Lebanese ‘Soldier’ is now an oxymoron

You can be forgiven for not realizing that the Lebanese Army’s siege of the Palestinian refugee camp (Nahr el-Bared) has yet to end. International media coverage has been almost non-existent since early July; however, the never-ending siege goes on. Here’s a Jerusalem Post article detailing the latest Lebanese fatalities.

Two soldiers have died during gun battles with Islamic extremists in a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon, a senior military official said Sunday. One of the soldiers was killed Saturday night while the second died Sunday of wounds he received in fighting on Saturday inside the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr el-Bared near the northern port city of Tripoli.

The official said the deaths brought to 138 the number of Lebanese soldiers killed since fighting between the army and Fatah Islam militants broke out on May 20. He spoke on customary condition of anonymity according to military regulations. The state-run National News Agency said fighting continued Sunday, with army helicopters carrying out three successive raids against Fatah Islam positions inside the camp. It said the helicopters fired more than nine rockets at the suspected positions, but it was not clear whether any direct hits were made. The military official declined to comment on the NNA's report.

Army commander Michel Suleiman said last week that up to 70 Fatah Islam fighters remained in the camp, along with some 100 women and children believed to be relatives. When the fighting broke out in May, the number of Fatah Islam militants was estimated at 360. He said the group was affiliated with al-Qaida, denying that it was a Syrian creation, as claimed by anti-Syrian Lebanese government officials.

In spite of having helicopters, superior weaponry/artillery, and an international carte blanche to do whatever - the Lebanese Army seems to be absolutely incapable of rooting out a few militants. The death toil for soldiers is still higher than ‘militants’. Can you imagine what the Israelis could have accomplished last summer, if the IDF had been given the same kind of freedom to operate as the Lebanese Army has had - as well as a three month international carte blanche pass to do it in?

I joked before that the Lebanese Army needed pointers from Hamas/Hezbollah but this is simply an absurd situation. Somebody needs to move in and do what the Lebanese Army seems absolutely incapable of doing before any more Lebanese “soldiers” get killed or the army vanishes in its entirety.