Signs... portent... and oddities

Ok, mostly oddities, still you really do have to wonder about some things like the following...

Suadi Fatwa against Hezbollah (h/t to Donald Sensing):

NY Sun [20 JUL 2006] - One of Saudi Arabia’s leading Wahhabi sheiks, Abdullah bin Jabreen has issued a strongly worded religious edict, or fatwa, declaring it unlawful to support, join or pray for Hezbollah, the Shiite militias lobbing missiles into northern Israel.

The day after Hezbollah abducted two Israeli soldiers on July 12, Sheik Hamid al-Ali issued an informal statement titled “The Sharia position on what is going on.” In it, the Kuwaiti based cleric condemned the imperial ambitions of Iran regarding Hezbollah’s cross border raid.

The surprising move demonstrates that Sunni Muslim fundamentalists in the Middle East are deeply divided over whether Moslems should support Hezbollah, Iran’s Shiite proxies in the war raging in Lebanon.

Now you would think that all those folks could at least stick together in things, but I guess the Saudi's didn't really like the Iranian bombing of the Khobar Towers that they did through Hezbollah. Go for the old: My enemy is my enemy.

From GMMAC at Free Republic we get this from The Edmonton Journal [21 JUL 2006] talking about the whining Canadians complaining about the lack of accommodations during the evacuation from Beirut:

There is a simple solution to this carping. The boats have to go back to Beirut for more evacuees. Anyone who profanes a Canadian worker or whines about conditions on the free boat gets put back on board and returned to Lebanon where they can find their own way out.

Probably just folks from Quebec and Ontario.

From PJM [21 JUL 2006]:

The New York Times reports a US resupply of precision weapons to Israel. “Its disclosure threatens to anger Arab governments and others because of the appearance that the United States is actively aiding the Israeli bombing campaign in a way that could be compared to Iran’s efforts to arm and resupply Hezbollah.”

I can difinitevely say that the NYT is now no longer 'in the opposition' but 'on the other side' with the terrorists and Transnationalists. Good-bye to the last of journalistic integrity as the Times becomes more yellow than those papers it was founded to fight against.

From via Cool Blue Blog via PJM on Human Rights Watch [18 JUL 2006]:

“Attacking civilian areas indiscriminately is a serious violation of international humanitarian law and can constitute a war crime,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, director of the Middle East and North Africa division at Human Rights Watch. “Hezbollah’s use of warheads that have limited military use and cause grievous suffering to the victims only makes the crime worse.”

You mean they aren't just 'freedom fighters' who happen to be killing civilians that just 'happen to get in the way'? I am sure that HRW will find some way to turn against the legitimate Israeli response. No less than a week, I would think.

Pat Buchanan bloviates, yes even worse than usual:

"Why wait?" Well, one reason is that the United States has not been attacked.

...

None of this is written in defense of Hamas, Hezbollah or Iran.

But none of them has attacked our country, nor has Syria...

Perhaps Mr. Buchanan should check his history texts back to 1979 and and onwards.
Ever hear of the invasion and occupation of the US Embassy in Iran in 1979?
Does he forget the April 1983 US Embassy Bombing in Beirut by Hezbollah?
How about the 1983 Marine Barracks Bombing in Beirut?
And the September 1984 Bombing of the US Embassy in Beirut?
And the 1996 Khobar Towers Bombing aimed at US Air Force personnel?
Mr. Buchanan is obviously in some far reaches of space-time where being attacked is not the same as... being attacked. And note that TWO of these were on Sovereign US Soil! And Mr. Buchanan may forget that Iran has declared war on the US a number of times and puts this Nation down as the 'Satan' of the world. Need a few hundred more dead Americans to satisfy you, Mr. Buchanan?

Mind you, Hamas is only indirectly related to kidnappings, bombings and such like directly against the US... but they are connected to Syria, and we already have cause not to like them. And as for having Syria in the Desert Storm war... well, what *exactly* did they do to make up for their involvement in the Embassy Bombings?

I really cannot resist this next quote from Mr. Buchanan:

What would happen to the 130,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, if Shiites and Iranian "volunteers" joined forces to exact revenge on our soldiers?

That would mean that they had to come to an 'accommodation' with EACH OTHER FIRST! Hey, if we had to exit Iraq out of, oh, Syria, that would be a GOOD THING. And we would be leaving two factions now having a unifying factor... unfortunately they see just the opposite from that, Mr. Buchanan, and prefer to fight each other. By dint of hard work and honest dealing the US is now seen as an 'honest broker' in Iraq for the Sunni's and many Shia. So sorry to ruin your doom and gloom with unhappy reality.

From The Arabist via PJM: Egyptian police is cracking down on pro-Lebanon and pro-Palestine demonstrations.

Why, yes, one of your merchant vessels has been sunk and you are keeping your powder dry and the foolish from demonstrating. That is one I may actually understand... put that in the Signs and Portents category! Just one, but that is fine for now.