Tens of thousands of Lebanese rallied today in Beirut in a pro-Syria demonstration. This follows on the heels of several anti-Syria rallies in the wake of the murder of former president Rafik Hariri. One would be foolish to interpret the former to mean a Lebanese desire for foreign occupation, just as one would be foolish to interpret the latter to mean that Lebanon will soon be a free and democratic country. It's too soon to tell what the future holds for Lebanon, once a mecca for cosmopolitans but as of late a mecca for occupying armies, terrorists, and sectarian violence. A few demonstrations does not a democracy make.

Syria has agreed to have had a full pull out of forces by the end of March. Israel, the United States, and Saudi Arabia have all expressed a willingness to fight, should Syria refuse to comply with their own promise.

In any corrupt government, the corrupt prosper. Those who have prospered from Syrian occupation will, of course, desire to see the Syrians stay. However it is obvious, that since they have done so in the past, the Lebanese people ARE capable of making a western style democracy. Under the watchful eye of the international community, and freed from the yolk of Syrian occupation, they will do so again.

Talk about democracy and freedom!!! click on my name

Hey Truth. I'm not a big fan of the Iraq war either but what the hell are you proving here? NEWSFLASH - people die, harm is done, blood is shed for freedom. During the revolutionary war Americans died and it was very bloody.

The difference (the real arguement) is that it was Americans were fighting for American freedom then - and it is Americans fighting for Iraqi freedom now.

A) Americans should not be fighting and dying for the freedom of non-Americans.

B) Are the Iraqi people even capable of sustaining liberty?

How many times did you post on websites during the 90's brutal pictures of those who suffered under Saddam's rule?

I agree with Robby wholeheartedly on this. What is transpiring throughout the Middle East is an indirect cause of the elections that have taking place in Iraq. I have had a change of heart recently with how I view the Iraq war. I opposed this war during its inception for its flawed premise yet now I am in favor of it only because we have to complete what we began. The sign of the time at least recently is that the winds of freedom are blowing throughout the Middle East yet can this existing current sustain itself?

Robby's comments as follows:

A) Americans should not be fighting and dying for the freedom of non-Americans.

B) Are the Iraqi people even capable of sustaining liberty?

I couldn't have put it any better. We should be protecting the Homeland not nation-building at expense of our federal dollars BUT we must finish what we began and this is important. What is important here is that the Lebanese continue expressing their desire for liberty free of Syrian occupation.

Let Freedom Reign...

Through democratizing the Middle East we put pressure on our main enemy, Iran, by surrounding it with friendly democratic buffer states. Iran has been a growing power in the Middle East since the late 70s, the clear generator of the Islamo-Fascism in the Middle East that replaced Nassir's far more secular Pan-Arab nationalism, and able to snub the U.S at every turn.

Can we all agree that Islamo-Fascism is a serious danger to Americas? It is caused by Iran. Islamo-Fascism has directly correlated WITH the rise of Iran as the dominant regional power in the The Middle East, and has the old, Pan-Arab powers of Jordan, Syria, and mainly Egypt declined, it was Islamo-Fascism that rose.

It the Mullahs hadnt risen, Osama Bin Laden would still be a bit player.

The credibility of extreme Islamic militants comes from the preachings of our biggest enemy, Iran. A democratic Middle East will

A.) Surround Iran with friendly democratic shield states that can break its power (READ: Truman Doctrine.)

B.) Create a free environment in the Middle East were free thought can flourish, encouraging political liberalism (NOTE: Classical Liberalism, READ: John Locke.) Which will encourage a more peaceful resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. Not only that but it will cause the money from oil to flow into the hands of private businesses, not corrupt regimes. When the people are free and the money is free-flowing, the credence and credibility of Islamic militants rapidly disappears. Free, happy people have no reason to hijack a plane and drive it into the a skyscraper. (READ: Bush Doctrine.)

C.) Protect the huge oil trade that is the biggest driving factor behind the extremely succesfull American economy.

The side that stays on the defensive never wins the war, and the Paleocon/Liberal strategy for defensive warfare is the formula for defeat.

Ben-T wrote, "Can we all agree that Islamo-Fascism is a serious danger to Americas?" Well I don't agree and Conversely we can safely say, Can we all agree that American-Fascism is a serious danger to Muslim nations?...

No we cant agree on that, and until you start making some serious arguments instead of posting links to your 9-11 was a lie site and copying and pasting other people's material, we will leave it at that.

If you want to engage in intelligent discourse, than grow up and act intelligent.

grow up? lol. Oh yeah, 911 was a lie.

"Oh yeah, 911 was a lie."

I'm so glad someone's here to set the record straight. Thanks for your service, valiant and honorable knight. You can go now.

-ben

Why don't you all stop laughing and brushing it aside. We do not live in a democracy. We live in an economically inspired government that at any cost, will ungergo tactics to harnass any potential objects of "value". Even if it may include staging a ficticious terrorist act. Are you guys now going to report me as a "domestic terrorist" to Ashcroft etc...? lol We funded the Nazis with our federal reserve, we have overseen and authorized the rise of numerous dictators including Hussein, we have dropped nuclear bombs on civilian populations after the war was over, we killed president Kennedy, hired Bin Laden to work with the CIA for ten years, we engineered 911... and much, much more. All in the name of cleaning monetary house. You common Americans really need to alert yourselves of our true political motives; Even if it just for the sake of knowing the truth. You can not actually believe we are in Iraq to create a democracy, please people.

"Dissent is the highest form of patriotism" -FDR

One can love his country, without loving his current government.

I think the real truth here is that Truth himself cannot accept a common vision of freedom in the Middle East and less tyrrany... although I'll admit that we shouldn't be all gung-ho about the current developments. We should tread carefully as we navigate this treacherous landscape. Caution is necessary NOT pep rallies for freedom.

Oh and Truth.. one more thing... I know the oil is important to our immediate interests yet our society isn't merely economic driven... rather its driven by people and ideas which is turn democracy. Participation runs rampant throughout this country and people of all walks of life participate... that my friend is democracy.

Remember all politics is local

Im a piece of crap. Im like a broken record with my 911wasalie.com. I have no real arguement. I never blog on the subject at hand. I should move to France. I hate my country. I love communists.
I love tyrranical dictatorships. Im blind to the fact that al qaeda really hates America and every person in it. Im a sympathizer for al qaeda, but they would be-head me if they had the opportunity.

I dont know how you feel about the United States, france, or communists. But I think it is abundantly clear that you are a broken record with no real argument, and you never post on the topic at hand.

APPLAUSE for Ben-T...

Anyone... I guess Truth is really a Frenchmen.

Hey spitfly, read response on the other posts. I amde it clear to you why we are in fact, in the middle east. You guys really are pathetic. The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself. And you know what?, that is all the Bush administration is selling to you. You believe this? Oh my fuking god. Al Qaeda is no threat to this country. The illuminati or asteroids, maybe.

And no, I love this country, live in Mass, I am not french, and am more of a true patriot than any of you blind and non-thinking conformists. check out www.libertyforum.org/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=consp_911&Number=293264158

Is this the way a democrazy should be run? Tell me...
http://nightweed.com/usavotefacts.html

Truth,

You want truth then you got it... The Bush administration isn't selling me anything. I understand the need of this administration to use coercion and diverison as tactics. They aren't making me fear anything in fact... I think this whole freedom is a good thing although I was against the war for the premise it started on... WMD's... and believe eventually we need to pullout BUT not until Iraqi's have a strong grip on their country.

Big ideas can be fatal yet this Big idea of spreading freedom throughout the Middle East so these nations can determine their own way of life without tyrranical interference is utopian and hopeful. We're already see those winds of freedom blowing.. for how long? No one necessarily knows. I don't think we should go overboard in pushing freedom on everyone thus we must use caution and not claim triumph... AND we must not become an overbearing force as to make us look like we are trying to build an empire although some may object to this because their are signs saying we already view ourselves as the ultimate superpower/empire (Bush appointee to the UN..Bolton has thought so in the past).

BTW Truth... Al Qaeda is a threat to this country... I know.. You know it.. We all know it... I think we need better funding for Homeland Security which is underfunded by the Bush Administration. So Truth be told my fellow patriot BUT don't go calling me a non-thinking conformist or blind. I am rather using some optimism instead of the pessimism that has poisoned modern liberal thought.

This is probably a little off topic, but you know, I wonder if Al Qaeda would be such a threat if we weren't so afraid of dying?

I just left Cairo yesterday, but I was there over the weekend and attended mass in this little Catholic church in the embassy district. And as I prayed with the other, mostly ex-pat catholics, it struck me that the world outside was set up for a totally alien religion (to me). Everything, from its structures to its customs and language, oozes the Islamic religion. It's impossible to ignore.

And then it occured to me that it really felt no different at home. The only real difference is that I've become used to the alien culture surrounding me that embraces the secular values, bulidings, symbols, and even language that comprises its "religion". So much so that it no longer feels as alien as it should.

If everything in the culture reminds one of his eternal soul, and reinforces the idea that his destiny is in heaven...how can the competing culture that tell us that our destiny is in the new Lexus, or some "must-see" television event, overcome the former? If death brings an end to the Lexus and the TV, and nothing is left to hope for, we become cowards.

That's why they can kill 100 and intimidate 1 million. We're cowards (myself included to some extent) and they're not.

Spitfly, flirst of all, you DON'T know that Al Qeada is a threat to this country. You know NOTHING about the so called organization inasmuch as you have heard from mainstream news. Al Quada exists in our minds, thats about it. Have you been to the middle east to fight big bad Al Qaeda? I am willing to bet my house that you have not. "They" are not nearly as large as a threat to the American people as GWB and his criminal administration would like us all to believe. Bin Laden is not the one legislating away YOUR FREEDOMS! We are in the Middle East right now to safeguard our petroleum interests. That is all. There is nothing federal about the federal reserve system. The World Bankers are a privatized institution that at any cost, will continue collecting profits. It would be wise not to buy the spreading freedom crap. Democracies have a tendancy to arrive at an eventual corruption status.

One last note, The American people have been suckered in to electing a bunch of war/corporate criminals into office. Do a quick little background check. Republicans and democrats alike should not feel good about this, unless one (unfortunately) shares similar values.

I used the word "elected" with a grain of salt there

Way to go Homer J. Fong. All the courage-speak of American war hawks seems to me to be covering over their love of secular life and their fear of death with no more toys. Courage, Moral Clarity, Vision, blah blah blah. All just to get the overreligious Muslims to trade their screwed up religion for our screwed up secular religion.

"Spitfly, flirst of all, you DON'T know that Al Qeada is a threat to this country. You know NOTHING about the so called organization inasmuch as you have heard from mainstream news. Al Quada exists in our minds, thats about it. Have you been to the middle east to fight big bad Al Qaeda? I am willing to bet my house that you have not."

TRUTH,

Talk about hate spewing out of your mouth.... I know a few people over in Iraq and for you to demonize this whole situation is ridiculous. Al Qaeda does exist and terrorists are animals who exist in dark places. For you to ask me if I have fought Al Qaeda myself is silly. No I haven't BUT I would give my life for this country and not some other country... I don't think you read me clearly enough because I never voted for Bush in the first place and I don't watch mainstream media for my knowledge of current events and what not. I have many online sources.. For you to blast is me is silly... Truth be told.. You're an IDIOT!!!!

And now to Homer J. Fong,

I agree wholeheartedly... we're cowards and so is TRUTH.

Wow, you know a few people in Iraq... and so do I. You know what we are? White collar terrorists with high-tech weaponry. If any of you actually believe that we are in Iraq to spread freedom, you are in a fairy land. All men are created equal regardless of nationality. true peace can only be generated by true peace. Spit, grab yourself an m16 and be on your merry way.

I am an idiot because Spit told me.

Thanks Homer for those timely reflections of yours. Keep the insights from the ground in the Mid-East coming, they are a refreshing change from the unproveable and sophistical assertions coming from our neocon commentators.

Fine. 9-11 was a lie. THEN WHERE ARE MY !$#^$%!^ TOWERS? Miserable blighter. Yeah, and 'we' killed Kennedy. It's possible that Oswald didn't (at least, not by himself), but you sound like something off "Reading Caboose."

More news flashes - Sasquatch organized the Roswell coverup; the Moon Landing was fake (but we have secretly been to Mars and back, with the help of the aliens who built the Sphinx); and flouridated water is used for mind-control.

News flash, this just in... The milky way has 100 billion stars and there are trillions of different galaxies. It just so happens to be that we live in the ONLY star system with intelligent life. lol

The lie found in 911 is precisely "who" engineered it and took em down

Not only who, but also with what...

Okay Im introducing a boycott. I will no longer respond to any of Truth's assertions until he backs one of them up with a source that does NOT come from a backwater, fringe political group that even the likes of Noam Chomsky would be ashamed to be associated with. Anybody with me?

Pictures don't lie

Here is some moor proof, from www.government-propaganda.com

Seven of the WTC Hijackers found alive

Original Link: http://www.mujahideen.fsnet.co.uk/wtc/wtc-hijackers.htm

Some of the men the FBI claims hijacked planes on Sept. 11 and crashed them into the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon, and Stony Creek Township, Pennsylvania are still alive.

No they weren't pulled from the rubble, they were never on the planes.

The FBI press release of September 27th, 2001 containing names, photographs, aliases and other information is seriously flawed. They have used these peoples names and made claims based on the fact they were pilots and other supposedly incriminating evidence and yet they were not involved. Places of birth, birthdays and other personal details were displayed on news throughout the world.

The FBI still lists these men as suspected hijackers who were killed during the terrorist assault, this is absurd. If this is the quality of the evidence they can present it is no wonder the public cannot see the rest.

7 of the 19 believed hijackers named are still alive.

Saeed Alghamdi, Mohand Alshehri, Abdul aziz Alomari, Salem Alhazmi
"It was proved that five of the names included in the FBI list had nothing to do with what happened." - Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal told the Arabic Press after meeting with President George W. Bush on Sept. 20th

Saudi officials at the embassy were unable to verify the whereabouts of the fifth accused hijacker, Khalid Al-Mihdhar. However, Arab newspapers say Al-Mihdhar is still alive.

Saeed Alghamdi, Mohand Alshehri, Abdul aziz Alomari and Salem Alhazmi "are not dead and had nothing to do with the heinous terror attacks in New York and Washington." The Saudi Arabian embassy told The Orlando Sentinel.

Saudi officials at the embassy were unable to verify the whereabouts of the fifth accused hijacker, Khalid Al-Mihdhar. However, Arab newspapers say Al-Mihdhar is still alive.

"..there are suggestions that another suspect, Khalid Al Midhar, may also be alive. " - BBC 23rd September 2001

Waleed Alshehri (Flight 11) (Trained Pilot)

A sixth person on the FBI's list, Saudi national Waleed Alshehri, is living in Casablanca, according to an official with the Royal Air Moroc, the Moroccan commercial airline. According to the unnamed official, Alshehri lived in Dayton Beach, Fla., where he took flight training at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Now he works for a Moroccan airline. On Sept. 22, Associated Press reported that Alshehri had spoken to the U.S. embassy in Morocco.

"His photograph was released by the FBI, and has been shown in newspapers and on television around the world. That same Mr Al-Shehri has turned up in Morocco, proving clearly that he was not a member of the suicide attack. " - Daily Trust 24th September 2001

"He was reported to have been in Hollywood, Florida, for a month earlier this year but his father, Ahmed, said that Waleed was alive and well and living in Morocco." - Telegraph

"Another of the men named by the FBI as a hijacker in the suicide attacks on Washington and New York has turned up alive and well." - BBC 23rd September 2001

Abdul aziz Alomari (Flight 11) (Trained Pilot) 2 men with same name cobbled together into terrorist

Omari Number 1
Mr. Al-Omari, a pilot with Saudi Airlines, walked into the US embassy in Jeddah to demand why he was being reported as a dead hijacker in the American media.

"a pilot with Saudi Airlines, was astonished to find himself accused of hijacking ­ as well as being dead ­ and has visited the US consulate in Jeddah to demand an explanation." - Independent 17th September 2001

Omari Number 2
" a Saudi man has reported to authorities that he is the real Abdulaziz Alomari, and claims his passport was stolen in 1995 while he studied electrical engineering at the University of Denver. Alomari says he informed police of the theft." - ABCNews

"I couldn't believe it when the FBI put me on their list. They gave my name and my date of birth, but I am not a suicide bomber. I am here. I am alive. I have no idea how to fly a plane. I had nothing to do with this." - Telegraph 23rd September 2001

"The name [listed by the FBI] is my name and the birth date is the same as mine, but I am not the one who bombed the World Trade Center in New York," Abdulaziz Alomari told the London-based Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper.

"Alomari has since been found in Saudi Arabia and is apparently cleared in the case" - New York Times

"Saudi Embassy officials in Washington have challenged his identity. They say a Saudi electrical engineer named Abdulaziz Alomari had his passport and other papers stolen in 1996 in Denver when he was a student and reported the theft to police there at the time. " - BBC

"The second Abdulaziz Al Omari is a pilot for Saudi Arabian Airlines" - BBC 23rd September 2001

"Abdel Aziz Al-Omari and Saïd Hussein Gharamallah Al-Ghamdi, are well in life, the first in Saudi Arabia and the second in Tunisia for nine months." - Wal Fadjri 21st September 2001 [translate]

Saeed Alghamdi (Flight 93) (Trained Pilot)

"Saeed Alghamdi is one of three hijackers that US officials have said are linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network. "- BBC

No BBC! Mr. Al-Ghamdi is still alive and well and at his job for Tunis Air

"I was completely shocked. For the past 10 months I have been based in Tunis with 22 other pilots learning to fly an Airbus 320. The FBI provided no evidence of my presumed involvement in the attacks." - Telegraph 23rd September 2001

"Asharq Al Awsat newspaper, a London-based Arabic daily, says it has interviewed Saeed Alghamdi." - BBC 23rd September 2001

"Abdel Aziz Al-Omari and Saïd Hussein Gharamallah Al-Ghamdi, are well in life, the first in Saudi Arabia and the second in Tunisia for nine months." - Wal Fadjri 21st September 2001 [translate]

"..not dead and had nothing to do with the heinous terror attacks in New York and Washington." - Saudi embassy

Salem Alhazmi (Flight 77)

"Mr Al-Hamzi is 26 and had just returned to work at a petrochemical complex in the industrial eastern city of Yanbou after a holiday in Saudi Arabia when the hijackers struck. He was accused of hijacking the American Airlines Flight 77 that hit the Pentagon." - Telegraph 23rd September 2001

Ahmed Alnami (Flight 93)

"I'm still alive, as you can see. I was shocked to see my name mentioned by the American Justice Department. I had never even heard of Pennsylvania where the plane I was supposed to have hijacked." He had never lost his passport and found it "very worrying" that his identity appeared to have been "stolen" and published by the FBI without any checks. The FBI had said his "possible residence" was Delray Beach in Florida. " - Telegraph 23rd September 2001

Flight 11 (North Tower)
The BBC has reported that the transcript of a phone call made by Flight Attendant Madeline Amy Sweeney to Boston air traffic controls shows that the flight attendant gave the seat numbers occupied by the hijackers, seat numbers which were NOT the seats of the men the FBI claimed were responsible for the hijacking.

Others accused of being involed

Ameer Bukhari
"Ameer Bukhari died in a small plane crash last year. " - CNN Correction

Adnan Bukhari
"Adnan Bukhari is still in Florida" - CNN Correction

Amer Kamfar
"..that a suspect sought by the FBI, Amer Kamfar, was in fact an alive pilot in Arabia. " - Wal Fadjri 21st September 2001 [translate]

The link you provide does not work.

Secondly, assuming that report you provided is copied and pasted from the aforementioned site, I would ask you if it provides actual links to the CNN, New York Times, and BBC reports it claims to quote. We will of course need to investigate seriously the credibility of any website involved with the friggin' Mujahideen, since they are well known as a anti-western terrorist force in the Middle East. I would say that qualifies as a fringe, extremist political group.

In conclusion, post a link that works.

A few fun facts about Our misnomered pal Truth. Assuming that we can derive his beliefs from the website he links us to in his name, the following things are true.

-Truth is a Pagan
-Truth believes in the Illuminati, or at least a Shadow Government/New World Order of some kind
-Truth believes in UFOs
-Truth believes rock and roll music is a form of mind control. No, I dont mean a brainwashing/marketing technique, I mean literal mind control.

Click on Truth's name for some more fun theories.

So there were no terrorists and no airplanes - because a few of the dead scumbags were misidentified.

Gee, the terrorists stole other people's identities? "It's my name and birthdate, but it's not me." You've never heard of this happening before? (They must not have this sort of crime on Omicron Persei Eight.)

Pictures don't lie? (They don't have Photoshop in space, either.) About fifty million people saw the impact of the second plane, live or on TV. All in on it!

PS: You're a braver man than I am, Gunga-Ben. You actually went to the source! So it's the rock and roll, not the flouridation... I was wrong. Stop me before I listen to more U2!

"(They must not have this sort of crime on Omicron Persei Eight.)"

HAHAHA

Truth: own't.

Truth...Truth...now you know youre not supposed to be on that computer after the street lights are on. Now go on get back into bed with your sister and make your mother proud! Stop acting like a child, youre 33 years old for crying out loud. Always trying to pick a fight with someone over the computer. I know I didnt hold you or hug you enough when you were younger, but you know that mommy had customers of the seedy type those nights and you know customers come first!

Hey Nightfly and Ben-T...

He called me a white-collared terrorist and said I should carry an M-16... here are the goods from Truth himself.. the pagan..

"Wow, you know a few people in Iraq... and so do I. You know what we are? White collar terrorists with high-tech weaponry. If any of you actually believe that we are in Iraq to spread freedom, you are in a fairy land. All men are created equal regardless of nationality. true peace can only be generated by true peace. Spit, grab yourself an m16 and be on your merry way."

So Truth is one of those who uses cliches..like "Lets give peace a chance"..
Its not that simple this is a very, very complex situation.

"No they weren't pulled from the rubble, they were never on the planes."

So a government that plans to kill 3,000 of its own citizens, can't even do the competant job of killing off the guys they are going to frame?!

Is this the same government that has "everybody fooled"? Is this the same government that "couldn't have been surprised by 9/11" or "should have known"?

This is the type of super-evil-genius plot with glaring hole story you get with conspiracy theorists.

Truth is stranger thatn fiction, capitan

Have you ever recieved any conclusive evidence to support the conspiracy theories you so energitically espouse? The website you links to provides none, so I thought maybe you might have other sources.

Truth is stranger than Jacko, Captain.