Saturday, April 01, 2006

A Thought from a Saturday breakfast

The x – March 14 group, now better known as the February 14 group – as dubbed by Hizbullah Deputy Secretary General Naim Kassem to separate them from Michel Aoun, are making one faux pas after the other. Will one of the "disposable" members of this team soon be conveniently assassinated as has happened the last few times they needed a political push?

UPDATE: On Lebanese Coincidences
Thank you, AbdulKarim for an intelligent, decent, and constructive comment. I stand corrected. I want to point out that I wished to communicate this thought to the blogosphere based on at least two coincidences where the “FM-LF-PSP” team needed more political leverage and gained it when some members of their alliance were targeted. The first time was when the local stakeholders were negotiating the issue of extending the UN Committee’s scope to cover the other crimes and explosions. May Shidiak’s assassination attempt took place in those days. The second coincidence is the fact that Gebran Tweini was assassinated on the very morning of the government’s meeting to discuss the international tribunal. In both cases, the assassination attempts, one of which was a failure, helped strengthen the political stand of what is now the Feb. 14 team.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

were you having breakfast with some hizbullah and pro-syrian supporters?

if so, why not have a lunch or a dinner with some people whose views are different from yours.

Ramzi said...

Are you seriousy suggesting the Lebanese opposition groups sanctioned the assassination of Tueini, Hawi and Kassir for political gain? Are you that far gone?

AbdulKarim said...

What you're insinuating is very dangerous Hassan.When you say something like this you have to give evidence or at least give more explanation and reasoning. But to put it abruptly as you did is not acceptable.

Regards

Hassan said...

Ramzi,

It is certainly of more romantic appeal to consider the February 14 team an “opposition”, but it’s inconsistent with the fact that they run the government and claim to hold the majority of seats in parliament.

Ramzi said...

Rather than calling them the X-March14 group or taking my cues from Naim Kassem, I chose the label they had at the time when Kassir and Hawi were murdered - the Lebanese opposition. Instead of picking at the name, can you answer the question? Do you believe they sanctioned those murders?!

Hassan said...

Ramzi,

If I thought they sanctioned those murders, I'd have said it a long time ago. I am not someone who jumps and points fingers without basis. All I am saying is that this is too much of a coincidence. There are too many forces on the ground that we are overlooking, and which may have interest in strengthening the anti-Syrian stand. It’s one of those things that people avoid because they’re too much like conspiracy theories, but I think someone should play the devil’s advocate every now and then.

The same goes for conspiracy theories; I think their negative connotation is overrated. To quote one of my exhausted examples on the concept, conspiracy theorist is what you would have called me had I said in 1954 that the bombing of US and British targets was an Israeli plot to reverse Britain’s decision to withdraw from the Suez area. It may sound lame, but I think it is becoming more important to question everything, especially with the way “educated youth” tend to buy into fabricated stories and conformist paradigms more than ever.

Someone we know keeps saying, “Politics is the art of the possible”. Isn’t it possible for many sides- more than I care to count- to use these murders as part of their politics?