Snapped Shot

You can tell that we're truly living in sad times, when this is considered to be Lebanon's finest specimen of the age-old species called "Drug Lord."

Drug lord Noah Zaayter checks his mobile phone as he makes a tour in the village of Knaysseh in the Bekaa valley, in July. The 37-year-old is one of about 50 drug barons who operate with near total impunity in the northern Bekaa, a lawless region controlled mainly by Hezbollah and for years synonymous with drug trafficking and militancy. (AFP/File/Ramzi Haidar)

He really doesn't look like the sharpest knife in the drawer, does he?

AFP transmits this wire photo accompanying this story from today. Could it be that someone at Agence France-Presse is looking to score some of that sweet, sweet ganja with this "amazing" scoop? And if so, does that really give me an excuse to re-post that classic video?

You betcha!

For those who don't remember this old gag, here's our crack AFP staff hot in action:



[Daylife links pending]

I'm sure this is some artifact of the translation involved—Going from Arabic, to French, and into English, I can easily see how "bandanna" could become "mask"—but it's pretty funny nonetheless:



'Course, I'm sure the fact that he doesn't exactly look like the sharpest knife in the Sunni drawer doesn't have anything to do with the laugh.

Riiight.

On a positive note, he does kinda resemble this dastardly scoundrel. Ant, I never knew you were so concerned with the Lebanese people's plight—Steve "Grr." C. will be so pleased to hear that!



Update: Agence France-Presse has corrected its caption:

A Sunni Muslim gunman in the Bab al-Tabbaneh district in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli. Sectarian battles continued to rage early Thursday in the north Lebanese port city of Tripoli despite a ceasefire accord reached the previous evening, after four people died, a security official told AFP. (AFP/Ramzi Haidar)

How nice: Hezbullah, after tearing up Beirut for a year in an attempt to overthrow the Lebanese government—a mission which they only this week succeeded with—is puffing up the propaganda efforts once more. This time? They are taking their turns at gardening.

Just try and tell me that photo isn't 100% staged. Either way, it's not "news."

Shot of the photographers willingly participating in this fraud here, lower left-hand corner.

Update: More on Hezbullah's extensive "gardening" expertise, courtesy an e-mail from Soccer Dad:

The Bekaa Valley was an incredibly fertile and varied agricultural land. The Bekaa Valley in central Lebanon, with the warm Mediterranean sun beating down on it, is one of the most ideal places in the world to cultivate cannabis and poppies. Before the civil war in Lebanon began in the late 1970's drug production was minimal. Lebanon was a prosperous country. Beirut was known as the `Paris of the East' and tourists, not drug crops were soaking up the Sun.

Then war destroyed Lebanon and its economy. Numerous factions, each with their own militias, split up and occupied different parts of Lebanon. Each needed a source of income for weapons and ammunition to supply their armies. Many illegal activities were tried such as counterfeiting and kidnapping, but eventually the narcotics trade came to be seen as the most effective way to raise money. As the war continued and weapons became increasingly expensive and more difficult to get, drug production increased as well. Battles would often be fought over fertile fields and drug crops. Narcotics growing and trafficking became a way of life for an entire generation in Lebanon. By the early 1990s cannabis or opium crops covered almost 75 percent of the 4,280 square kilometer Bekaa Valley.

In addition to Lebanese cannabis, Hezbollah may traffick heroin out of Iran and distributing it through their Lebanon-based cannabis trafficking network. Money from narcotics goes to support Hezbollah's militia within Lebanon, and presumably also to support their terrorist attacks around the world.

[Source]

Heck, it gives me a good excuse to link to this bit of hilarity, so I'm happy.

Charles Malik provides the in-depth analysis of the scuttlebutt, and has made an attempt to piece the puzzle together:

In a conversation with a PSP activist, we put the rumors we heard together, and found that there might be greater plans involved in these recent clashes. This is speculation, but it seems like there is a specific pre-constructed narrative being followed, and the weak link in the chain providing most of the information are SSNP guys.

It seems like Hezbollah's putsch is part of a larger plan to legitimate a Syrian return to Lebanon.

Hezbollah, Amal, and the SSNP tried to start clashes with the Sunni Future Movement and Druze PSP. Hezbollah assumed they would win after a week or so of clashes in Beirut and then dictate the narrative, claiming that they "liberated" the area. They followed their plan to take over all of Beirut, and then humiliate Hariri at the end by storming his compound. The only problem was that the March 14 parties refused to fight back and took away the clashes Hezbollah needed to legitimate their attacks ex post facto.

The plan was always to give territory back to the Army, but that is because the Army is merely a national symbol and placate the feelings of the community, while Hezbollah would remain in charge.

The SSNP would be the vanguard, placing posters of Syrian President Bashar al Assad everywhere. Hezbollah would be the enforcers, and try to keep some level of legitimacy by claiming that the SSNP guys are the Syria supporters. Amal and Berri would be the negotiating partner.

Hezbollah started clashes in the Bekaa simultaneous to the clashes in Beirut to make it seem like the fighting is national, but also to begin the process of providing Syria with an excuse to re-enter the country.

Charles has much more, so be sure to click over and check it out.

Soccer Dad points out that AFP is using particularly glowing language to describe Hezbullah's latest conquest in Beirut:

Shiite gunmen guard pro-government detainees in west Beirut on May 9, 2008. Hezbollah fighters, their guns blazing, seized control of west Beirut after three days of street battles with pro-government foes pushed Lebanon dangerously close to all-out civil war. The sectarian fighting had eased by early afternoon and the army and police moved across areas now in the hands of Iranian-backed Shiite opposition forces who routed Sunni militants loyal to the Western-backed government. AFP PHOTO/HASSAN IBRAHIM (Photo credit should read HASSAN IBRAHIM/AFP/Getty Images)

"Pro-government" foes conquered Beirut with "their guns blazing?"

Does that mean that Agence France-Presse is against the lawfully-elected Lebanese government?

A Blog for All asks if Western news stringers operating in Beirut today are enemy embeds. The answer to that is twofold:—For starters, all of the photographers that are covering this week's events live there, so they're essentially covering their home turf. However, Hezbullah has been going through plenty of effort to censor photographers that are "unfriendly" to the group, and has shut down media outlets that are run by the opposition, so the remaining photographers aren't exactly enemy "embeds," as much as they are enemy-vetted.

By the way, I still haven't heard a single word of condemnation issued by Reuters against the brutal treatment shown to its employees by the terrorist militia. Yet, if Israel were even remotely thought to have been involved, I'm sure the press releases would've been flying before the photos even hit the wires.

One wonders why Hezbullah feels it needs to even bother with censorship of the press, considering how friendly to the group the media already are.

A certain shoemaker is going to be very happy with the prominent product placement in this wire photograph:

Charles Malik has details on Hezbullah's takeover of the Lebanese press:

Hezbollah has taken control of the media in Lebanon, and their propaganda campaign has already begun. They are currently presenting themselves as liberators of Lebanon, and allies of the Lebanese Army against a corrupt government supported by pro-government snipers and brigrands.

Hezbollah's militant takeover of Beirut and its systematic destruction of the authority of the state and freedom of the press suggests a sophisticated and planned campaign to take power. There is no hiding the violence Hezbollah used to seize Beirut and cut it off from the rest of the country. But as their media campaign is already showing, Hezbollah is employing subtle and sophisticated mechanisms to take over the rest of Lebanon. All news which could be construed as negative behaviors, such as the blatant destruction and corruption of Lebanese institutions, is hidden beneath a Hezbollah-dominated media blackout.

No one knows if Hezbollah is currently occupying government building, re-routing the telecommunications networks, placing weapons in areas they could not gain access to before, and more. If Hezbollah wins this battle, this information will never be made public.

And it certainly won't be made public by the Western press, which is already quite sympathetic to Hezbullah:

Al Jazeera is claiming that Hezbollah has made a "concession" by opening the airport road. As was told to me by a veteran Lebanese reporter, all of the journalists and news agencies reporting right now have been vetted by Hezbollah. Even if the news is true, it is written to present Hezbollah's actions as gracious.

The servants of the master celebrate in Beirut:

A Hezbollah gunman poses as he flashes a victory sign after putting up posters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and taking over of an office of the Future group loyal to Saad al-Hariri Majority leader, in the Rass al-Naba'a area in Beirut May 9, 2008. Hezbollah gunmen took control of large areas of Beirut on Friday in a third day of fighting between the pro-Iranian group and fighters loyal to the U.S.- backed governing coalition. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir (LEBANON)

It would seem that Hezbullah is winning the Battle of Beirut—Will this be the second time that this poor city falls to a band of ruthless thugs?

They've managed to run members of Parliament that were hostile to them out of town, and Jeha has written a very eloquent analysis of the stakes of the game. He's also updated his maps to illustrate the current state of affairs in downtown Beirut.

The Lebanese Forces, for whatever reason, don't seem to be willing to stand up and fight the Iranian-backed bullies so far. If things remain the way they are right now, the outcome is as inevitable as it ever has been.

Update: Photographic evidence that Hezbullah is taking the Hamas approach to coups? More photos here.

Charles Malik has more on Hezbullah's non-coup in Beirut:

Hezbollah has no interest in ruling other sects or doing the day to day management of Lebanon. Their goal is simply to get whatever they want from the Lebanese state, which is exactly what has happened for the last few years. Of course, this means that no other sect or group gets to do what they want.

The Lebanese government and people (including the Shia) should never, according to Hezbollah, do anything that impinges on Hezbollah's actions, or which might cause negative repercussions to Hezbollah's allies in Syria and Iran.

If Hezbollah decides to take actions which negatively affect Lebanese citizens - for example, starting a war with Israel that creates massive destruction, all other Lebanese must keep their mouths shut and allow Hezbollah to do whatever it decides is the best route forward. After the war, Hezbollah will kindly rebuild Hezbollah infrastructure, provide social welfare to their most loyal supporters in the Shia sect, and maybe throw pennies at the rest of us. However, they will expect the rest of us not to complain about the war, destruction, or the pittance they provide for us after the war (if we are even alive), and blame everything that happened on the Zionist enemy and the American conspiracy against Lebanon, which are the only reasons why bad things happen here.

For a bunch of "brave warriors," Hezbullah sure does behave like a bunch of spoiled 4-year-old girls, don't they?

Jeha is maintaining a nice map of the current battle/siege in Beirut. I'll hotlink it for now, so you get the latest updates. Whenever he gets around to posting it to Google Maps, will get it updated asap.


Click to zoom

My good friend Jeha has IM'ed to say that the word on the street in Lebanon is that Hezbullah's alliance is starting to make a move on the Serail, the Lebanese parliament. This news comes almost immediately after Hassan "The Coward" Nasrallah announced that any attempt by the Lebanese government to enforce the law prevent Hezbullah from spying on the country would be interpreted by Hezbullah as a declaration of war.

It'll be interesting to see if the Lebanese Forces will be able to muster the will to defend the country, or if Hezbullah will officially take the reins of government by force.

Of course, Hassan "The Coward" Nasrallah was nowhere to be found, seeing how he prefers to cower in a bunker and let his totally expendable supporters take the brunt of any military action for him. Good leaders lead from waaaay behind, right?

Stay safe over there, Jeha—Especially now that the fight seems to be spreading into Christian territory.

More on Hezbullah's endgame over at Mr. Totten's place. A very intriguing set of analyses.

Jeha has posted some details on the topic here, and there is a truly fascinating look at the role Facebook is playing in this current conflict/proto-war over here.

May God's hand be over His followers in Lebanon, and keep them safe from the actions of the Party of the Insane.

Update: The Lebanese Forces are withdrawing from the battle areas? Maybe their interpretation of "backbone" differs slightly from mine...

More madness from March 14: One-on-one negotiations with Hassan "The Coward." Psst, guys? You're not supposed to be giving credibility to that cowardly thug.

I guess this means that 2008 is going to end up becoming the first year of the Islamic Republic of Lebanon.

Update: After a brief pause for Hariri's speech, the bullets are flying again.

Update: The Lebanese Forces speaks, albeit unofficially:

Nothing is more annoying the Aounists & Hezbollah and other Opposition parties than the fact that the LFers refuse to get involved in the violent incidents …

Hezbollah & Tayyar media have been initimidating the LF since yesterday, and making up rumors about their presence in several spots, yet all news were denied by the LF ..

I warn them and assure them that the guys are all ready and waiting for any HA or Amal thug to put one foot in the Christian regions … and i assure them that they ll only be getting back in body bags if they try to cause trouble in our regions ..

Peace

Photojournalist Wadih Shlink, a Reuters stringer who reports from Beirut, Lebanon, was pretty savagely beaten by Hezbullah "supporters" this morning. I haven't been able to find any details of this account yet, but from the history we already know, I'm betting that he was taking pictures of something that would've cast Hezbullah in a negative light.

I'll be waiting on the edge of my seat to see if Reuters can muster an ounce of condemnation against their terrorist friends' Hezbullah's savagery against one of their treasured employees.

A civil defence medic attends to photographer Wadih Shlink after he was beaten by Hezbollah supporters in a Beirut suburb May 7, 2008. Supporters of Lebanon's Hezbollah-led opposition blocked main roads in Beirut with burning barricades on Wednesday, paralysing the capital in a long-running political standoff with the U.S.-backed government. REUTERS/ Fadi Ghalioum (LEBANON)

I have ghosts of Wadih's photographs here, here, and here.

Update: My good friend Jeha has e-mailed with some background from on the ground in Beirut:

Hey Brian,

The guy's Lebanese, he may have been attacked by people who belong to another confessional group. None of those idiots know Reuters...

That's because the day's is ugly, at least on the edges of the Southern side of Beirut, with clashes between mainly "Shiite" parties on one side, and Sunni and Druze parties on the other... The army's trying to stop it, but it has been much undermined by Hezb'O. The Easter side is generally quiet today....

Of course, I wouldn't suspect that he was beaten by anyone who knew him personally, or even necessarily of Reuters itself. And, given that they don't know him, I'd also be comfortable saying that they didn't beat him because he came from a different "confessional group," as Jeha puts it, as such a "political proclivity," in my parlance, wouldn't really be obvious from a casual inspection.

Notice, however, how he's carrying a camera bag in the linked photo above?

I don't know about you, but to me, that says pretty clearly that he was "on the job" at the time he was beaten. And, given Hezbullah's past, at least when it comes to how strongly they control news coverage about themselves, the most likely explanation for Wadih's beating still seems to be that he was taking pictures of something Hezbullah didn't want to be seen.

At least, not by news consumers in the West.

If any of you know more about this story, I'd love to hear it. Am I barking up the wrong tree here?

Update: Could this be something that's going around? The photojournalist in this picture looks very familiar, but so far I'm unable to put a name to the face:

A cameraman reacts after he was hit in the head during a protest in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, May 7, 2008. Hezbollah supporters clashed with government backers in several Beirut neighborhoods Wednesday, using guns and stones after the militant group blocked major roads with burning tires and dirt to enforce a labor strike. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Also, more details from Jeha:

Understood.

But don't read too much into it; those goons are good at such a thing, especially knowing a guy's origins. There are so many accents in tiny Lebanon, we can pinpoint one another's origins by the way we pronounce things.

Back in the civil war and tit for tat massacres, we had our confessions on our ID's. But there were faster ways; Christian Phalango militias could tell if someone was a Palestinian just by showing a tomato and asking them to name it. In the Mountain, Druze militiamen could easily tell "their" guys from the "others" by the way they pronounce their "a"... To that day, I still have my regional accent; even when I speak French of English, some words give me away to other Lebanese.