Hezbollah’s reluctant human shields (via Jeff);
Roadblocks have been set up outside some of the villages to prevent residents from leaving, while in other villages Hizbullah is preventing UN representatives from entering, who are trying to help residents leave. In two villages, exchanges of fire between residents and Hizbullah have broken out.
Meanwhile, in Canada, criticism of the Harper government’s sole-source contract to purchase heavy-lift air transport for the Canadian Forces has been replaced by criticism of the Harper government’s efforts in extracting thousands of Canadian citizens wanting to leave Lebanon.
OK, forget the photographer…can someone at least provide a solid reason why Harper and his wife needed to be on board if it wasn’t simply about PR and optics?
And as an olive branch to not be painted as a troll (when I’m simply a cynic about all things politician), I’ll also point out how disgusting it would be if we then pay to transport these evacauated Canadians back “home” to Lebanon once the crisis is shortly averted – and after they’ve had a week or two to holiday around here.
Why did Harper and his wife need to be on board? The PM is not allowed to take commercial flights due to security reasons.
“a solid reason why Harper and his wife needed to be on board if it wasn’t simply about PR and optics?”
Given he was singled out to have his head lopped off by an alledged terror cell, maybe he likes his head to remain on top of his neck. Having a head on your shoulders is politically good optics and also lets one’s eyes function properly.
Though he visited France he has yet to develop a fondness for the guillotine. Death and destruction apparently aren’t desirable PR characteristics.
He and his wife need to be on board as he hasn’t yet mastered the art of walking across the Atlantic Ocean in 24 hours or less. Passing the olive branch to Canadians of Lebanese extraction seemed sensible when all about are missiles, bombs , artillery and destroyed infrastructure.
Other than that it was “purely PR and optics.”
We can’t be doing so badly, when the PM of Oz, asks for help:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19848387-601,00.html
PM seeks Canada’s help for Aussies
Mark Dodd and Peter Wilson
July 20, 2006
JOHN Howard rang his Canadian counterpart last night in an effort to negotiate passage for hundreds of Australians fleeing Lebanon after a vessel booked by the Australian Government was double-booked by Canada.
The Prime Minister rang Canada’s Stephen Harper early yesterday evening.
“The Canadian PM has offered to try and get a berth for Australians if Canada manages to get any ships into the port tomorrow,” a spokesman said.
“Given the current circumstances, there can be no guarantees.”
“This is like deja vu, all over again.”* …-
U.S. Marines land in Beirut on rescue mission
Reuters ^ | July 20, 2006
BEIRUT, July 20 (Reuters) – About 40 U.S. Marines landed on a beach in Beirut on Thursday to help with the evacuation of Americans caught up a week-long Israeli bombardment of Lebanon. The Marines came ashore at dawn on a landing craft from the troop carrier USS Nashville. The Marines were returning to Lebanon nearly 23 years after Hizbollah guerrillas blew up a Marine barracks in Beirut in 1983, killing 241 Marines and other service personnel. …-
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1668961/posts
*Yogi Berra.
Speaking of US Marines and the whole concept of positioning international troops in a “buffer zone” whether UN-led or not, I cannot credit that the G8 leaders could come up with, or entertain, such a half-baked notion.
First, because: it’s been done. And what a howling success it’s been!
Secondly, who would do it?
It couldn’t be the UK or US – not with their involvement in Iraq.
It couldn’t be countries like Nepal or Bangladesh – utterly ineffective.
France? Germany? Yikes – Canada?
Any country contributing troops to this dog-of-an-idea would be buggered royally:
If they enforce the buffer zone, they’ll become a target for Hezbollah.
If they don’t enforce the buffer zone, the Israeli Defence Force will engage Hezbollah despite them.
Damned if they do; damned if they don’t.
Heard on the news this morning…Israel has been bombing a building in southern Beirut heavily. Israel says it is a Hezbollah bunker; Hezbollah says it is the site of a future mosque. I suspect they are BOTH right.
Speaking of Australia, when they had their beach troubles earlier this year the trouble-makers were always referred to as “Lebs.”
Now I don’t know if that’s just a term for any Muslim Australian or if it truly is reserved for Lebanese Australians, but if it’s the latter, I bet a lot of Aussies are none too pleased at the thought of having more Lebanese in their country.
The United States was always very careful about its citizenship and rarely, if ever, allowed its citizens to exercise citizenship in other countries. If one took out citizenship in another country, voted in foreign elections, served in a foreign military force, etc., one could be stripped of citizenship, even as a native-born American. The loosening of those rules was effected largely by the American Jewish community, whose children often went to live, work, and fight in Israel. Those who argued that dual loyalties were not in the best interest of the United States were dismissed as racist, anti-semitic, nativist, etc.
Asian gang problems in Calgary include Lebanese gangs.
The problems are here already. We will just be adding to them with our newfound “citizens”
Still, the MSM utterly ignores the blatant. How has a situation emerged where 40,000 and up Canadians are living in Lebanon? Permanently. Why do they have Canadian citizenship?
How many Hezbollah will the Canadian taxpayer be transporting into Canada during this airlift ‘back’ to a country, Canada, where they don’t live?
How many new passports will be obligingly printed up by Canada, to accomodate those whose passports, they say, have expired – meaning, they haven’t set foot in Canada in over five years OR, meaning that they use their Lebanese passport when they travel. The Canadian passport, dust-covered, is kept for emergency rescues by Canada. All expenses paid by the Canadian taxpayer, which you, a permanent Lebanese resident, are not.
Instead of asking these very important security questions: why are there so many people living in Lebanon, permanently, yet claiming Canadian citizenship; and why is the Canadian taxpayer paying for their removal to Canada (where they don’t live or even have relatives)..and for how long? How many terrorists will be in this group?
Instead, the MSM is focusing on Evil Harper. He is evil because his decisions are the same as Bush. The fact that the decision might be based on fact and reason is irrelevant. According to the MSM, if two people think the same, it’s due only to influence.
He’s going to have his plane used for transport; he’s in it for the photo-ops.
He’s booked ships; that’s too slow (ignorning that Canada has no ships or planes or…)
The MSM are having an absolute frothing Hate Harper field day – in the press, on television.
They are pure propaganda. Their duty as media is long abandoned. They aren’t exploring the questions.
Radio in Ottawa is talking about people complaining about the ‘conditions’ on the Ferry to Larnaca, Cyprus…….now, these are individuals who voluntarily placed themselves in an area where unrest is endemic, they’re getting evacuated at Canadian taxpayer’s expense, and they’re whining because:
– The Ferry was LATE.
– They had to, (OMG), “Sleep in chairs”
– There were few facilities
– Some got seasick
– No medical facilities…..
– And, presumably, the “In-Flight Movie” was a re-run, and there was no Valet Parking at the Pier.
I took a Ferry from Limassol, Cyprus, to Haifa, Israel, once. It was peacetime. The Ferry was delayed. We had to sleep in uncomfortable seats. There were few amenities.
And….we had to pay our OWN Freakin’ FARES!!
“Buffalo Bean”:
Notwithstanding my recent comments, those last two postings of yours were very helpful and informative.
However one views the “dual citizenship” question, it’s useful to establish some actual facts about residency and benefits before jumping to conclusions and blaming the Liberals for all our sorrows.
Not that I don’t think they aren’t worthy of blame of course.
They’re all too worthy of our scorn.
But it should be based on legitimate beefs rather than grumpy misperceptions.
“Does anyone know if there is a requirement to actually come to Canada to get a passport, to actually set for on Canadian soil, or do we just mail them over?”
“ward”:
If you are a Canadian citizen, you can obtain a passport overseas through our embassies and high commissions.
This process is actually MORE difficult than obtaining them IN Canada simply because it is harder to find the necessary Canadian guarantors.
In any case, the only way you could ever be a Canadian citizen without setting foot in Canada is to have been born in another country (after 14 February 1977)* to a Canadian parent.
* Before that date, it gets a little more complicated.
I’m waiting for the first ‘repatriated refugee’
to announce that they have nowhere to live in Canada and demand government provided accommodation.
Since when has ‘fast exit’ been a right?
Terence Corcoran,
National Post
…The right to a fast exit from crisis and war has now been established. The Lebanon evacuation is being described as the largest mass movement of people since more than 300,000 troops were removed from Dunkirk during the Second World War.
From now on, apparently, we must maintain a 24/7 flotilla of cruise ships and aircraft ready to pick up hundreds of thousands of people anywhere in the world and return them home, wherever they think home is as selected from the handful of passports people seem to carry these days.
Let’s see. If there’s war in Lebanon, then today I’m a Canadian….
tinyurl.com/rzh52
That should have read ‘Repatriated Evacuee’.
“From now on, apparently, we must maintain a 24/7 flotilla of cruise ships and aircraft ready to pick up hundreds of thousands of people anywhere in the world and return them home, wherever they think home is as selected from the handful of passports people seem to carry these days.”
No. There is nothing new here. Every Canadian citizen is entitled to expect consular assistance from the Canadian government if they find themselves stuck in a difficult situation overseas.
What that assistance is will depend on the circumstances.
It IS worth noting (and Canada makes this very clear for those with dual citizenship) that if you run afoul of the authorities in your other country of citizenship, Canada may well be entirely unable to assist you in any way.
“What that assistance is will depend on the circumstances.”
From the same article:
“…Foreign Affairs plainly states on its travel advisory services in emergencies it can help only in limited ways. It will, for example, “assist in arranging evacuation in the event of war.” Assist in arranging, not find the boat and book the flight and pay for the tickets…”
Via LGF:
Hizballah Activity in North America
Here’s a fascinating list of all the major Hizballah-related criminal cases currently under investigation and/or indictment in the United States, compiled by Brian Hecht at the Counterterrorism Blog: Hizballah Activity in North America.
http://counterterrorismblog.org/2006/07/hizballah_activity_in_north_am.php
JM:
You are disengenuousness personified – either that or extremely naive.
No Canadian government in its right mind would simply ignore thousands of its citizens stranded in a war zone.
The statement “assist in arranging evacuation in the event of war” can range from the simple (say, getting the British Embassy in Thailand to help two backpackers leave a region where there’s fighting with insurgents) to the complex (arranging the evacuation of thousands of citizens from, well, Lebanon, for example).
A Canadian government that ignored the plight of Canadian citizens trapped in a war zone would be unworthy of office.
Reports via free republic …-
Israel Hints at a Full-Scale Invasion
AP ^ | 7/20/6 | HUSSEIN DAKROUB
BEIRUT, Lebanon — Israeli troops met fierce resistance from Hezbollah guerrillas Thursday as they crossed into Lebanon to seek tunnels and weapons for a second straight day, and Israel hinted at a full-scale invasion. Israeli warplanes also launched new airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold, shortly after daybreak, followed by strikes in the guerrillas’ heartland in the south and eastern Bekaa Valley. The strikes followed bombings Wednesday that killed as many as 70 people, according to Lebanese television, making it the deadliest day since the fighting began July 12. Russia sharply criticized Israel over its onslaught against Lebanon,…
….
Lebanese Army may join forces with Hizbullah
Posted by slowhand520
The masks are off. Having read comments such as:
« Is the criteria of being a Canadian simply having a passport – or is there something else required. Such as residency; such as paying taxes; even such a minor attribute of having been born here. If you have NONE, NONE of these qualities – then, why do you claim Canadian citizenship? »
Or
«Fat sweaty Lebanese man with Canadian passport.»
I wonder where Canadians got that romantic notion that we are SO tolerant and SO nice, unlike those nasty Americans. Do the authors of such categorical assertions fail to realize they are just providing proof that conservatives are bigots at heart?
To ask that immigration and citizenship laws be reviewed and tightened, especially in our post 9/11 world, is indeed reasonable. To make blanket assumptions about the status and motives of all expatriates is quite another thing – if I may say so, very UNCANADIAN.
Poster JJM has it right:
«However one views the “dual citizenship” question, it’s useful to establish some actual facts about residency and benefits before jumping to conclusions … But it should be based on legitimate beefs rather than grumpy misperceptions.»
Last nite in Windsor the Lebanese had a rally in support of ending the fighting in _their country. It was down with Bush, down with Harper and praises to Hezbollah. Kids shown on the tv had t-shirts with machine gun prints on the front. I know not all Lebanese agree with this position, but I hope our government has their names, addresses and puts a watch on these people. Easy enough to get -just go back to the tape of our newscast in Windsor. I was sick to my stomach.
Tuned in to the talk show on radio this morning and the big question of the day was “did Israel go too far”. No one answered that quetion they were busy commenting on that rally the night before. By the way – all English sounding residents were mad as hell.
This morning I turn on the CBC crap and they are interviewing these so-called refugees after they got off the cruise ship. They claim they were treated horribly – had to sleep on the floor and were all sick to their stomachs. The ungrateful ——. Maybe they would feel better had they not got on the ship. Who are these people that put their own families in harms way by vactioning in a country that has terrorist in their government, and have been known for atrocities to a barracks full of US soldiers not to mention a couple of diplomats. And why should I have to pay for their passage back to my country that they don’t even appreciate.
I’m just boiling.
Unfortunately, the Canadian government has no choice but to rescue these 40,000 ungrateful and false Canadians out of Lebanon, using taxpayer money of course.
The question that must be asked now that the Liberal immigration scheme has been exposed is, just what constitutes being Canadian? The devaluing of Canadian citizenship and meaning must be dealt with and stopped.
The Liberals have secretly created this system without the knowledge or consent of the citizen taxpayer.
Remember when Liberal John Manley was foreign affairs minister under the Chreature and he arbitrarily and officially offered to settle the Palestinians in Canada?
A Lebanese Ferry passenger to Larnaca was quoted on CFRA as saying that “If she had’ve known the ORDEAL she’d have to endure on the Ferry, she would have stayed in Lebanon”.
Ordeal? What, no Diet Pepsi, just regular?
I have no problems with duel citizenship. Many have that as a right when they settled here.
If you have both American & Canadian citizenship, you have to pay taxes in both Countries. By Law.
Shoot the second biggest Canadian city in NA is LA.
This is a responsible form of duel residency.
To impugn that the whole thing is bad because of the abuse by parasites of a Socialist government bent on voting phony Canadian immigrants for a one party state.
The Marxist libs pay them to live at home to vote for them here.
Like the Janitor free holiday to Ottawa this is just another Liberal socialist plan, to undermine our Democracy.
Kudu’s to Harper for showing this in a most dramatic way possible.
I would imagine even hardened Marxists raised there eyebrows at the number. Canadians of convenience (mainly to elitist socialists here)for votes has to stop. As well the Singapore stupidity.
I would recommend a perusal of all these faux citizens. You either pay taxes here as well or come back to here, or lose the Canadian playing card.
To folks thinking this was just a photo op. Harper himself said it was symbolic. It his way of showing government can do only so much. People have to respond to this emergency themselves. Enough government idol worship. Self reliance & the public doing things is now the new order.
That means to Libs & all the compromised lefties. Put your money where your mouth is. Charter boats from family or community reserves.
Where is the Lebanese community with funds. More compassion from the “religion of peace”. Stand up for your own. Don’t expect us all to bow down to folks who could care less about this Nation but like the infamous Kadars. Think they have a right to force us all to there beliefs or the sword.
Time to bring in the garbage collectors. Time to take a solid hard chilling look at how far this policy has been abused.
I feel for the families & kids especially. Lets be realistic though.. What the hell is 50,000 people doing in a war zone!!!!!! Pre-porting to be Canadians while living presently in a foreign land. More leftist chicanery.
No I don’t have dual citizenship. I could if I wanted. Who needs to pay the tax man twice lol. In the end I think it’s a plus but must be done responsibly. Do not forget each cabinate minister in the liberals socialist regime where able to allow 2000 people in no matter what there backgrounds. I would like to see a money trail on that as well. (O:}
Lets see , 13 years & hundreds of ministers, all meeting there quotas. No wonder you become rich. What a scam.
The invasion at Dday was 50000 troops moved on one day. A trained army, months of planning.men with names, dogtags. at the time Canada had a navy (4th largest in the world) an airforce and a moral mission.
Id be way more surprised if this went smooth.
by the way – what did our grateful citizens expect in a rescue- posh cabins, perrier, rack of lamb.and they puked after a 15hr
and CBCpravda reports they were sworn at.should make good stuff for the next CBC movie- swearing accounts for half the dialogue.
For those who wonder about the number of Canadians – “fake” or otherwise – in Lebanon, here are some interesting numbers (from BBC online):
Britain: Some 22,000 Britons were in Lebanon when the bombing began, about 10,000 with dual nationality.
US: The US had 25,000 citizens in Lebanon when the crisis erupted.
France: a total of about 20,000 citizens in the country.
Australia: 25,000 Australians in Lebanon.
Philippines: 34,000 Filipinos in Lebanon.
India: estimated 12,000 Indians in Lebanon.
Sri Lanka: estimated 80,000 Sri Lankans live in Lebanon.
Bangladesh: Up to 10,000 Bangladeshis also live in Lebanon
Denmark: 4,000 brought out.
Sweden: Some 1,300 Swedish expatriates have been driven to Syria.
Spain: more than 500 had been flown to Spain, although more than 100 Spaniards remained in Lebanon.
Italy: 400 citizens to Cyprus … About 300 Italians have decided to stay.
Poland: has evacuated more than 200 citizens.
Germany: Up to 3,000 sought evacuation.
Austria: about 100 Austrians have left Lebanon so far, with 120 still there.
Morocco: several dozen nationals.
Russia: 357 people fleeing Lebanon have arrived in Moscow … another 301 are en route.
The governments of 1,600 Ukrainians, 1,000 Romanians, 600 Dutch, 500 Bulgarians, 160 Finns and 90 New Zealanders are also arranging passage out of Lebanon for their citizens.
“So at half the size of Israel, Lebanon refuses to execise control over all of its territory.
You do have to wonder why so many Canadians would be in such a small country which can’t even control its territory. Sounds dangerous to me.”
Sounds like Ontario to me. Why would anyone visit a place where the government is unable to control armed groups that have taken de facto control of chunks of it;s territory?
Thanks for the numbers Gabby in QC. I added in the Canadians and the total comes to roughly 280,000. This doesn’t include potential nationals of the two hundred other countries in the world. Given Lebanon’s total population of roughly 3.5 million, this seems like a rather high proportion of foreign nationals or dual citizens. Does anyone have other countries to compare this to? Given the chronic volatility of the region, I’m wondering if dual citizenship isn’t the Lebanese equivalent of “war insurance”.
“I wonder where Canadians got that romantic notion that we are SO tolerant and SO nice, unlike those nasty Americans. Do the authors of such categorical assertions fail to realize they are just providing proof that conservatives are bigots at heart?”
Perhaps my description was boorish but I’d hardly call it bigoted. However, I stand politically corrected:
The scene that CBC used to hammer home the extreme frustrations of the “Canadian” refugees showed an overweight perspiring Lebanese man shouting insults at the Canadian ambassador.
BTW thanks for the figures Gabby.
my sister who lives in ottawa happily reported she finalized her dual citizenship last year.
cdn-irish.
we’re 1/4 irish on my paternal grandmother’s side.
I dont anticipate her standing in the midst of belfast confrontations.
what language is spoken in lebanon? can someone pls translate the following and buy an ad in beirut newspaper:
helloooo !!!! its a frigging WAR ZONE !!!! steer clear unless you got pressing business !!!!
and dont expect MY government to use MY taxes to instantly bail you out when hostilites do boil over with you stuck on the wrong side of the crater in the road.
JJM:
buffer zone schmuffer zone exactamundo
‘damned if you do damned if you dont’
exactamundo.
note the glaring absence of a 3rd option called ‘success’.
gentlemen, start you clocks counting down to when the liberal groundswell begins demanding a repetition of the pearson nobel prize winning canadian peacekeepers a la suez.
(hint: the terrain wont allow that success to be duplicated)
To RodF who wrote at July 20, 2006 06:29 PM:
«Perhaps my description was boorish but I’d hardly call it bigoted. However, I stand politically corrected»
Please understand my point, there can be so much animosity and anger expressed against THE OTHER (fill in whatever adversarial groups you want) that it is imperative that conservatives (like myself and others who post their comments) do not needlessly give the other side ammunition to prove their case against us.
“Why did Harper and his wife need to be on board? The PM is not allowed to take commercial flights due to security reasons.”
Yeah, and it’s hard out there for a pimp these days…um I mean for a PM in Paris these days [to find a Gulfstream to charter home while he sends his plane off and gives his space to a refugee – if he is actually just being noble].
“Given he was singled out to have his head lopped off by an alledged terror cell, maybe he likes his head to remain on top of his neck. Having a head on your shoulders is politically good optics and also lets one’s eyes function properly.”
Oh Hans, tell me you’re not actually so slow/paranoid to have taken a threat by those lame Ontario crackpots more seriously than the PM, his security detail, and uh…practically the entire Canadian public? Those kids were an laughable farce of terrorism, terrible comeback my boy.
So yeah, not for a photo op say what:
“—–Original Message—–
From: PMO-CPM [mailto:pm@PM.GC.CA]
Sent: 2006-07-20 12:01 PM
To: ALLNEWS_BE@LSERV.PMO-CPM.GC.CA
Subject: Notice / Avis
————————————
Public events for Prime Minister Stephen Harper for Thursday, July 20th are:
7:15 p.m. (local time) – Prime Minister Stephen Harper departs Cyprus.
Larnaca Civilian Airport
Larnaca, Cyprus
* Photo-op only of the Prime Minister and evacuees upon departure.”
Ahem. Horse’s mouth and all.
On another note, haven’t seen much talk yet on WHY this evacuation is taking place for 200k+ foreign nationals?
Is it trendy now? Because of the numbers of foreign passports in Lebanon? Geography? Not like this is the first time we’ve seen some incursions and bombings that cause a few hundred deaths in the Middle East, let alone about a dozen other places around the globe in the last 20 years? Where were the transports and the global freak-out in Kuwait, the Balkans, Haiti, Afghanistan, half of Sub-Saharan Africa…
I mentioned this in another SDA thread folks.
The carping, whining, bitching and general complaining from many of the evacuees at least proves one thing:
They are indeed Canadians.