A Damning Wikileaks Revelation
AN IMPORTANT PIECE
By RANNIE AMIRI
CounterPunch
"When Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers crossed into southern Lebanon and were caught snooping around the village of Ayta al-Shab on July 12, 2006, it was the pretext needed for Israel to launch a vicious 34-day land, sea and aerial assault on the country. The offensive’s principal objective—the destruction of Hezbollah—was not achieved. Two years after the war’s end we now learn, thanks to WikiLeaks, that Lebanese Defense Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Elias Murr gave Israel strategic military advice on how to finish the job....
AN IMPORTANT PIECE
By RANNIE AMIRI
CounterPunch
"When Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers crossed into southern Lebanon and were caught snooping around the village of Ayta al-Shab on July 12, 2006, it was the pretext needed for Israel to launch a vicious 34-day land, sea and aerial assault on the country. The offensive’s principal objective—the destruction of Hezbollah—was not achieved. Two years after the war’s end we now learn, thanks to WikiLeaks, that Lebanese Defense Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Elias Murr gave Israel strategic military advice on how to finish the job....
Israel’s inside man
The diplomatic cable of note was first published in Lebanon’s leftist Al-Akhbar daily on Dec. 7 [1]. It recounts a March 2008 meeting that took place in Beirut between U.S. Chargé D'affaires Michele Sison (who later became ambassador to Lebanon) and Defense Minister Murr. In the conversation with Sison, Murr made suggestions and offered Israel advice on how best to defeat Hezbollah in a war he believed was imminent......
“Murr told us that Israel would do well to avoid two things when it comes for Hizballah. One, it must not touch the Blue Line [the line demarcating the Israeli-Lebanese border] or the UNSCR 1701 areas [the buffer zone patrolled by United Nations peacekeepers] as this will keep Hezbollah out of these areas. Two, Israel cannot bomb bridges and infrastructure in the Christian areas. The Christians were supporting Israel in 2006 until they started bombing their bridges.”
Murr tried to determine how long the invading Israeli forces would take to “clean out” Hezbollah fighters from the Beka’a valley so he could determine the amount of supplies needed to support Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) troops stationed in an area sympathetic to Hezbollah:
“Murr was especially concerned for members of the 1st and 8th Brigades in the Beka’a valley. Murr thinks that these units will be cut off from HQ support while Israel is conducting operations against Hizballah in the Beka'a … The LAF will move to pre-position food, money, and water with these units so they can stay on their bases when Israel comes for Hizballah—discreetly, Murr added.”.....
The unanswered questions
Who else in the government, then and now, knew about Murr’s actions?
What authority did he have in asking the U.S. to spy on Hezbollah locations in Lebanon without government approval?
How much of what Murr said to Sison did then-Army Commander Michel Suleiman know? Was he aware that Murr passed on military advice to the IDF?
What was Suleiman’s reaction to Murr’s instruction for the army to stand down should Israel attack?
The cable read: “Defense Minister Murr told us that he promised Sleiman the political cover for LAF inaction.”
What authority did he have in asking the U.S. to spy on Hezbollah locations in Lebanon without government approval?
How much of what Murr said to Sison did then-Army Commander Michel Suleiman know? Was he aware that Murr passed on military advice to the IDF?
What was Suleiman’s reaction to Murr’s instruction for the army to stand down should Israel attack?
The cable read: “Defense Minister Murr told us that he promised Sleiman the political cover for LAF inaction.”
Is Suleiman, Lebanon’s current president, also complicit?
There are petitions circulating calling for Murr to resign or be fired. When one betrays the defense of his nation to a foreign power, it does not call for a simple resignation letter or job termination. It requires a thorough judicial inquiry. After the WikiLeaks memo is authenticated and its veracity confirmed, Murr must stand trial for treason. "
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