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July 12, 2007
Destroying Nahr al-Bared

The Lebanese Army is currently (again) trying to storm the Nahr al-Bared camp in north Lebanon:

Security and political sources said on Wednesday the army, concerned about being sucked into a war of attrition, had decided to mount an all-out assault on the camp to root out the militants, who have defied demands that they surrender.

Witnesses said the army was bombarding the camp from all sides, often at a rate of 7 to 10 artillery shells per minute.

The conflict over Nahr al-Bared started over eight weeks ago. Nearly all of the camp’s regular Palestianian inhabitants have fled from it since the conflict started. The Lebanese army is fighting a group of only one or two hundred foreigners.

According to Seymour Hersh, this Salafi group was part of a Saudi/Hariri plan. Later there were reports how the group got fired when those plans were allegedly aborted.

The Pakistani military recently solved a nearly similar stand off, within a few days. It was bloody, but there was not all out destruction. The Lebanese army is shelling Nahr al-Barad for eight weeks now. Sometimes a few shells per day, sometimes with very intense fire.

Why does it take the Lebanese army nearly nine weeks and lots of devastating heavy weapon useage to flush out a few hundred fighters?

Let me consinder an answer:

Back in May, I wrote about Nahr al-Bared and a new U.S. Air Base. The short version:

  • The Palestinian refugee camp Nahr al-Bared lies right next to the road that connects the harbour city of Tripoli some 8 miles south to the currently unused Rene Mouawad Air Base 7 miles north of it.
  • There are rumors that the U.S. is interested in using the air base for its own purposes. The major logistics for the base would come through the Tripoli port.
  • A Palestinian camp with some 45,000 frustrated and mostly young and poor people right on top of that ‘line of communication’ would be a substantial risk to such a base.

Those were my thoughs back in May. We don’t know what the Saudi/Hariri plans really were about. But we do know that as a result of the plans and prolonged fighting the camp is now destroyed.

For lack of resources it is unlikely that Palestinian refugees will ever be able to rebuild it.

Posted by b on July 12, 2007 at 15:04 UTC | Permalink
Comments

Nahr al-Bared from Al Jazeera.
link You tube
Obviously the destruction is so tremendous, it was the main aim.

Posted by: Noirette | Jul 12 2007 17:04 utc | 1

From ‘The Nation’ a good report on the general situation in Lebanon (though not touching on the Paletinian refugees who seem to be hated by all Lebanes fractions and al-Barad) : Lebanon’s Bloody Summer

When the French left, they created the confessional system and handed the lion’s share of political power to the Francophone Maronite elite. The system was enshrined under the National Pact, an unwritten agreement among Lebanese leaders. Seats in Parliament were divided on a 6-to-5 ratio of Christians to Muslims, with parliamentary seats and executive offices divided among the major sects, and that partitioning was extended to most government jobs.
The division was based on a 1932 census, which showed Maronites as the majority in Lebanon. Since then, the government has refused to hold a new census. By the 1960s, when Muslims began to outnumber Christians, Muslims began to clamor for a change in the balance of power. A recent State Department report estimated that Lebanon’s population of 4 million is more than two-thirds Sunni and Shiite. Some Lebanese researchers estimate that Shiites make up 40 percent of the population, although others put the number slightly lower.
When civil war broke out in 1975, the political imbalance was one of the driving forces that prompted each sect to form its own militia.
…
Confessionalism leads to a weak state. It encourages horse-trading and alliances with powerful patrons. And it’s easily exploited by outside powers (Syria, Iran, the United States and Saudi Arabia being the latest examples). But most of the current players are too invested in this system to really change it. And foreign patrons don’t want change, because that could reduce their influence.

Posted by: b | Jul 12 2007 18:51 utc | 2

Thank you b, I had intended to write something about this soon but have been out of town.
Your question is, indeed, the most important one — what on earth would take the Lebanese army 8 weeks to finish off a handful of “extremists?” Weak as the army may be, it surely is not that weak. This appears to be, as you speculate, a pretext to eliminate the camp. Time, of course, will tell. I will try and dig up more about this in the coming days.
In this regard, it is worth noting that today is the 1-year anniversary of the war in Lebanon.

Posted by: Bea | Jul 12 2007 21:09 utc | 3

PS – You have spelled the name wrong. It should be Nahr el-Bared. FYI…

Posted by: Bea | Jul 12 2007 21:11 utc | 4

Nahr al-Bared Residents Flee Ahead of Expected Assault
~Snip

Abu Imad, of the Palestinian Popular Committee, spoke to IRIN from inside the Nahr al-Bared today. He estimated as many as 1,500 people still remained in the camp, many of them women and children. Previous estimates had put the number of civilians remaining at 400. There are no official figures of the numbers remaining.
“There are people leaving now, as yesterday the army hit five underground shelters. No civilians were killed but they are worried the army is going to destroy the whole camp now,” said Abu Imad.
“Very, very grave” humanitarian situation
Abu Imad described the humanitarian situation in the camp as “very, very grave” with lack of food, water and medicine and with dead bodies rotting in the streets.
The ICRC has been unable to deliver any food, water or medicine into Nahr al-Bared since 22 June because the army is refusing to grant safe passage.
“Not allowing the supplies through is a mass punishment for all the civilians inside here,” said Abu Imad. “If there is not an immediate ceasefire we are afraid the army will destroy the camp and we will all die in here.”

Posted by: Bea | Jul 13 2007 4:21 utc | 5

Another report: Lebanese Army Bombards Camp
Good background context piece, for broader understanding: The Palestinian Refugee Camps in Lebanon
~Snip

The camp dwellers have, for the most part, been relatively quiescent since 1982. Their life conditions are even more precarious and tragic than those of their beleaguered compatriots in Gaza. For example, the World Bank issues a quarterly publication: The West Bank and Gaza Update. The IMF and UNESCO issue frequent reports on Palestinian conditions, but no agency seems determined to shed light on the conditions of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. They are truly the forgotten of the earth. According to Lebanese laws, Palestinians are denied work opportunities in most domains of economic activity. If they manage to get out of the country, it is likely that they will be unable to return. Social disintegration has led to rising problems: severe unemployment, insecurity, prostitution and drug-addiction. The Palestinian experience in Lebanon has been aptly captured by Rosemary Sayigh in the title of her book: “too many enemies.” Who is responsible for these refugees? At present, no one. The absence of central authority (as in Yugoslavia, Iraq, and Lebanon of yesteryear) is a perfect incubator for the emergence of nihilistic groupings, civil war and disorder.

Posted by: Bea | Jul 13 2007 4:42 utc | 6

As Below, so Above, everything a hologram of Neo-Reality.
Basic Law of Saudi America
Chapter 1 General Principles
Article 1 states that “God’s Book the Bible and Scriptures of Christ” are the Neo-Zi US Constitution, and English is the official language, with the US capitol at Kennibunkport, ME.
Chapter 2 Monarchy
Article 7 proclaims the divine right of the monarch, in the Person of HRH King Bush bin George Amjad al-RNC. Next, per Article 8, “justice, consultation, and equality” shall be in accordance with Scripture, as interpreted by Supreme Imam Cheney bin Richard Adham, and as administered by the King’s Royal Shyster Gonzales bin Alfredo Abdul Aziz.
Chapter 3 Features of the Bush Royal Family
Article 9 states that all members of the Bush family shall be reared “on the basis of the Fundamentalist Christian faith and the edicts of Corporate Socialism.”
Chapter 4 Economic Principles
Article 18 guards the private property of RNC contributors, bankers, stock brokers and government contractors.
Article 21 calls for an “alms tax”, known as FICA.
Chapter 5 Rights and Duties
Article 27 establishes a “system of privatized social security” that has made US government into a welfare state for its employees, contractors and corporate patrons. It is become feasible without the usual property expropriation and usurous taxes due to the large supplies of fiat paper, easy credit, deficit-and-spend, and a population of 270 million sheeple who in the majority now work for or are contracted to the King.
Chapter 6 The Authorities of the State
Neo-Zi Theocracy as cornerstone of governance.
Article 45 affirm that government administration must be in accordance with the “Bible and the King’s Edict.” To this end, a Royal Guard of Homeland Security clergy and Aerospace/Defense marshalls shall be established.
According to Article 55, the King has to “rule according to the rulings of Christ and Mammon, and shall supervise the application of Taxes.” Article 56 states that the King is the Supreme Decider as well. Article 57 makes it clear that the King’s cabinet, Congress and other lower-ranking officials must follow His Edicts. Those who deviate from this can be dismissed, black-balled, excommunicated, disappeared and even murdered at an abandoned traffic intersection late at night.
Military
Articles 60-62: The King is the Commander-in-Chief and is endowed with Supreme Visionary Powers concerning war, imperial occupation and the national security of His sheeple.
Chapter 7 Financial Affairs
Article 71 specifies that tax revenue is entered and spent according to unwritten rules of IDIQNB contracts which will be kept secret indefinitely per Article 70 for National Security.
Chapter 8 Control Bodies
No other body shall exist to challenge the Law of the King.
Chapter 9 General Provisions
Article 82 makes it clear that a temporary state of emergency during turmoil cannot violate the Constitution, that habeus corpus is null and void, and the King is the Supreme Commander over all troops, national guard militia and police.
Truth are Lies!
Perpetual War is Peace!
Have a Nice Day!

Posted by: Shalom Guzman | Jul 13 2007 6:09 utc | 7

the christians were a a majority in lebanon due to death and destruction from the terrorist muslims u have ruined our beatifull country all the palestinians need to be deported out of lebanon i mean all of them and there camps we have had enough and all these terrorist calling themselves lebanese need to be deported as well lebanon is a beatifull country that has been ruined by the likes of hizballah and the other terrorist its time the world comes together to aid the christians in thier effort to renew our beatifull country and send the scum back to where they belong …

Posted by: paul | Jul 13 2007 15:41 utc | 8

[anti-semitic racist comment deleted – b.]

Posted by: paul | Jul 13 2007 16:08 utc | 9

[anti-semitic racist comment deleted – b.]

Posted by: PAUL | Jul 13 2007 16:15 utc | 10

paul, why don’t you take your phantastic phalangist pulsions & insert them where normal people have a heart & soul. something you evidently lack -in this world as in the next
yr completely imbecilic commentaries hardly worth the capital letters you corrode as surely as shit
i have two words for your ilk
sabra
chatilla
& gemayal is gone

Posted by: remembereringgiap | Jul 13 2007 17:11 utc | 11

thats some beautiful peace loving religion you preach there paul.

Posted by: anna missed | Jul 13 2007 18:44 utc | 12

I’m sorry, it’s a bit morally dubious to weep for the murderers and assasins who set up shop in the Nahr el Bared camp. But an unreformed marxist like rememberinggiap does a good job.
Don’t cry for bonnie and clyde you asshole, cry for their victims.
Paul’s lament rings true. You try living next to Hezbollah and Syria, asshat.

Posted by: Northern Observer | Jul 13 2007 19:29 utc | 13

Wow, this is really the weirdest. You need to know a bit of Middle Eastern history to appreciate just how surreal this is, if indeed it is true. According to Palestinian Pundit:

“The Fatah official in Lebanon, Sultan Abu Al-Ainain, stated that the time has come for the various Palestinian organizations in Lebanon to take part in military operations, side by side with the Lebanese army, to finish off the “gang” of Fatah Al-Islam which still has tens of fighters inside Nahr El-Bared refugee camp in north Lebanon.
In a press conference, the Fatah official said that from the beginning some Palestinian organizations (not including Fatah) have insisted on limiting the Palestinian contribution to trying to find only a political solution to end the crisis….”

Comment from PP:

The significance of this news item is that it hints of a strategic alliance between Fatah and the American-Israeli-Saudi project in the area. Just as Fatah’s thugs under Dahlan, with arming and financing by Elliott Abrams and Condoleezza Rice, were intended to spread “creative destruction,” chaos and division in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, Fatah is now intent on doing the same in Lebanon.
By clearly taking sides with the Siniora army, which for two months has been shelling and destroying the Nahr El-Bared camp resulting in scores of Palestinian dead and wounded and the forced destitution of over 35,000 Palestinian refugees Fatah, again, puts itself not on the side of the Palestinian people.
By demanding that Palestinians fight and die for the Siniora army, while that same army is still detaining, abusing and torturing over 150 Palestinians from the camp, would only mean that Fatah wants Palestinians to fight each other; is this not the plan? If they fought with the Siniora army, how would those Fatah fighters have reacted when the Siniora army opened fire on peaceful Palestinian refugees from the camp who simply wanted to go back, killing two and injuring a dozen?
Equally important, is Fatah advocating becoming a party to a potential civil war in Lebanon? The answer is apparently yes, since that civil war is being instigated by Israel. Does Fatah want all Palestinians in Lebanon to join in the Israeli fight against Hizbullah? Apparently this is the plan.
Fatah is now solidly in the Israeli camp and this will mean the acceleration of its demise, which will not come too soon.

Posted by: Bea | Jul 14 2007 15:30 utc | 14

Bea, thank you very much for providing these links and excerpts — not just in this thread but in many previous posts on the topic. I know what a commitment of time that is, and very much appreciate it.

Posted by: Nell | Jul 14 2007 17:14 utc | 15

Lebanese army enters Nahr al-Bared, which is an event of some historic significance, as this article explains.

Posted by: Bea | Jul 15 2007 21:33 utc | 16

Only rubble will be left …
Fierce Fighting in North Lebanon Camp

Fierce fighting erupted at a besieged Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon on Monday as army troops pounded the remaining hideouts of al-Qaida-inspired militants holed up inside with artillery and tank fire, witnesses said.
The heavy bombardment signaled that the Lebanese army is stepping up its nearly two-month-old offensive against Fatah Islam fighters entrenched in the Nahr el-Bared camp located on the outskirts of the northern port city of Tripoli.
Lebanese troops unleashed artillery shells and tank fire at Fatah Islam positions inside the camp starting around 6 a.m. Monday, said an Associated Press Television News cameraman, standing a few hundreds yards from the war-ravaged shantytown.
The intense bombardment, which lasted nearly three hours, sent plumes of heavy black smoke billowing into the air that covered the camp, he said.
He added that the army was using armored bulldozers and other vehicles to push its way into the camp, part of its declared strategy to tighten the noose around the militants.

Posted by: b | Jul 16 2007 8:50 utc | 17

a recent video that shows some of the destruction ..

Posted by: b | Jul 16 2007 17:04 utc | 18

b #17 & 18,
It disturbs me to call this area “a camp”. It is a very densely populated city.
It will end up, as you say, worse than “a camp”, it is becoming quickly “nothing but rubble”.
Why does the media continue to call this “a camp”?

Posted by: Rick | Jul 16 2007 17:30 utc | 19

Bulldozers… the horridness of that is just too much to contemplate. Will the Palestinians never be free of the accursed bulldozer?
And, I really cannot express how it flies in the face of all logic that these “extremists” would have enough weaponry to keep this going on and on and on… What did they have, a medium-sized arsenal in there? It is so absurd as to be laughable, except the world is not questioning it at all.

Posted by: Bea | Jul 16 2007 17:47 utc | 20

Ahhh! The accursed Bulldozer!
Remember the old saying, “Guns don’t kill people, …”
Well, what about Bulldozers? Similar to Justin Raimondo of antiwar.com calling attention to our new BIZARRO WORLD, these Bulldozer things seem to have a mind of their own.
Israelis don’t kill Palestinians, Bulldozers do!

Corrie apparently stood atop a mound of dirt as the bulldozer approached the house, but then fell backward, tumbling down the mound and out of sight. The bulldozer continued and accidentally crushed her. The IDF Spokesman said that soldiers repeatedly warned demonstrators to keep a safe distance.
[snip]
Most media reports failed to mention that the IDF bulldozer was looking for smuggling tunnels.

The comments posted on this referenced Israeli blog are even less funny. Those comments are, without a doubt, disgusting.

Posted by: Rick | Jul 16 2007 19:09 utc | 21

Rick?
Did you mean to point to the story entitled: ‘Flag burning radical leftist dies in tragic accident’ : Rachel Corrie, burns an American flag in Gaza.. Along with a suspect picture that looks as if it could have been photo-shopped? Or did they move your link on you?
I confused…

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Jul 16 2007 19:20 utc | 22

Yeah, I goofed up… I’ve been posting in a hurry lately. Sorry.
Try this: http://www.factsofisrael.com/blog/archives/000636.html

Posted by: Rick | Jul 16 2007 19:27 utc | 23

Uncle #22 – Just curious, as I tried the Bulldozer link in post #21 – the link worked for me… Where do you end up?

Posted by: Rick | Jul 16 2007 19:36 utc | 24

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