Why is Hezbolla being conflated w/ the Lebanese Gov't?

Someone explain this to me... Here's what Wikipedia states on Lebanon's politics.

Lebanon is a republic in which the three highest offices are reserved for members of specific religious groups:

* the President must be a Maronite Catholic Christian.
* the Prime Minister must be a Sunni Muslim, and
* the Speaker of the Parliament must be a Shi'a Muslim.

This arrangement is part of the "National Pact" (Arabic: الميثاق الوطني - al Mithaq al Watani), an unwritten agreement which was established in 1943 during meetings between Lebanon's first president (a Maronite) and its first prime minister (a Sunni), although it was not formalized in the Constitution until 1990, following the Taif Agreement. The pact included a promise by the Christians not to seek French protection and to accept Lebanon's "Arab face", and a Muslim promise to recognize independence and legitimacy of the Lebanese state in its 1920 boundaries and to renounce aspirations for union with Syria. This pact was thought at the time to be an interim compromise, necessary until Lebanon formed its own sense of a national identity. Its continued existence and the fallout from subsequent civil wars continue to dominate politics in Lebanon.

The pact also stipulated that seats in the Parliament would be allocated by religion and region, in a ratio of 6 Christians to 5 Muslims, a ratio based on the 1932 census, which was taken at a time when Christians still had a slight majority. The Taif Agreement adjusted the ratio to grant equal representation to followers of the two religions.

The Constitution grants the people the right to change their government. However, from the mid-1970s until the parliamentary elections in 1992, civil war precluded the exercise of political rights. According to the constitution, direct elections must be held for the parliament every four years. The last parliament election was in 2000; the election due to be held in 2004 was postponed for one year.

The parliament composition is based on more ethnic and religious identities rather than ideological features. The distribution of parliament seats has been modified recently.

Parliament of Lebanon Seat Allocation Confession Before Taif After Taif
Maronite 30 34
Greek Orthodox 11 14
Greek Catholic 6 8
Armenian Orthodox 4 5
Armenian Catholic 1 1
Protestant 1 1
Other Christians 1 1
Total Christians 54 64

Sunni 20 27
Shi'a 19 27
Druze 6 8
Alawite 0 2
Total Muslims 45 64

TOTAL 99 128

The Parliament elects the President of the republic to a six-year term. Consecutive terms for the president are forbidden. This constitutional rule has been bypassed by ad-hoc amendment twice in recent history, however, at the urging of the Syrian government. Elias Hrawi's term, which was due to end in 1995, was extended for three years. This procedure was repeated in 2004 to allow Emile Lahoud to remain in office until 2007. Pro-democracy campaigners denounced the moves.

The last presidential election was in 1998. The President appoints the Prime Minister on the nomination of the Parliament. Lebanon has numerous political parties, but their role is less important than in most parliamentary systems. Most represent, in practice if not in theory, sectarian interests; many are little more than ad-hoc lists of candidates endorsed by a well-known national or local figure. Electoral tickets are often formed on a constituency-by-constituency basis by negotiation among local leaders of clans, religious groups, and political parties; these loose coalitions generally exist only for the election and rarely form cohesive blocs in the Parliament subsequently.

Lebanon's judicial system is based on the Napoleonic Code. Juries are not used in trials. The Lebanese court system has three levels - courts of first instance, courts of appeal, and the court of cassation. There also is a system of religious courts having jurisdiction over personal status matters within their own communities, with rules on matters such as marriage, divorce, and inheritance. Lebanese law does not provide for Civil marriage (although it recognizes such marriages contracted abroad); efforts by former President Elias Hrawi to legalize civil marriage in the late 1990s foundered on objections mostly from Muslim clerics.

and then bomb Iran because it is all Iran's fault.

Such perfect sense. not.

and crush Hezbollah on Israel's behalf.

as I do of controlling BushCo.

But it makes for good PR to impress Christian Americans.

Next time the kids misbehave, slug the mother in the jaw. That's how fascists do it.

On the other hand, any excuse to bomb Iran is an excuse the Bushoilinis will use.

Sort of like "The Moral Majority" having seats in Congress with a military wing attacking atheists


http://www.aph.gov.au/Library/pubs/rn/2002-03/03rn42.htm

Informative link

Imagine Jerry Falwell in Congress. :puke:

... but I'm not sure a rocket-wielding Jerry Falwell gives a country the right to invade the US.

It makes it easier to justify murder in the name of "self-defense".

...when the enormous civilian casualties are tallied if the rest of the world believes that somehow, they were terrorists.

  It's bullshit, of course, but it doesn't stop Israel from trying...

PB

it's complex- more complex than simply saying bullshit. H'zbollah does wield considerable influence in the Lebanese gov't and as a poster upthread, stated there's nothing that others in the gov't who oppose H'zbollah can do about it without risking another civil war. That's where Israel is being unreasonable and unfair in its blaming of the Lebanese gov't.

H'zbollah does control the southern border and they have a powerful and well armed militia.

PB

amazingly enough, this afternoon i heard a local news report on a small local radio station where the newscaster said that in the news 'israel attacks hezbollah' etc....how could she already, and in a minor station such as am 740, know to spin the news about israel's attacking lebanon this way? is she just reading it off a wire, yet investing the report with such finality and crisp authority?
mygod i loathe these bastards.....

read this, instead

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=1628534&mesg_id=1628534

For starters, Lebanon's government is virtually impotent to the point that when you discuss Hizbollah, you are discussing the group that controls that area and land (and, unfortunately, the hearts of most of the people). The Lebanese government is actually incapable of controlling Hizbollah and outright admits it.

Secondly, Syria and Syrians do not make a distinction between Lebanon and Syria. They consider Lebanon to be an extention of themselves. Syria is the primary funder of Hizbollah, which controls the people of Lebanon. (This is so oversimplified, but you get the picture). Iran belongs in this in that Hizbollah was originally called the Iranian Revolutionary Army, and it was/is commited to the teachings of the Ayatollah Khomeini; Iran also takes care of a lot of the arming/funding of Hizbollah. As a matter of fact, I wouldn't be surprised if part of the motive behind the entire original kidnapping was Iran's idea, but I digress.

And thirdly, well, it's easy for Israel to give themselves a country to fight against instead of an organization with members in many countries. I also think their true target is not Lebanon, but Syria, because, as I stated above, Syria considers Lebanon to be a part of itself and will, if pressed defend it. Israel wants Syria out of the equation in regards to the Palestinian issue, and they also also want Hizbollah disarmed.

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

I mean, it's a lie, so...