and his fellow Druze. Currently Mr. Junblatt is allied with the West against Assad and Hezbollah. He says Assad is “mad and demented,” and that Assad ordered the Friday bombing.

Among the various Christian groups, some are allied with NATO, and some with Hezbollah and Assad.

Michel Samaha, the Information Minister arrested in August, is a Christian (Greek Catholic), and is pro-Assad.

Samir Geagea, a militant Christian, is anti-Assad.

Palestinians are caught in the middle, and live in refugee camps.

The Sunnis and Shiites for the most part are on opposite sides, with some minor exceptions.

Everyone who is pro-NATO and anti-Assad and anti-Hezbollah is part of the “March 14 Alliance.” Opposing them is the “March 8 Coalition,” composed of more than a dozen Lebanese political groups, including Hezbollah and the Amal Movement.

The “swing vote” always lies with Christians. Therefore, regardless of the target, most false flag attacks occur in Christian neighborhoods, in order to turn Christians against Hezbollah and Assad. Friday’s blast was typical.                                    

SUNNIS ON THE MARCH

Pro-NATO Sunnis are blocking intersections, burning tires, firing weapons into the air, and calling on the government to resign, meaning they want Hezbollah out and Assad dead. Currently the Hezbollah-led coalition has a majority. 

The funeral for the late Gen. al-Hassan will be tomorrow (Sunday 21 Oct.)  In the government, the March 14 bloc (pro-NATO) called on their loyalists to make it a “Day of Rage” against anyone who does not support them.  They claim that Assad and Hezbollah want the war to spread to Lebanon, when in fact the March 14th Alliance wants this.

National Liberal Party leader MP Dori Chamoun (pro-NATO) and Kataeb party MP Samy Gemayel (pro-NATO) both said that the bombing was a result of the absence of a state capable of protecting its citizens. Translation: we must attack Hezbollah and Assad.

PROPAGANDA

With most false flags, after the target is eliminated, the corporate media invents of stories that the target had received repeated threats. With Friday’s bombing, the media is claiming (with no proof) that Gen. al-Hassan was repeatedly threatened by Assad. An article in “France 24” is typical:

“Wissam al-Hassan was a known opponent to Syria’s Bashar al-Assad and had alerted allied opposition members to a number of Syrian threats, it emerged Saturday. The general suspected Assad of murdering his mentor, former prime minister Rafiq Hariri.”

Sigh.

If the false flag does not create civil war in Lebanon, then the USA will say that “Al Qaeda did it.”