Does Lebanon REALLY want terrorists out?

This might seem like an obvious question, but I ask you to think about it a little deeper.

1)Lebanon terrorists have reps in the government of Lebanon.
2)They (Lebanon) have asked for help to stop Israel.
3) They have "NOT!!!!!!!!" asked for help to stop the terrorists-admiting they can't or won't do it.
4)They have not asked for help to remove the terrorists from their country.


Just a little bit to think about!

I personally believe that more than half of the Lebanon government is influenced by Hezbollah although less than half of the government openly supports Hezbollah. So I think the government still has to go wtih the majority on the issue and claim that Hezbollah is a neusence, although they support quietly them. So to sum it up, no, I don't think the Lebanese want Hezbollah out of the government.

Originally posted by mrmonsoon
This might seem like an obvious question, but I ask you to think about it a little deeper.

1)Lebanon terrorists have reps in the government of Lebanon.

Yes Lebanon is a democratic state. The people in the South elected them legitimitely as representatives for their area.

2)They (Lebanon) have asked for help to stop Israel.

Lets be serious here. What kind of logic is that? Of course they will ask for help! 4 Brazilian civilians died in the Israeli bombings as well as Lebanese Nationals...did you expect them to say "Keep bombing us"? Their economy is Banking and Tourism, no banks open, no ports for cruise ships and no flights coming in means no money.

3) They have "NOT!!!!!!!!" asked for help to stop the terrorists-admiting they can't or won't do it.

an analogy:
You own a mom&pop store. One day a mafioso walks in and says I will keep your store safe from anything happening to you and the store. You say "no thanks, Im fine". The next morning you wake up and go to work and find your storefront is smashed and everything inside is thrown about.
Do you :
A Call the cops and tell them who did it, pointing out the guy?
B call the cops, make a report and say nothing
C Pay the guy when he comes in the next day looking for cash and says "See, you could have used my protection last night!"
D B & C
(BTW this analogy is based on real-life experience)

They are in a quandry over there. Christians don't really want them, but the Christians don't live in the south. They live in Beirut and a lot are in the North, so they have no need for protection on the border from Israel. The South is majority Shiite Muslims whom Hezbollah represent. If Christians were to say they want them disarmed it could spark another religious war there.
I guess the Christians were hoping that The Israelis would go in and bomb them only from the South and get rid of them. It has nothing to do with wether they wanted them to stay.


Pie

Originally posted by mrmonsoon

4)They have not asked for help to remove the terrorists from their country.

I noticed -pieman- that you did not address the last point.

It's ok, we all know the answer is NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First of all the question is loaded. Most people in the middle east do not consider Hezbollah a "terrorist" organization. For many it is charity that funds schools and provides other aid to the poor. Regardless of what the dirty side of it is, it wouldn't be so popular if it didn't do SOMETHING for the people. Remember that even in countries like Canada it's still leagal to donate money to the charity arms of Hezbollah even if it's illegal to give to the terrorist arm. And by the way people don't just join and support murderous groups for no reason...... there's always more to it than the violence.

Have you ever paid close attention to news and noticed that sometimes it's armed, mask wearing, hezbollah looking people pulling civilians from the ruins of an apartment building after an air strike? WHY the building was hit is irrelevent if it is the people on your street that get killed.

Not everyone in Lebanon supports Hezbollah, you have to remember that there are christian communities there that don't want the country to become another Iran like Islamic republic.

It's my belief that there are many in Lebanon that would like to have Hezbollah out of their country. It's also likely that most see that organization as valuable for performing many tasks the government just simply cannot.

So the answer to the question is....... You can't ask them to kick Hezbollah out until they can stand on their own. Which by the way may have been beginning to happen in small degrees before this weeks events. Lebanon was on pace to have a spectacular tourist season this year, providing jobs and incomes to many people. That is until the airport was blown up and the cities began being shelled. I'm not saying Isreal doesn't have a right to go after the rockets and the people firing them but destroying the infrastructure was probably a little unwise. After this conflict is over I'm sure Hezbollah will probably help rebuild some of it.

Originally posted by mrmonsoon

Originally posted by mrmonsoon

4)They have not asked for help to remove the terrorists from their country.

I noticed -pieman- that you did not address the last point.

It's ok, we all know the answer is NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mrmonsoon...It would have been repetitive to answer it. Didn't I convey the message that its a touchy situation there. Since they are just recovering from a almost 30 year Christian/Muslim civil war, a move like that could be construed as another lead-in to return to fighting again. It must be that Both parties want them out...if not then the Muslims will think that the Christians are disarming them so the Israelis can attack them. The Lebanese Christians helped the Israelis the last time, and many many people were killed brutally on all sides. It has not been that long that these people will just forget so easily and be so trusting.


Pie

I agree, the title is loaded.

Hezbollah are only regarded as a "terrorist" org in a few Western countries. On the whole, even on the BBC, they are referred to as a Geurilla Army.

There is a big difference. Hezbollah, on the whole, go for military targets, not the Hamas style of blowing up school buses and shopping malls. Thats not to say they don't kill civilians, but then so do Israel, the US, the UK.

It's called collateral damage, apparently...

You guys don't understand the Lebanese situation very well, judging from most of the posts in this thread.

The thing you have to understand, is the influence Syria has applied to politics in Lebanon. Yes, Syria "officially" left a year or so ago, but the damage has already been done. Two things here. One, there were 200,000 Syrians that were able to attain Lebanese citizenship as part of Syrian withdrawal from southern Lebanon. Two, Hezbollah (under support from both Iran and Syria) was accepted as a legitimate political party in Lebanon.

Now, because of that, Hezbollah was able to get seats in the Lebanese Parliament, exerting pro-Syrian politics in Lebanon from the inside. It was really a neat little backdoor trick......

The Lebanese government (with pro-Syrian Hezbollah members) won't tell Hezbollah to disarm, or give the soldiers back, or even stop attacking Israel. The influence that Syria has there is still major, and for anyone to think that they aren't pulling the strings here is really missing the point.

Does Lebanon need to do something?

Yes, they do. But they are between a rock and a hard place, lest they become a target of hatred (like Israel) in a Muslim dominated region.