The GWOT isn't new

[NousDefionsDoc]

1984/03/16 - the Islamic Jihad kidnapped and later murdered Political Officer William Buckley in Beruit, Lebanon

RIP Sir.

Lest we forget.

[lksteve]

Originally Posted by NousDefionsDoc

1984/03/16 - the Islamic Jihad kidnapped and later murdered Political Officer William Buckley in Beruit, Lebanon

the embassy in Beirut was hit in '82, the Marine barracks in '83...Leon Klinghoffer was killed in '85 or '86...

and of course, the Munich Olympics in '72 still resonates with me...

[Jimbo]

Originally Posted by NDD

1984/03/16 - the Islamic Jihad kidnapped and later murdered Political Officer William Buckley in Beruit, Lebanon

Originally Posted by lksteve

the embassy in Beirut was hit in '82, the Marine barracks in '83

Both those ops were planned and run by the same guy: Imad Mughniyah

[NousDefionsDoc]

http://www.veteranen.info/~cedarsout...h/imad.eng.htm

[Jimbo]

Originally Posted by NousDefionsDoc

http://www.veteranen.info/~cedarsout...h/imad.eng.htm

That's him. He's a sweetheart.

There is RUMINT that he had a hand in the 1999 hijacking of the airliner in India, which is regarded by some as the rehersal for the Sept 11th attacks.

More:
http://www.meib.org/articles/0109_l1.htm

If you want to get heartburn, read up on what was going down in the Sudan in the early to mid 90s. Everyone was there. Hizbollah, AQ, even Carlos.

We had very, very few assets on the ground there (Billy Waugh, Cofer Black) given all that was going on.

[NousDefionsDoc]

is the link I posted an ok bio? Interesting about the Indian hijacking.

Agree about the Sudan.

We need to have lunch someday.

[Airbornelawyer]

As we watch current events unfold in Lebanon, I can't help but get a sense of coming full circle.

As we have discussed before on the question of when the war actually began, it depends on how you define the war. The war between modernism and anti-modern totalitarianisms (Fascism, Communism, Islamofascism, etc.) began in the wake of the Russian Civil War, and has been a shooting war at some place in the world since 1931.

The more relevant war with Islamofascism began in the wake of the Islamic Revolution (Inqilab-e Islami) in Iran, the rise of Islamist terrorist groups in Egypt to prominence with the killing of Anwar Sadat, and the rise of Islamist terrorist groups in Lebanon. Over the course of two decades, an earlier generation of Arab nationalist/socialist groups and nations - Ba'athist Syria, the PLO, Nabi Berri's Shi'ite Amal in Lebanon, etc. - lost influence to Islamists or accomodated to them. The fall of the Soviet Union weakened the nationalist/socialist elements even more.

Lebanese Shi'ites drifted away from Berri's Amal into the arms of Hizbullah, which, abetted by Syria and Iran, increased its military strength and provided a network of social services to co-opt the population. The traditional Christian vs. Muslim divide in Lebanon gave way to a complex web of Maronite Catholic and Greek Orthodox factions, Sunni Muslim factions, Druze, Shi'ite supporters of Amal and Hizbullah supporters, with a mishmash of terrorist group names mixed in (many just Hizbullah fronts).

After the Israeli invasion in 1982, and when US, French, Italian and British troops were in Lebanon in the early 1980s, people like Nabi Berri and Druze leader Walid Jumblatt were household names (at least among us foreign affairs geeks). For two decades since, they hardly came up. Now, they are in the news again.

It has been commented elsewhere that until September 11, 2001, Lebanon's Hizbullah had killed more Americans than any other terrorist group. More importantly, Hizbullah was al-Qa'ida before al-Qa'ida. Its specialty was the suicide bombing aimed at maximum casualties - the April 1983 US Embassy suicide bombing, the November 1983 suicide bombing of an Israeli HQ in Tyre. Even al-Qa'ida's signature, the simultaneous attack on multiple targets, was pioneered by Hizbullah, with the October 1983 simultaneous truck bombings that killed 241 US Marines, soldiers and sailors and 60 French paratroopers.

Although the Cedar Revolution shows promise, I think Lebanon may be headed toward civil war. Every Lebanese Army officer I served with was itching to fight Hizbullah and reassert control over their country, with Syrian control being the only reason they haven't already. Hizbullah is certainly ready to fight, and the Syrians and Iranians have made sure they have the means. If the Syrians do pull out, they will make sure their proxies remain to do their dirty work.

But Lebanon is just that - a proxy for Syrian and Iranian machinations. They are trying to do the same in Iraq. In winning this war, Damascus and Tehran are just as important as Beirut and Baghdad, if not more so.

[NousDefionsDoc]

That's a good piece AL. Well said.

[Roguish Lawyer]

Agreed. What do you propose to do about it, if anything, beyond what we are already doing?

[Airbornelawyer]

1. Keep doing what we are doing on the diplomatic and public diplomacy fronts.

2. Keep doing what I hope we are doing on the intelligence and special operations fronts to gather information and upset any Syrian plans to act as puppetmaster from behind the scenes.

3. Build up the Lebanese Army as a counterweight to Syria and Hizbullah. On paper, the Syrians, Egyptians and Saudis have large armies equipped with modern weapons (in the Syrian case, relatively modern, as they are a generation or two behind). The Lebanese Army, however, is qualitatively the best Arab army there is. It has what the others lack: capable, dedicated NCOs and officers.

4. Undermine the Ba'athist regime in Damascus to bring about its collapse, if possible. Overthrow it, if necessary. Work on Turkey and Jordan diplomatically to step up pressure. With a free Iraq and a free Lebanon, and pro-Western governments in Amman and Ankara, Syria will be boxed in.

5. Ultimately, the twin nests of Islamofascism are in Riyadh and Tehran, the Wahhabi Sunni version in the former and the Khomeinist Shi'ite version in the latter. I am hopeful that non-coercive means will work - Iran's mullocracy is extremely unpopular with the generally pro-Western Iranian masses - but I cannot say that I am optimistic.

[Roguish Lawyer]

Two follow-up questions, Counselor:

1. What, if anything, should Israel's role be in Lebanon?

2. Where are you buying me drinks this evening?

[Airbornelawyer]

Originally Posted by Roguish Lawyer

Two follow-up questions, Counselor:

1. What, if anything, should Israel's role be in Lebanon?

2. Where are you buying me drinks this evening?

1. As little as possible. As much as they hate Hizbullah and Syria, even Lebanon's Christians are not especially fond of Israel. Behind the scenes, Israel can provide good intel on Hizbullah and Syria.

2. Are you in these parts?

[Roguish Lawyer]

Originally Posted by Airbornelawyer

2. Are you in these parts?

Yes.

[dennisw]

One os the things we can do which seems to be overlooked is related to Saudi Arabia. In Natan Sharansky's book The Case for Democracy he theorizes that the Saudis are so afraid of the Radical Islamist and that they might overturn the Saudi apple cart that they, the Saudis, are funding the spread of the Wahhabi religion or terrorism.


We need to nip this situation in the bud in order to cut off a major portion of the funding going to these folks.

[Doc]

AL,

I just want to say that I dig reading what you post.

Thanks,

Doc