Geagea: Hizbullah Wise Enough Not to Get Involved in Syria if Military Action Taken against it
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea ruled out the possibility that Hizbullah and Iran would retaliate to a U.S.-led strike against Syria, reported As Safir newspaper on Monday.
He told the daily: “I assume that Hizbullah and Iran are wise enough to avoid slipping into a large-scale war.”
Political affiliations in Lebanon will not change in light of a strike against Syria, but that does not mean that Hizbullah will not be affected by any hit against its ally, he said.
This in turn will affect the Lebanese internal scene in one way or another, remarked Geagea.
“The internal scene will become exposed to all possibilities,” he warned without elaborating.
Given the dangers, the LF leader called for the formation of a neutral government that would not be comprised of members of the rival March 8 and 14 camps.
He explained that a political government will “transfer the volatile local and regional situation to cabinet.”
Commenting on the assault on the historic Christian Syrian town of Maalula, Geagea said: “I sympathize completely with the town, but I must express my deep regret that some Lebanese factions have exploited its suffering for petty political gain.”
He condemned the Free Patriotic Movement's exploitation of the Maalula assault for its political interests, saying: “It is shameful that the movement is allied with a regime that does not hesitate to use chemical weapons against its people.”
In addition, he slammed FPM official and caretaker Energy Minister Jebran Bassil's claims that the Maalula attack was aimed at driving Christians out of the East, noting: “Such allegations are a form of propaganda in an effort by dictatorships to portray themselves as being secular regimes that safeguard minorities.”
“The only way to save Maalula and the whole of Syria lies in changing the regime and replacing it with an open and democratic one,” Geagea said.
Moreover, he voiced his support for a “balanced foreign intervention” against the Syrian regime, “otherwise we would be partners in the ongoing crimes being committed against the Syrian people.”
Bassil on Sunday warned that the rebel assault on the Syrian Christian town of Maalula was a “serious signal that the plot to displace Christians from the Levant has started.”
He warned of the rise of takfiris in the region, stressing: “We first need to reject their rise to power and we then need to reject war because it will lead to the displacement of Christians.”
Syrian rebels, including jihadists linked to al-Qaida, have taken control of Maalula north of Damascus, a watchdog and residents said on Sunday.
The battle for the town left at least 17 rebels dead and more than 100 wounded overnight, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, adding that dozens of regime forces and pro-militia members were also killed or wounded.
09 September 2013, 08:58
149
Geagea, I disagree it has nothing to do with being wise. Iran has no need to get involved, not when they have their militia to do their dirty work and Lebanon to pay the consequences.
09 September 2013, 09:43
127
R-FT: haters such as these voted you down for merely saying hello! They are well known empty sectarian lowlifes.
09 September 2013, 10:52
106
dearest justice, bless you! These people (person) are performing their jihadist duties. It is the only way they know how to resist:) God Bless the resistance and its environment!
09 September 2013, 09:01
159
LOL @ Gaegae!!!! May I remind the honorable doctor who protected the christians of lebanon and Iraq from extermination other than the Syrian regime. May I remind the bald genius that Bassil, Aoun, and the FPM are the only party protecting us christians in the levant. General Aoun visited Maloula, did you? No, you were busy kissing up to Harriri and Bandar. Contrary to common belief, the Syrian Arab Army did not withdraw from Maloula and let in these Harriri-Bandari takfiris to show the world that christians are being attacked and to garner public support just before the impending strike. The Syrian Arab Army that will destroy the invaders and Israel fought with unprecedented bravery against a handful of takfiris to retain this christian village, but was overwhelmed by their state-of-the art firepower and their toyota jeeps. You win some and you lose some!
09 September 2013, 10:05
136
Hello RFT... I had a good laugh at the comments from Son-in-Law #1's article, The Aoun Idolizers were having a fit :-)
09 September 2013, 10:47
116
Hello dear friend:) Yes, I read some of the comments this morning. Flamethrower and his many selves were having a party out there while I was @G20 with Alona trying to drum up support for Bashar;)))
09 September 2013, 11:53
117
Take it easy mr roar or you will give yourself heart burn. Btw is there any truth to the rumor that you are now idolizing mr -.>-Flamethrower-_<?
09 September 2013, 09:23
1216
"Commenting on the assault on the historic Christian Syrian town of Maalula, Geagea said: “I sympathize completely with the town, but I must express my deep regret that some Lebanese factions have exploited its suffering for petty political gain.”
Delicious irony.
09 September 2013, 09:33
1614
Why would Geagea care about Maalula? It is a Christian town and Geagea follows the Salafist creed.
Fal ya7kom al ikhwan!
09 September 2013, 09:39
168
It seems as a shia Mr. Karim cares more about us than Gaegae!
Fal ya7kom hizbullah!
09 September 2013, 10:02
49
Mr. Jesus, the site you reference is known for having a degree of accuracy that is directly proportional to the degree of successes of Dr. Arreet 7akeh's predictions raised to the 20th power. Keep reading it. It will make you see the unseen more clearly. takbir
09 September 2013, 10:57
124
yes he did. He was a decorated war hero and his son is currently following in his footsteps.
09 September 2013, 11:13
127
"Whats soon?" ask your beloved aoun: he always said assad would take over the next tuesday! LMFAO @you too!!!!
09 September 2013, 13:18
413
Just to put things into perspective, this is what Mr. Gaegae won't speak against: live leak. com/view?i=d32_1378719979 (terrorists from the opposition terrorizing christian nuns Maaloula).
How can any leader of any sect not speak against the terrorization of its preachers and institutions? At least Bassil said the FPM would take a stand, while Gaegae only said he sympathizes with these poor nuns and went on to bash FPM. C'mon, poor show.
09 September 2013, 14:32
94
Enough of your deletion Naharnet , if someone has an opinion that does not suit your political views then you are in breach of " freedom of speech " .......
Not even the most conservative news channels such as Fox News would even contemplate to delete an opinion that is to the extreme far Left ! But you guys at Naharnet are a bunch of " Control Freaks " called " Narcissists " !!!
Signed Wolf !!!!!!!
09 September 2013, 15:19
83
@roar
http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/19764
" “Next Tuesday you will tell me if the crisis in Syria has persisted. I believe that it is over.”
Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun stated on Tuesday that another one-way ticket awaits former Prime Minister Saad Hariri if he returns to Lebanon, noting that the Syrian crisis is over. :) idiot!
09 September 2013, 17:09
311
I am no Aouni, but they are 100% right about what the takfiri want to do in the Levant and even Egypt. There is no doubt their goal is to drive Christians out of the Middle East. This is why I am no longer an LF supporter. They hate Aoun so bad (whom I don't trust) to such an extent, that even when the FPM is saying and doing the right thing in this situation, they still have to disagree. Does the LF really think what is happening to Christians in Syria is exaggerated? These people are getting forced to convert or die. The churches are getting destroyed. They are kidnapping our clergymen. Is the Assad regime doing this? Of course they are not. Do you really think if the rebels win, they will democratically elect a moderate normal Sunni of the likes of Fouad Siniora for example?
09 September 2013, 18:51
93
let us refresh the alzheimer M8 brains :
the regime they are defending that killed more lebanese than israel itself, has harbored, sheltered, encouraged many islamist terrorist organisations over the decaades to manipulate them and send them to destabilize other countries ( if you take me for a fool i remind you that aoun has always stated this...)
assad , to justify his total war against his OWN people has freed many islamists from his jails to spread even more chaos seeing that he couldn't crush the rebels...
M8 and assad are now waving the threat of an islamist country to better manipulate the public opinions in which of course M8 has fallen into...
this is the hypocrit regime M8 are defending... but between hypocrits no wonder they support the baath regime!
09 September 2013, 19:37
38
"to justify his total war against his OWN people has freed many islamists from his jails to spread even more chaos seeing that he couldn't crush the rebels... "
I don't follow, did he provide them with VISAs and free plane tickets? That'd be silly on his part.
09 September 2013, 19:51
83
just follow the news and you would know... instead of being ironic.
09 September 2013, 20:09
29
Well, peace, here's why I think that particular claim is pretty silly:
Syrian Islamic Front: 13,000-23,000(by May 2013),Al-Nusra Front: 6,000(by June 2013),Foreign Mujahideen: 10,000 (by August 2013).
Now, I don't quite see how Al-Assad released some 30,000-40,000 seasoned fighters and terrorists from Syrian jails(while many of them also have foreign nationalities). These groups have also been labeled as terrorist groups by the international community. Not saying the 140,000 other fighters are terrorists, but one can't but to think they wouldn't really have lasted as long if the terrorist groups weren't there, seeing as how they've been at the center of decisive and many other victories.
09 September 2013, 23:36
53
nobody is denying that islamists have flowed into syria, but the thing you do not understand is that the regime encouraged islamic terrorism at the beginning to justify its war against terror and try to get the support of the people! that is why they freed hundreds of islamists lol....
10 September 2013, 11:41
05
peace, I see. It seems it has backfired though. A couple of hundred at first I can see how it'd be used as justification for a 'war on terror', but it seems they've probably called their friends in the KSA/Iraq/Qatar/Yemen/etc. and this freeing of Islamist terrorists backfired.
The threat remains real, dangerous, and immediate.
We all know the Muslim Brotherhood/Al-Qaeda/etc. are eying for Syria to fall into chaos. The extremists have already set up excellent training camps much better than Afghanistan or elsewhere and have as I've said previously, some 30-40,000 seasoned fighters in the country already and that's an estimated from earlier this year.
If the extremists break off from the FSA umbrella group who weren't even close to their current efficacy in combating the inexperienced SAA soldiers, I'm willing to bet the FSA wouldn't be able to do much against trained and seasoned veteran fighters of Al-Qaeda/other extremist groups. Just a thought.
10 September 2013, 04:10
05
So when did you realize that the regime that some alzheimerians are defending killed more Lebanese than Israel itself? Would you say after Rafic Syria, Syria's best Rafic, sat in their lap for 15 very short years professing the darouri, shar3i and mou2akat while filling his pockets with stolen money? Or might it be after Dr. Arreet 7akeh trampolined into their arms while scheming against ebn balado? I hope alzheimer's has not hit you, too, faylasouf 3asrak. Do you ever think, Aristotle (if you know what it means to think)? And you have the nerve to be judgmental, huh! If you were my son I would slap the stupidity out of you, which would keep my hands busy for the rest of your pathetic life.
10 September 2013, 07:55
06
Why is it that the Christians of Syria do not learn how to be smart from the Christians of March 14 and call the takfiris "minnina" a-la-Dr. Arreet 7akeh when they, UNPROVOKED by the Christians of Achrafieh, attacked people and destroyed churches and private property in Achrafieh because some jerks in EUROPE drew caricatures of the Prophet? You hear me? You understand? You have grains? Shouldn't Dr. Arreet 7akeh have sent these Syrian Christians letters with tips and advice instead of sending such letters to Obama?
10 September 2013, 02:38
71
Well said Samir - something which is not adequately focused on and discussed:
“The only way to save Maalula and the whole of Syria lies in changing the regime and replacing it with an open and democratic one,”
Bashar al-Assad if he is intelligent and honorable would step down. Who in their right mind would want to be in a leadership position when they are not wanted?
True leadership is to serve people, not to control and leach them of their energy and lives. An individual in leadership not serving people to better their life is a thief of other's energies.
10 September 2013, 03:14
17
You are absolutely right: change the regime to open and democratic one. Ok lets take a look at the possible "replacing regime" in Syria. It is fair to say that it would look at best like the one in Egypt under Morsi. Right? Ok. Now, if Syrians are lucky, they will get a Morsi-like Muslim brotherhood government. Judging from what happened to Egypt and Christians in Egypt under Morsi ( 40% of Christian Egyptians left the country due to harassment and abuse), I would say, your Geagea guy there is "Intentionally Criminal."
10 September 2013, 15:11
01
Things happen in baby steps. It's a move in the right direction to get democracy on the map in Syria. Any intelligent government or leadership should learn by now that if they don't start upgrading their 'act' into 21st century living they're not going to last long because they're increasingly going to be outnumbered by people throughout the region and the rest of the world. Ever heard of People Power - that's the new era we're moving into.
10 September 2013, 07:46
06
Nobody knows "ASSad" is finished as much as you, and that he gets finished every Wednesday!!! Believe you me. Perhaps this is the problem with the Hezz and Iran. They just aren't smart! Period. But then isn't it obvious considering that they are neither Farts 14 nor Sanni First, aka know-it-all geniuses?
