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Inside the Middle East
October 13, 2010
Posted: 1046 GMT

From Arwa Damon, CNN

Beirut, Lebanon (CNN) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived in Beirut for his first state visit to Lebanon Wednesday.

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad crosses Beirut airport highway on his first visit to the country on Wednesday
Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad crosses Beirut airport highway on his first visit to the country on Wednesday

Ahmadinejad was greeted at the airport by members of parliament, government officials and Hezbollah political leaders. The streets near the airport were packed with people in a festive mood carrying Iranian and Lebanese flags.

The Iranian leader met Lebanese President Michel Suleiman at the Presidential Palace here and was scheduled to meet other leaders as well as leaders of Hezbollah's resistance movement.

The United States considers Hezbollah, which has close ties to Iran and Syria, to be a terrorist organization. The Shiite group is a political party and a major provider of social services in Lebanon, but it also operates a militant wing.

Hezbollah has been linked to numerous terrorist attacks against American, Israeli and other Western targets. Some Muslims see it as a heroic organization, successful in its stated objective of driving Israeli forces from Lebanon.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has expressed concern to Suleiman about Ahmadinejad's Lebanon visit, according to a State Department spokesman.

But in southern Lebanon many were happy that Ahmadinejad was coming. Read full article...

 

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Filed under: Iran •Lebanon


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Captain America   October 13th, 2010 12:33 pm ET

Ahmadinejad may not be perfect, but at least he is not scared to admit a universal truth. 911 was an inside job!

But if you feel safer with your tin foil hat and want to believe a few bearded men with sandals made the entire US air force stand down for several hours, thats up to you.

But then you probably would have believed the Germans when they said they were taking the Jews on a train holiday in 1941

Captain America   October 13th, 2010 12:35 pm ET

ps was Pollock an Iranian spy and did Iran bomb the USS Liberty. Oh no that was all Israels doing.

Francesca   October 13th, 2010 12:50 pm ET

If Americans were honest they would drop the election ballot farce and turn presidential elections into a fund raising campaign. The one who raises the most money wins. Thats all its really about.

Former US Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney says a strongly-financed lobby throughout the world has helped Israel violate international law.

“The status that Israel enjoys is the result of a very well-financed lobby that protects the interests of Israel,” McKinney said in an interview with Press TV on Tuesday.

The problem of Israel knowing itself exempt from international law has not only affected the United States, but also the international community and the United Nations, she further explained.

“Look at what happened with Judge [Richard] Goldstone when he wrote a report that just told the truth about what Israel did with respect to Operation Cast Lead,” she noted.

The Israeli operation on Gaza in the winter of 2008-2009 resulted in the deaths of more than 1,400 Palestinians, most of them civilians and inflicted over $1.6 billion of damage on the Gaza Strip’s economy.

The UN report, also known as the ‘Goldstone Report,’ said Israel’s crimes included deliberate targeting civilians. It also highlighted the Israeli forces’ “systematically reckless” way of determining the use of white phosphorus in built-up areas, notably in the attack on the UN Relief and Works Agency compound in Gaza City as well as two Gaza-based hospitals.

McKinney also referred to Israel’s attack on the humanitarian aid Flotilla, which took place as the convoy was attempting to bring aid to the besieged Gaza Strip. She emphasized that Tel Aviv, in defiance of the international condemnation of the assault, claims that its actions were legal.

McKinney’s remarks came following former White House correspondent Helen Thomas’ statement that no one in the United States can criticize Israel and survive.

Thomas was forced to resign in June after calling on Israel to “get out of Palestine.”

McKinney reiterated that the Israeli lobby supports Tel Aviv’s interests, “no matter what the political systems is.”

She suggested that a “well-financed and well-organized people’s lobby” be formed in order to counteract the affects of the Israeli lobby in order to safeguard peace and justice.

So when you put things in context, Israel is the rouge dangerous state. Iran has never in over a thousand years attacked it's neighbors. CNN I'm pleased you recognize Hamas as a resistant movement against Israeli crimes. Keep it up and tell the truth, even when the Israeli lobby demands you sack your journalists.

Filipe   October 14th, 2010 9:41 am ET

Francesca,

This blog article is about Amadinejad's visit to Lebanon! It's not about Hamas or Israel or Gaza or Goldstone.

What article did you read???

Obviously you are on the wrong page !!!

Too bad CNN is not not capable of monitoring posts to make certain the content is on topic!

miriam   October 14th, 2010 3:02 pm ET

Francesca,

Copying and pasting from Press TV is no different than Ahmedinejad commenting directly on this blog.

McKinney's track record is well-known, as is her ignorance of international law.

Iran fools you into believing it has never attacked a neighbour in the last thousand years, while it arms, trains and supports its proxies to attack every neighbour and other countries beyond.

This visit is no state visit. It's just a colonialist ruler visiting his furthest (for the moment) border. The US can only hope that the Atlantic serves the same role that The Channel served in WW2. But I suspect those are false hopes, especially when Iran has an army of proxies already at work on the minds of Americans.

proud zionist   October 14th, 2010 4:42 pm ET

Cptain America

Oh how much you hate the US of A!!!

Wilson   October 15th, 2010 10:19 am ET

I think Captain America is a real Patriot who stands up for America.
Unlike Proud Zionist who will drag America to the ground if it serves Israels interests.

As we know Israel , pro Israeli media, corrupt Zionist bankers and Zionist politicians have done a great job of dragging America to a state of near collapse.

Smith in Oregon   October 19th, 2010 5:35 am ET

The full article has Zionist speak calling for the execution of Ajad. Difficult to think the Israeli's would be so utterly stupid they would off Ajad who would certainly be replaced by a angry hardliner. Perhaps that is what they want to further fan the flames of hatred toward Israel across the Middle East and expecting America to sacrifice her son's and daughters lives dealing with it.

I was disappointed in the lack of depth in the article as such a high level meeting would also carry several high level deals with the Lebanon officials. First and foremost discussed would be an a all out attack by Lebanon fighters upon Israel should Israel attack Iran.

I suspect Ajad's visit signaled advanced anti-tank weapons being diverted to Lebanon's fighters, perhaps Iran has the intelligence to give Lebanon the new advanced Russia shoulder fired anti-aircraft missiles which track on the Ultra-Violet signature of the aircraft to safe guard Lebanon from air strikes.

I have yet to hear of any charges against Israeli Officials for ordering barrages of cluster bombs into Lebanon's civilian neighborhoods where Lebanese children are still discovering and dieing from unexploded cluster bomblets. Israel's use of Cluster bombs on Lebanese civilian populations and Israel's use of White Phosphorus bombardments to clear the Gaza streets of civilian populations both appear to be distinct International War Crimes.

miriam   October 19th, 2010 12:11 pm ET

Smith,

So you clearly support the Iranian occupation and take-over of Lebanon.

The majority of Lebanese do not agree with your recommendations and if they didn't have Hizbollah bullets aimed at their heads, would loudly proclaim so.

Cluster bombs have only been out-lawed this year and have been used by armies all over the world. Unsurprisingly, their use only acquired international media attention when used by Israel.

Similarly, it is not illegal under international law to use white phosphorus munitions as smoke-screens in non built-up areas even if they occasionally produce incidental incendiary effects. Such munitions are commonly used for the same objectives as they were used by the IDF by armies world-wide.
If they had been deliberately fired onto the streets in the centre of populated areas that would be illegal under IDF and international rules. However that was not the case, and simply another example of your lies.

Smith in Oregon   October 19th, 2010 6:53 pm ET

Are the Zionists in Israel so utterly stupid they think that murdering Iranian President Ahmadinejad would translate to anything remotely favorable to Israel? In this article, Israel's Officials used it's Zionist Speak to indicate an order to Mossad Assassin teams has been given to murder Ahmadinejad. Such Zionist Speak was seen just prior to the Mossad Assassin teams poisoning Yasar Arafat to death.

Certainly if Ahmadinejad were assassinated by a roving Mossad Assassin team, he would be replaced with a hardcore anti-Israeli firebrand. So then why, simply revenge? Yet another sick blood feud and murder by the Zionists against the Arabic people in the Middle East? That would certainly be how it would be viewed by much of the world.

Smith in Oregon   October 19th, 2010 7:29 pm ET

Canada's brilliant scientist Dr. Gerald Bull was developing a rail gun device to launch small satellites into orbit cheaply and easily. This would have greatly benefited all nations on earth but the rabid band of Israeli Mossad Assassins murdered him in the 1990's anyway, go figure!

Smith in Oregon   October 19th, 2010 7:43 pm ET

Israel was entirely instrumental in removing Saddam from leadership in Iraq, totally opening the door for Iran to dominate Iraq and dominate that entire region in the Middle East. If Israel was far too ignorant to realize Saddam's Sunni Muslim ties was the cork in Iran's Shiite' Muslim bottle, too damn bad and too late now to figure that out Israel!

America isn't going to constantly bail out Israel's rash and callous actions. Iraq was handed to Iran on a silver platter, Iraq's Oil field leases were handed to China for pennies, a huge Lose-Lose to Israel.

University Rector   October 19th, 2010 9:22 pm ET

Miriam, the only occupation which exists in the middle east is Israels occupation of Palestine.

Tell me of a single occupation beyond Israels doing. You can't nitwit.

miriam   October 20th, 2010 1:23 pm ET

Smith,

More conspiracy.

It is to Israel's advantage to watch Ahmadinejad destroy his own "authority", "legitimacy" and "credibility".

Israel doesn't need to assassinate him and could have done so if it wanted. In Israel, one person's opinion does not represent the whole. At least he has the right to express it, unlike all those around the ME who wish they could say the same thing.

Iranians are not Arabs.

John A   October 21st, 2010 9:22 am ET

Miriam, Ahmadinejad does not destroy his own "authority", "legitimacy" and "credibility". Thats your desperate and misguided job.

By the way Ahmadinejad has not ordered his army to attack any country, but Israel does this on an annual basis. And America constantly pays for Israels needless aggression. Do you really think this will go on for ever??

miriam   October 21st, 2010 2:23 pm ET

Smith,

Why not mention all the other suspects in Bull's assassination?

Israel always favoured the removal of the Iranian leadership rather than Saddam Hussein. So why do you make-up stories about Israel forcing the US into Iraq?

I expect you'll respond with your mantra about Israel's perceived desire to attack Iran, but we've discussed that already.

miriam   October 21st, 2010 2:35 pm ET

Uni,

Accurate interpretation of International Law clearly shows that there is no Israeli " occupation" of "Palestine".

Frequently repeated politically motivated mantras and rhetoric is not International Law.

Smith in Oregon   October 21st, 2010 7:57 pm ET

Israel's newspapers and 'public statements' that are released are heavily censored and scrutinized for any information as well as anything remotely what Israel does not want published nor released to the News Media as a public statement.

That being said, if the Israeli government didn't want the world's public to learn that an Israeli official was calling for a Mossad assassination team to murder the President of Iran, that would not have been released and that official would have had an official visit by the IDF.

Several weeks prior to Arafat's murder by Mossad assassins, I noticed a series of public statements day's apart from one another from Israeli Officials which each appeared to order and give the green light to the Mossad to murder Arafat. Later, I found that several OTHER individuals around the world also noticed the same Zionist Speak and put together those public releases and media interviews in a expose which can be found on the Internet to those that search for it.

This article is to my knowledge the FIRST one I have seen calling for the murder of Iran's President. And as I mentioned repeatedly before, it would be a grave mistake for Israel to murder Iran's President.

John A   October 22nd, 2010 6:33 pm ET

Miriam, you have run out of arguments and each statement you make is a perversion of truth eg. only Israel disputes international law, the rest of the world including the USA condemns Israels occupation of Palestine.

Miriam, you have one question left to answer. You've run out of arguments, but will you ever run out of time for writing BS on this blog??

Filipe   October 23rd, 2010 5:20 pm ET

John A,

Oh Please !!!!!! Did you not listen to or read the rhetorical diatribe of hate, bigotry and annialation spewed from the mouth of monkey man during his numerous speeches in the 2 days he spent in Iran's southern province of Lebanon??

miriam   October 23rd, 2010 6:28 pm ET

John A,

The commonly used rhetoric refering to Israeli occupation of the WB is political abuse of the term.

Even the US is capable of this abuse and it is surprising that you put so much trust in US policy considering the insults you usually throw at the administration on this blog.

It is unfortunate that these claims have become so acceptible when in reality they have no legal basis.

Is the territory disputed? Yes. But this dispute has to be resolved by negotiation, not by false and baseless declarations.

miriam   October 23rd, 2010 7:07 pm ET

Smith,

It is because Israeli media is free and only partly censored on matters of national security which can be found in any country including those that are not currently involved in a war, that you are able to obssess about the country.

Why do you think this blog on the ME is dominated with articles about Israel?

Obviously, judging from your comment, this freedom of press has left you totally confused. That is not surprising when there is a system in place in Israel that allows everyone's views exposure and accessed by those who have no idea about the reality.

John A   November 3rd, 2010 7:54 pm ET

Actually Filipe I did not hear any of those things and if you did you would have posted a link.

Perhaps its Filipe's words which are the "rhetorical diatribe of hate, bigotry and annialation spewed from the mouth of a monkey"

John A   November 3rd, 2010 7:56 pm ET

Miriam, says Why do you think this blog on the ME is dominated with articles about Israel?
-------------

simple answer. The world is sick of Israels crimes.

miriam   November 15th, 2010 12:28 pm ET

John A,

You and a few others who make a lot of noise are trying to make the world sick, force-feeding them lies, myths and propaganda.

Luckily Israel has the remedy.


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