Stalemate in Lebanon, as the fighting continues.

Smoke rises from artillery fire at Nahr el-Bared


Fighting continues at between the Lebanese Army and Fatah al-Islam and its allies in the Ein al-Hewar and Nahr al-Bared `Palestinian refugee camps'.

The Lebanese army is admitting to losing 57 soldiers in the month long battle as opposed to an estimated 42 of the enemy.

According to al-Reuters, Milad Badran, who still lives in the camp told reporters, “The army’s bombardment is haphazard and is hitting civilian areas. It is impossible to describe the humanitarian situation.” ( in other words, the Lebanese are using artillery on civilian areas - remember that, the next time some blowhard starts talking about how inhumane Israel is to the `Palestinians')


Fatah al-Islam’s commander Abu Hurayra stated, “The army is attacking from afar and they don’t come close. We will keep fighting until this oppression is lifted. We will fight until the end, even for months its not a problem.”

Actually, Abu Harayra is quite correct. Fatah al-Islam is being amply supplied by Syria via Hezbollah, they're dug in, and the Lebanese Army is nervous about a full-on frontal offensive, because it's a no-win situation - not only might they get their tails kicked but it would undoubtedly rile the rest of Lebanon's`Palestinian' population of about 400,000. And if the forces loyal to Siniora were successful, they run the risk of bringing Hezbollah and ultimately Syria into the picture.

What sparked this, of course, is the UN Security Council tribunal over the assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri...with the UN's own investigations implicating high up figures in Syria's Assad regime, and probably leading to Basher Assad himself.

That, and continued control of Lebanon by Syria.