DAR AL HARB/ISLAM - LEBANON: MILITARY AID ARRIVES IN TRIPOLI,LEBANON

Perhaps it is just me, but I haven't heard too much wailing, gnashing of teeth and general rending of clothing from the MSM's and Leftists @ Large about how the poor 'Palestinian' refugees are getting hammered by the Lebanese army...

Much different from the way they behaved when it was Israel that was hammering away in southern Lebanon...

HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA ! ! ! It seems I wasn't the only one that noticed how the MSM's and Leftists @ Large are largely mum:

Blackmailing Europe

Military planes bring U.S. and Arab aid to Lebanese army locked in war with Islamic militants
by BASSEM MROUE, Associated Press Writer

TRIPOLI, Lebanon (AP) - Military aid from the United States and Arab allies began arriving Friday after Washington said it was rushing supplies to the Lebanese army battling al-Qaida-inspired militants barricaded inside a Palestinian refugee camp in the country's north.

Sporadic gunfire exchanges early Friday punctured the lull in the fighting as the Lebanese army continued to build up around the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp near the port city of Tripoli.

The move appeared to be either a preparation to storm the camp - a maze of narrow streets and tightly packed residential buildings where hundreds of Fatah Islam militants are holed up - or a tightening of the siege to force them to surrender. Thousands of Palestinian refugees are also trapped inside.

A deputy Fatah Islam leader threatened more violence if the army attacks. Abu Hureira told the pan-Arab Al Hayat daily by telephone that ''sleeper cells'' in other Palestinian camps and elsewhere in Lebanon were awaiting word for a ''violent response.''

Although U.S. officials said the military aid to Lebanon had been agreed to before the fighting broke out this week, the speedy shipment Friday marked the first tangible U.S. backing of the Lebanese authorities' fight with the militants.

By early afternoon Friday, a total of five military transport planes landed at the Beirut airport, including one from the U.S. Air Force, two from the Emirates' air force and two Royal Jordanian Air Force planes. Both Jordan and Emirates are close U.S. allies.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Thursday renewed the Bush administration's support for the Lebanese government.

''I certainly hope that the Lebanese government will be able to deal with these extremists,'' Rice said. ''It's just another example of extremists in the Middle East who are trying to destabilize democratic governments.''

U.S. military assistance, limited during Syria's control of Lebanon until 2005, increased after last year's summer war between Lebanese Hezbollah militants and Israel.

Hoping that a boosted army could eventually disarm Hezbollah, the U.S. has pledged $40 million in military aid. Lebanon's 70,000-strong army is underarmed and overstretched, with army leaders complaining of a lack of heavy armor, anti-aircraft missiles and the absence of an air force.

At the camp, Lebanese troops entrenched their positions around the camp but did not appear to be attempting to advance. Reinforcements from other regions were also arriving, mostly from elite commando units.

A Pentagon official said Thursday that the United States would send ammunition and other equipment to the Lebanese army in a military airlift of eight planes. Many residents of the capital saw Friday's international airlift but the Lebanese military refused to comment.

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and


US bolsters Lebanese Army as stand-off continues
by

The United States intervened directly in the crisis in Lebanon for the first time today, flying four military aircraft carrying ammunition into Beirut to help the country's Army battle against Islamic extremists holed up in a Palestinian refugee camp.

Lebanese security services reported that the Arab-owned planes, carrying weapons and ammunition from US army bases and depots all around the Middle East, arrived this morning and two further flights were scheduled for later today.

The US military has so far made no comment about the claims, but its apparent intervention comes after a direct appeal to the Bush Government by Fouad Siniora, the Lebanese President, whose Army is struggling to defeat the Fatah al-Islam group which has taken over the Nahr el-Bared camp, near the Lebanese city of Tripoli.

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Pertinent Links:

1) Military planes bring U.S. and Arab aid to Lebanese army locked in war with Islamic militants

2) US bolsters Lebanese Army as stand-off continues