McCain: Old Sectarian Wounds Reopening in Lebanon
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
U.S. Republican senator John McCain warned on Thursday that the more than two-year-old war in Syria was reopening confessional wounds in Lebanon and said thousands of Hizbullah fighters were operating in the country.
“Old sectarian wounds are being reopened in Lebanon,” McCain said.
Syrian President Bashar Assad's “foreign allies have all doubled down on him. Iran is all in. Russia is all in. Shiite militants are flowing into the fight from Iraq,” he said, speaking after visiting Syria last week to meet with rebel leaders.
“Hizbullah fighters have invaded Syria by the thousands. They were decisive in retaking the critical city of Qusayr, and now they are leading the attacks on Homs and Aleppo,” McCain told the Brookings Institution think-tank.
“Syrian groups are firing rockets into Shiite areas of Lebanon in retaliation for Hizbullah’s intervention in Syria,” he said.
McCain said the U.S. must deepen its engagement in Syria by equipping the rebels or setting up a safe zone to protect the opposition.
Failure to show U.S. leadership risks seeing the Middle East descend into "extremism, and war, and despair," he said.
"The Syrian state is disintegrating in much of the country, leaving vast ungoverned spaces that are being filled by extremists, many aligned with al-Qaida,” he said.
"They are the best armed, best funded, and most experienced fighters. And every day this conflict grinds on, these extremists are marginalizing moderate leaders like the commanders I met last week."
The Free Syrian Army and its commanders seeking to oust Assad were in desperate need of "ammunition and weapons to counter Assad's tanks, artillery, and air power," he said.
“The space for moderate politics is collapsing as the Middle East descends deeper into extremism and conflict," he said, warning the conflict in which 94,000 have been killed was spilling across Syria's borders.
"In short, if the Middle East descends into extremism, and war, and despair, no one should think America would be able to pivot away from those threats. Our national security interests will suffer. That is an inescapable reality."
McCain argued that a deeper engagement by the administration of President Barack Obama did not imply thousands of American boots on the ground.
"We could use our stand-off weapons, such as cruise missiles, to target Assad's aircraft and ballistic missile launchers on the ground," McCain said.
“In Lebanon, this would mean making the strategic defeat of Hizbullah in Syria the centerpiece of a wider campaign to target its finances, cut its supply lines, delegitimize its leaders, and support internal opposition to its role as an armed force in Lebanese politics,” he added.
07 June 2013, 09:17
43
McCain probably had to cry himself to sleep when he found out his FSA-Al Qaeda terrorist allies were torn apart in Qusayr.
07 June 2013, 09:52
62
McCain is nothing more than a neocon war monger seeking to extend American Imperialism in the middle east and throughout the world. His call for arming the rebels is nothing more than the same mentality that we have seen in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Somalia and that will engulf Lebanon in tragedy should he his wishes be fulfilled.
Make no mistake about this purveyor of death and destruction for his only goal is conquest by America and when he says he worries for Lebanon he is lying through his teeth. With friends like John McCain Lebanon is doomed to the fate of all the other countries that America has helped with their neoliberalism they call "democracy".
07 June 2013, 12:42
53
Quite correct -Flamethrower. Just be careful to remember that these jackals are vindictive and may throw Lebanon into the pot over their hatred of Hezbollah and Iran.
The Americans have already said in public that their "war on terror" would last decades ... And about this war they would not lie. Their Empire needs fresh kill to survive.
07 June 2013, 13:21
25
don't you and the leaders you follow claim that those terrorists are american funded armed and working for the u.s to overthrow assad? why would he send and fund terrorists to go die in Syria if u claim that they are an israeli-american, quatari, turkish plot to destroy the "resistance!
07 June 2013, 17:10
12
ya kord : according to their interest they change the speeches even if it is contradictory.... they call it "pragmatism" LOL!!!
07 June 2013, 17:10
12
ya kord : according to their interest they change the speeches even if it is contradictory.... they call it "pragmatism" LOL!!!
07 June 2013, 20:40
01
ya_kord, do you not know the terrorist mentality ? If a couple are clumped in some area waging war, funded or otherwise, others will follow en-masse to fight alongside them. All the foreigners coming to fight in Syria ? The announcements by AlQaeda ? Rhetoric from extremist clerics ? All to bring in a torrent of terrorists to be sniped or blown apart, with relatively very little cost.
It's like a buy 1 get 10 free sort of deal, you see.
07 June 2013, 10:05
44
“Old sectarian wounds are being reopened in Lebanon,” McCain said.
Obviously the Senator is making statements to add the American media's propagandic sensationalism. Very ignorant statement.
07 June 2013, 10:50
35
Maybe this comparison helps: A man beats his wife everyday and the neighbors, friends and family speak out; then the husband starts saying, "Shu khason!!!" Think of it this way and it'll make sense. If you want to state that the U.S. shouldn't be involved in other countries then you should also reject the involvement of other nations as well; ex: Russia, Iran, China and many many others!!! When you reject the interference of other nations then you can reject that of the U.S.
07 June 2013, 14:41
22
The US has a lot of power. Had they used that power to bring prosperity and justice to the world then their interference would be much appreciated. Had they turned the US in to a multi-faith, multi-ethnic run country that is always just no matter who the victim is then their interference would be much appreciated. Instead, what we have is basicly the white man (yes obama included) fueling things where they see it fit, enabling fake jihadists to join the ranks of true justice seekers in order to destroy their revolution, we see the US being cozy and close to all the dictatotors of the world who opress their people as long as they are willing to be puppets of the US. They are quick to point out media silencing in countries they disapprove of while in the US one is not allowed to publish what one wants, even a recent movie had to be pre-approved by the CIA.
07 June 2013, 14:41
32
So basicly, had the US not been hypocrite and unjust then their interference would be great, in reality though, their interference only makes things 20-30 times worse. We see iraq and Afghanistan as prime examples. When the US wanted to beat the russians in afghanistan, they created alqaida that ruined the taliban movement. Many afghanis used to support the taliban when it was afghani because they were just, helping the poor and doing basic things the government wouldnt do, and then foreign alqaida brainwashed pigs came along with a new form of "islam" created by the CIA and took over the taliban and all of sudden female children going to school were a legitimate target. So please dont make it seem like US interference is good.
07 June 2013, 14:41
32
As long as the US is what it is today, then its interference is the worst that could happen to the middle east. Their interference would benefit countries such as the UK that they have an actual interest in seeing prosper, but not the middle east and the third world where they need weak leaders and backwardness to be able to run the show as they see fit and take others resources as they see fit.
07 June 2013, 15:11
03
Your statement is correct but not an accurate response to my statement. All I'm saying is that in order to reject foreign interference it has to be done "absolutely". We cannot praise one country or group and condemn the others. Unfortunately greed is the human engine. There are only a few that perform selfless deeds, and they are Saints, so everything else has a motive. If people look closely enough they would see that every opposing country share the same bed. They all have a common interest. Here's an ex: The Shah was overthrown and the extremist religious faction of Iran came into power with western blessings. These are the same fanatics that oppose the west during the day for people to see, and at night get into the same bed, ex: the Iraqi government. So all in all everyone should either denounce ALL, and I mean ALL, foreign interference or just simply don't play the game of finger pointing! It's as simple as that.
07 June 2013, 15:16
02
I don't like making false accusations, or accusations based upon speculation. That is why I don't agree with the part about the media and media silencing, but let me assure you that the U.S. is the leader when it comes to free speech. Everyday the media and society speak their minds regardless of whether they are with or against the government. Please let me know how and where you got this information about the "CIA screening".
07 June 2013, 10:51
53
And McCain is loving it. He wanted war in Iraq too, so I don't understand why so many Sunnis are flocking to praise him just because he wants war in Syria.
Don't you get it? He want war in all Arab countries, he doesn't care about Sunni or Shia.
07 June 2013, 14:50
21
What sunnis are praising him? You know, not everyone online is sunni. There are of course those so blinded by their hate for their opponent that they are willing to take anyone as their ally but most dont want the US to get involved, despite being against the baath opression that has taken place for way too long. We saw the same thing happen in iraq where shiites in their eager to remove saddam allied with the US and turned bush in to a hero. There will always be traitors, ignorants and fools who think short termed because they are so fueled with hatred, whether its muslims, christians, jews, atheists, buddists, hindus, arabs, americans, turks, french etc. This is a human trait found in all societies.
07 June 2013, 10:51
53
And McCain is loving it. He wanted war in Iraq too, so I don't understand why so many Sunnis are flocking to praise him just because he wants war in Syria.
Don't you get it? He want war in all Arab countries, he doesn't care about Sunni or Shia.
07 June 2013, 11:05
00
Your al-Qaeda lackeys were uprooted from qusayr ya McCain ya hmar. Cry me a river ya mret. Hassan Nassrallah ou Bashar tej rassak ya McCain.
07 June 2013, 12:32
42
"Iran is all in. Russia is all in." Poor you, not getting a piece of the action?
07 June 2013, 13:11
63
The war jackal McCain enjoys your self reflection while he calls for for more aid to the terrorists that would transit through Tripoli and only prolong the violence there ...
McCain sprinkles truth among his propaganda to divert attention from his real motives ... Is it really aid he wants or is he just trying to abate what will be blowback like there was in Benghazi?
Do not let these vipers hypnotize you into letting your guard down with clever ploys only meant to cloud their true motives. Now is the time to for Lebanon to pull together and depoliticizing the Army is a great start. Protect this progress and build on it ...
07 June 2013, 13:57
42
Yes and just look at what the Americans and McCain have left in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya ... Chaos ...
07 June 2013, 15:24
00
Why cursing religion ? Did anyone told you hey dandoun your religion is the religion of KLAB ??? And beside that mcain is not yehoude ,i am not the lawyer of the jews but be at least human, doesent cost money
07 June 2013, 16:03
22
A lot of people hate McCain but I consider him a man of honor and integrity, even if he sis a bit trigger happy. He speaks 100% truth here. People crying about American intervention but supporting other foreign intervention are hypocrites. And I guarantee one thing, America has far better intentions than Russia, Iran or China.
07 June 2013, 16:14
10
what intentions would that be? Spread of democracy, equality and peace?
07 June 2013, 17:28
02
Basically, yes. Of course the methods of certain people within the US gov't are sometimes very flawed, and we sometimes have douchebags for leaders (like GW bush) but in general, I believe the US is very well-intentioned. Of course like any country, the US looks out for its own interests first, but they consistently work for the cause of freedom for others as well. US is the sole superpower at the moment, and unfortunately there will always be one or more powers that have such an influence on the world. Can anyone honestly suggest that Russia would be better in this position as world superpower?
07 June 2013, 18:40
12
When you are on the receiving end of those "good intentions" it stops being so peachy.
07 June 2013, 20:58
11
McCain is still in a Vietnamese prisoner of war camp, having an argument with himself in his head. Someone should help him.
10 June 2013, 11:35
00
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