Blowback Across Lebanon

The Failed Sunni Army Solution

By FRANKLIN LAMB
CounterPunch

Tripoli, Lebanon.

"Whoever killed anti-Syrian Lebanese MP Walid Eido Wednesday knew Syria would be blamed and that the country would move closer to civil war. Pro-government factions turned out in force along Beirut's Roauche sea front chanting anti-Syrian and anti-Hezbollah slogans but no serious fighting has been ignited yet.

Another consequence may be to breathe new life into chances for a US backed Northern Sunni Army to confront Hezbollah and the Palestinians. The Northern Sunni Army, seemed doable-at least a couple of years ago-during Plan "B"-then Plan "C"—which became Plan "D" sessions of the Welch Club to decide who was going to control Lebanon.
For the Club, comprised of David Welch, Samir Geagea, (Lebanese Forces) Walid Jumblatt (Druze PSP militia) and chaired by Saad Hariri, (Future Movement) plus some allies, like current Prime Minister Fuad Siniora, the choices were black and white simple: Lebanon's future will be controlled by Israel and the US or Lebanon will be controlled by Syria and Iran......

North Lebanon appeared to be the perfect recruiting ground for Lebanon's newest army because the area is overwhelmingly Sunni, pro-Hariri, has high unemployment with many able young men willing to be recruited and the community feels left out of economic advances to their south.

In addition, North Lebanon has a well situated airport at Keilaat, which, according to this scenario, could be converted to US base which would include a training facility for the new force......

When the Welch Club decided to move Fatah al-Islam from the Southern Sidon base at Ein el Helweh, to the North Lebanon Nahr al-Bared camp, Ms. Bahia Hariri admits that she paid for the transplantation, according to Arab Monitor of 6/6/07......

On May 22, 2006 the Welch club got orders from the White House to pull the plug on the North Lebanon Sunni army project following the horrific slaughter of May 20 when it became obvious that the Salafists were out of control, more interested in fighting Israel than Hezbollah or the Palestinians, and too many questions were being asked about who they were, how they got into Lebanon and who arranged and eased their entry and for details about one of the strangest " bank robberies" ever to occur. On June 11, 2007, Michel Aoun, leader of the largest group of Christians in Lebanon demanded a thorough investigation of the whole Nahr al-Bared conflict and the involvement of the Siniora government......

Many in Lebanon believe that the Lebanese army is being designed by Washington and Tel Aviv to be an internal Welch Club police force with the capability to fight the Palestinians or Hezbollah if need be, but definitely not to be given arms necessary to protect Lebanon from Israel.

The past three weeks have seen numerous arrests of Palestinians by the Lebanese army outside of Nahr al Bared and between Tripoli and Beiut with reports of torture. Human Rights Watch condemned these practices yesterday......

Further fallout from the failed "Sunni army" project includes increasing evidence that the Bush administration is playing the same role in Lebanon as it is in Iraq. The Iraqi Shia leader Moktada Sadr claims the US is behind the sectarian violence in Iraq and the schism between Iraqi ethnic groups and the country's economic hardships......"