Via-Friday-Lunch-Club
C O N F I D E N T I A L BEIRUT 002665
SUBJECT: LEBANON: DEFENSE MINISTER AWAITS CABINET DECISION ON DEPLOYMENT
2. (C) Sitting in his study surrounded by a stunning collection of Greek Orthodox icons, Murr informed the Ambassador that senior LAF and IDF officers met on 8/14 at UNIFIL headquarters in the southern city of Naqoura to coordinate the deployment/withdrawal, noting that the Israelis behaved "sweetly" and asked if the LAF "could come tomorrow." Murr was amazed that the Israelis had already pulled most of their troops out of the South, even though the LAF and UNIFIL-plus might still be several days away from deploying. Murr complained that the vacuum left by the Israeli "defection on the ground" is being rapidly reclaimed by Hizballah. In addition, what he saw as the relatively poor Israeli military performance, especially over the last two days of conflict when dozens of Israeli soldiers were killed, had left Hizballah in a triumphant and uncompromising mood. "The IDF put us in a difficult situation," complained Murr, adding in a typical flourish, "They are the worst army in the world."......
5. (C) Murr hopes that the disarmament issue causes the next Cabinet session, whenever it is finally held, to "explode." Unfortunately, he said, th粑 only people prepared to go face-to-face against Hizballah in the Cabinet are himself and non-Sunni March 14 members Joe Sarkis, Pierre Gemayel, Nayla Moawad, and Marwan Hamadeh. Otherwise, he lamented, "the Sunna have no knees and no experience" to go against Hizballah. "Saad (Hariri) should have been tougher from the beginning," Murr complained, while PM Siniora had asked Murr to be "firm but smooth" about the disarmament issue, and to "not cause him any problems." (Note. During the meeting Murr took a call from PM Siniora, who asked Murr to call back once the Ambassador had left. Inviting the Ambassador to stay, Murr called Siniora back after five minutes. The Prime Minister wanted to know what the Ambassador had said regarding the deployment. End Note). While the Sunni March 14 members want Hizballah to disarm, said Murr, they are unwilling to rock the boat for fear of exacerbating Sunni-Shi'ite tensions, and will let the Christians and Druze take the lead. Unleashing an arsenal of expletives, the Defense Minister complained that, "This is the problem with the Sunna, they want to f**k with the d**k of others.".... 9. (C) Murr's comments on Sunni reticence to challenge Hizballah highlight a real concern in the current political bartering in Lebanon. Un粑ess Siniora and others from March 14 are willing to stand as one .......The one weak point remains the Sunnis -- as well as Nabih Berri who, though he hates Hizballah, is unlikely to openly confront the group -- and we will work on stiffening the backbones of PM Siniora, Saad Hariri and other Sunni March 14 members to join in the fray, if not publicly then at least in the Cabinet, to press Hizballah to disarm at least in the South now. As we will report septel, the Ambassador met with Siniora on 8/16 -- a day after the conversation with Murr -- and Siniora is moving to retake the initiative in a step-by-step approach to UNSCR 1701 implementation.
Posted by G, Z, or B at 10:24 AM
Uprooted Palestinian
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