Small Fish And Generals

LBCI said the base of protestors comes from Hizbullah. My question is that why would Berri and Aoun accept to be small fish in a Hizbullah initiative?

Naseer Al-As'ad said it today in Al-Mustaqbal's editorial: That these politicians, not matter how important or high in stature, are but officers taking orders from the "General". He added that unfortunately that General is diminishing the magnitude of his stature by transforming his command from that of a leader of resistance in the face of Israel, to a leader of a coup inside his country. (Raja talked about this in his post: A Message to Hizbullah).

Al-As'ad also questioned whether what Hizbullah is doing looks like a party which considers itself as victorious in the July war against Israel, because what Hizbullah is doing is tearing apart this victory in narrow street protests. Or is Hizbullah in a bind it's trying to extricate itself from?

On another note, Al-As'ad believes that Lahoud's calling for civil servant disobedience of government orders is a direct message to the Army to not take orders from the government. Kudos to General Sleiman, who immediately issued a statement boosting the army's morale. Let's hope it doesn't get to that.

Alright, off to the TV!


Updates: The Christian participation (FPM and Marada) in the demonstration is weak, according to LBCI. 240 buses and 300 cars have come from the north (a mix of Marada and FPM). LBCI claims that perhaps Patriarch Sfeir's words yesterday impacted Christian participation today.

In general participation from Tripoli has been scant, especially from Karami's supporters.

Franjieh on Al-Manar TV has hurled insults at Patriarch Sfeir. He said that Sfeir got TURNED ON (t'hayyaj) by seeing all these women in Bkirki yesterday. He truely is of a lowly type!

Barbed wire around the Grand Serail; no one is allowed to get close from all four sides.

More Updates: The demonstration's main slogan is "We Want A Clean Government" (noureed 7oukouma nazifa). What does that mean? This is what Aoun is standing in front of.

He said that he does not want to speak in a sectarian way, but then he says that PM Seniora should yield his position so another Sunni can take over.

Anyways, his speech is weak all in all. He didn't say anything out of the ordinary, just calls for the government to step down and of course that he is more independent and will ensure a sovereign and clean Lebanon, etc....

And added that perhaps under his reign, there wouldn't be army tanks spread around the city to protect the government. I'm sorry, I fail to believe you GENERAL Aoun! Did you notice that Lahoud was a general, Aoun was a general, and Nasrallah is a general? How can I believe that under their reign, my country will not be ruled by a military junta?

Addendum: So that's it??? Aoun makes his address, end of story? Where are the other leaders who organized and called for this rally?

Is Aoun that desperate to leave Rabieh and address the crowds and make a statement, when Berri is still in Ain El-Tineh and Nasrallah already made it clear that he won't show up and address the crowds?...Any answers to these questions?

"Nobody knows how many rebellions, besides political rebellions, ferment in the masses of life which people earth."