by
Mike Whitney
The
United States and Israel have executed a stealth coup that has precipitated the collapse of Lebanon's unity government.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton preemptively
torpedoed negotiations between Saudi Arabia and Syria by telling "Saudi
King Abdullah and Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri that the U.S.
would reject any settlement at the expense of the UN tribunal." (Tehran
Times) Clinton knew that the Saudi-Syria team was close to a
"breakthrough" that would have resolved contentious issues related to
the investigation of the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister
Rafik Hariri. She could not allow that to happen because it would
derail the US/Israeli plan for regime change and another Israeli
invasion of Lebanon.
The UN's Special Tribunal for Lebanon--or the
STL, as it is called--is a US/Israeli invention designed to tarnish
Hezbollah by leveling trumped up charges against its members. Tel Aviv
and Washington want to connect Hezbollah to the murder of Rafik Hariri
in order to brand the nationalist militia a "terrorist organization."
Once the group is convicted on charges of terrorism, Israel will be able
to conduct its cross-border attacks with impunity.
According to AFP, the STL's indictments could be
delivered (secretly) as soon as Monday and members of Hezbollah will be
implicatd.
AFP: "Citing sources close to the tribunal, the
newspaper said on Saturday that prosecutor Daniel Bellemare will present
the findings of his probe into the murder to pre-trial judge Daniel
Fransen at a hearing behind closed doors in The Hague, where the
tribunal is based for security reasons.
"According to several sources close to the office
of the prosecutor, the charges target members of Hezbollah," it said."
("Hezbollah 'expected to be named in Hariri probe', AFP)
Also, it looks like the US and Israel have
decided to cast wider net and use the court to implicate Israel's
arch-rival Iran at the same time. This is from Israel's YNet News:
"Sources say UN tribunal will present evidence
showing the murder of former Lebanese premier was committed by Iran's
Quds force and Hezbollah at Khamenei's order. 'They considered him Saudi
agent,' source says.
Sources familiar with the investigation into the
assassination of Rafik Hariri in 2005 told Newsmax that the United
Nations Special Tribunal for Lebanon will accuse Iranian Supreme Leader
Ayatollah Khamenei of giving the order to murder the former Lebanese
prime minister, according to the Lebanese website Naharnet." ("Report:
Iran ordered Hariri assassination", ynetnews.com)
Hezbollah's Secretary General, Hassan Nasrallah
knows the game that the US and Israel are playing, which is why he
called for an emergency cabinet meeting last week to see if an agreement
could be reached that would settle the matter internally. But current
Prime Minister Saad Hariri--who is allied to the White House--rejected
the idea leaving Nasrallah no choice but to disband the government and
call for new elections.
Hezbollah's action has been sharply criticized in
the western media, but it was perfectly legal within the framework of
Lebanon's constitution. Hezbollah and its allies control more than a
third of the cabinet which allows them to dissolve the government
whenever they choose. Hariri's collaboration with Washington forced
Nasrallah act in a way that served Lebanon's greater interests.
Hariri has seriously compromised Lebanese
sovereignty by allowing foreign powers to rule on a domestic criminal
case. Imagine if the shoe was on the other foot, and Lebanese leaders
demanded that the investigation into the assassination of President John
F. Kennedy not be conducted by the FBI, but by politically-motivated
bureaucrats in Brussels. What American president would ever accept such a
demeaning offer?
Hariri should have denounced the STL long ago,
and he would have if he was not secretly operating as a US/Israeli
client. Keep in mind, that, according to recently released memos from
Wikileaks, high-ranking officials in the Lebanese government
collaborated with US diplomats prior to the 34-day war with Israel in
2006 assuring that 1,400 Lebanese civilians would be killed in the
onslaught. Here's a summary of the memo:
"A classified cable from the US embassy in Beirut
has revealed how Lebanon’s ruling March 14 alliance discussed with the
US its preparations for a military attack by Israel against its rival
Hezbollah....
“According to the dispatch in March 2008, Elias
Murr, Lebanon’s defense minister.....told US diplomats how in the event
of a military attack by Israel on Lebanon, Israel should avoid damaging
Lebanese infrastructure in order to stop public opinion turning against
the March 14 Alliance, as had happened when Israel invaded Lebanon in
the 2006 war...
“If Israel were to bomb areas under Hezbollah
control, Murr made clear that the Lebanese armed forces would not
intervene. He said in the course of a two and a half hour meeting over
lunch, ‘If Israel has to bomb all of these places in the Shiite areas as
a matter of operational concern, that is Hezbollah’s problem.’"
("Lebanon government gave covert support for Israeli attack on
Hezbollah", Jean Shaoul, WSWS)
So, there are collaborators in the Lebanese
government and they are helping the US and Israel to subvert the
resolution process, undermine Lebanese sovereignty, exacerbate divisions
between the factions, and create a pretext for a future Israeli
invasion.
And there's a bigger picture, too; a plot to lure
Hezbollah into seizing power in Beirut. This is precisely what
Washington and Tel Aviv are hoping for in order to justify another
invasion. Here's an excerpt from an article by former US Ambassador Marc
Ginsberg on the liberal website Huffington Post:
"Hezbollah may ironically be on the verge of
converting its dastardly assassination of Hariri into a golden
opportunity to finally seize full power in Lebanon, by deploying its
militia to confront Lebanon's much more ill-equipped armed
forces....Lebanon is increasingly becoming a satellite of Iran, and
there is nothing Iran wants more than for Hezbollah to emerge as the
only power left standing in Beirut, waiting impatiently to do Iran's
bidding as its frontline Frankenstein against Israel.... ("Firestorm
among Lebanon's Cedars, former US Ambassador Marc Ginsberg)
And here's more-of-the-same from David Eshel in
an article titled "Next Israeli-Arab War Could Begin In Beirut":
"Israel’s next war could be fought on several
fronts and result in far more destruction and casualties on all sides
than recent conflicts. So said outgoing Israeli military intelligence
chief Amos Yadlin in an address to the Knesset in November. Yadlin
believes that despite an unprecedented period of calm for Israel right
now—primarily due to its deterrence, alliances with Egypt and Jordan,
and peace in the West Bank—there is a strong possibility of a major
escalation of hostilities with two neighbors, Lebanon and Syria.
The flashpoint would be an attempt by Hezbollah
to overthrow the Lebanese government, with backing from Syria and Iran.
An overthrow could be triggered if an investigation by the Special
Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) assigns responsibility for the 2005 murder of
former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri to Hezbollah....
Should Hezbollah gain control of the country, it
would absorb the Lebanese military and its assets and be in a position
to menace Israel with its own arsenal of 40,000 rockets, many of which
are capable of reaching urban areas including Tel Aviv. Political
analysts say Israel would not tolerate such a threat, and sporadic
battles would erupt on the border, leading to an all-out war with
Lebanon that could eventually include attacks by Syria and by Hamas in
Gaza." ("Next Israeli-Arab War Could Begin In Beirut", David Eshel,
aviationweek.com)
And then there's this from the Israel Project.org
in an article titled "Hezbollah aiming for Lebanon takeover":
"The Iranian-backed Hezbollah organization with
its 40,000 rockets aimed at Israel clearly aims to dominate the country
and control the selection of its next leader, analysts believe....Now,
the fundamentalist Shiite organization may be on the verge of taking
over the entire country. Mustapha Alloush, a member of the political
bureau of Hariri's Future Movement told the Washington Post Hezbollah
was trying to "rule Lebanon" and annex it for Iran.
With 20,000 trained fighters, Hezbollah is
already much more powerful than the Lebanese army and in 2008
demonstrated its superiority by seizing part of the capital, brushing
aside the army’s resistance. “There is currently no force within Lebanon
able to stand firmly against the physical power of Hezbollah,” wrote
Jonathan Spyer, a senior research fellow at the Global Research in
International Affairs Center in Herzliya in the Jerusalem Post.
The impending Hezbollah takeover threatens to
destabilize the entire region as well as Lebanon itself.... While
analysts do not see an immediate outbreak of hostilities with Israel,
few doubt that another confrontation is coming some time down the
road...." ("Hezbollah aiming for Lebanon takeover", Alan Elsner, The
Israel Project)
So, is this the plan, to lure Hezbollah into seizing power thus justifying another invasion by Israel?
No one knows for sure, but there's a lot about
the US/Israeli-backed tribunal that doesn't pass the "smell test"..
