Following World War I, France acquired a mandate over the northern portion of the former Ottoman Empire province of Syria. The French separated out the region of Lebanon in 1920, and granted this area independence in 1943. A lengthy civil war (1975-1990) devastated the country, but Lebanon has since made progress toward rebuilding its political institutions. Under the Ta'if Accord - the blueprint for national reconciliation - the Lebanese established a more equitable political system, particularly by giving Muslims a greater voice in the political process while institutionalizing sectarian divisions in the government. Since the end of the war, Lebanon has conducted several successful elections. Most militias have been reduced or disbanded, with the exception of Hizballah, designated by the US State Department as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, and Palestinian militant groups. During Lebanon's civil war, the Arab League legitimized in the Ta'if Accord Syria's troop deployment, numbering about 16,000 based mainly east of Beirut and in the Bekaa Valley. Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon in May 2000 and the passage in September 2004 of UNSCR 1559 - a resolution calling for Syria to withdraw from Lebanon and end its interference in Lebanese affairs - encouraged some Lebanese groups to demand that Syria withdraw its forces as well. The assassination of former Prime Minister Rafiq HARIRI and 22 others in February 2005 led to massive demonstrations in Beirut against the Syrian presence ("the Cedar Revolution"), and Syria withdrew the remainder of its military forces in April 2005. In May-June 2005, Lebanon held its first legislative elections since the end of the civil war free of foreign interference, handing a majority to the bloc led by Sa'ad HARIRI, the slain prime minister's son. In July 2006, Hizballah kidnapped two Israeli soldiers leading to a 34-day conflict with Israel in which approximately 1,200 Lebanese civilians were killed. UNSCR 1701 ended the war in August 2006, and Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) deployed throughout the country for the first time in decades, charged with securing Lebanon's borders against weapons smuggling and maintaining a weapons-free zone in south Lebanon with the help of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). The LAF in May-September 2007 battled Sunni extremist group Fatah al-Islam in the Nahr al-Barid Palestinian refugee camp, winning a decisive victory, but destroying the camp and displacing 30,000 Palestinian residents. Lebanese politicians in November 2007 were unable to agree on a successor to Emile LAHUD when he stepped down as president, creating a political vacuum until the election of LAF Commander Gen. Michel SULAYMAN in May 2008 and the formation of a new unity government in July 2008. Legislative elections in June 2009 again produced victory for the bloc led by Sa'ad HARIRI, but a period of prolonged negotiation over the composition of the cabinet ensued. A national unity government was finally formed in November 2009 and approved by the National Assembly the following month. In January 2010, Lebanon assumed a nonpermanent seat on the UN Security Council for the 2010-11 term.
From the CIA World Fact Book.
Recommended
- CNN has published a deeply troubling report on the torture that Israel is committing on Gazan detainees at the Sde Teiman prison in Israel’s Negev desert. The Israeli whistleblower revealed that detainees, some of whom are innocent surgeons and...338 comments 490 Recs
- ...until someone called. I’m feeling a bit good about myself today. Because I was the person who called. And then called another number and a couple more numbers. And then sent some emails. And then made another call or two. A couple of days ago, I...24 comments 124 Recs
- Early this morning a Russian oil refinery in Kaluga Oblast had a full 30 minutes warning that a Ukrainian drone was headed their way. The drone arrived right on time to hit the facility …. unmolested and with devastating effect. What air defense doing?...71 comments 191 Recs
- I thought it was a joke and then I read Yahoo News. Let us not forget Trump had and may still have classified information but ah ha, then I thought, how many copies did he make of the classified docs? I mean the article said his mobile human printer...76 comments 194 Recs
- Barron Trump won't be an at-large convention delegate for his father after all. "While Barron is honored to have been chosen as a delegate by the Florida Republican Party, he regretfully declines to participate due to prior commitments," said a...27 comments 29 Recs
- Burn, baby, burn. Ukraine hit this same refinery two months ago. Oh look! Lots of new job opportunities in Russia. I wonder if they have a good health plan. It has been anticipated for a while now that Russia would attempt an offensive near Kharkiv....44 comments 228 Recs
- Late Night Snark: Let’s Get Boring Edition "I don’t know what's worse: that RFK Jr. had a worm that was eating his brain, or that his brain is so poisoned that it killed the worm. … And as if this story couldn’t get any weirder, it turns out that...107 comments 101 Recs
- A series of witnesses testified today as the prosecution is beginning to wind up its case against Trump. Perhaps most damaging was a Trump tweet which proved an opening statement claim made to the jury by his attorney to be a lie. Here are today’s...11 comments 72 Recs
- Last winter, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) lost all nine of her congressional staffers. On November 1, 2023, she fired her chief of staff, Dan Hanlon. In the next three months, the other eight quit. The reviews were not good. Mace earned a reputation as an...72 comments 177 Recs
- A Severe G4 Geomagnetic Storm is expected to lash at earth around 03:00 — 09:00 UTC Saturday morning (11 p.m. EDT Friday night to 5 a.m. EDT Saturday morning). A series of strong solar flares and Coronal Mass Ejections took place Wednesday and...79 comments 300 Recs
- I know that the GOP believes a lot of ridiculous nonsense. It’s their stock-in-trade. But hearing this nutty theory espoused by the current Speaker of the House is more than a little jarring. In a clear attack on the executive branch, the judicial...232 comments 291 Recs
- UPDATE: Friday, May 10, 2024 · 2:15:25 PM +00:00 · distraught Over 2 months ago, Biden nominated someone to fill 1 of 2 vacancies on the Postal Board. Walsh would be the fourth Democrat to sit on the board, joining three Republicans and one...204 comments 323 Recs
Recent Diaries
- Heads ups, people. Cows have human flu receptors, study shows, raising stakes on bird flu outbreak in dairy cattle — www.cnn.com/… This story is based off of a pre-print article on the Biorxiv.org site. A link is in the article. The key take-away is...1 comments 0 Recs
- Let’s address the elephant in the room. Obviously, all the RFK Jr. brainworm jokes were long gone hours before my Friday night posting time. I don’t have some awesome, worth-the-wait, totally original, unheard RFK Jr. brainworm joke for you. Apologies....2 comments 16 Recs
- The Groves of Blarney (a silly song) Richard Alfred Millikin (1767-1815) (to the tune “Castle Hyde”) The Groves of Blarney they look so charming Down by the purling of sweet silent streams,5 comments 9 Recs
- A series of CME’s are hitting earth right now and should be visible as soon as it gets dark locally for most of the northern tier of the U.S. Step outside and take a look, better yet, take pictures! Cameras will show aurora that the eye can’t see and...5 comments 9 Recs
- Hi beer fans, happy Friday! Come in and enjoy a cold one with us! — It’s been a little over a year since Bud Light made its ill-fated marketing deal with social media influencer Dylan Mulvaney.22 comments 8 Recs
- Barron Trump won't be an at-large convention delegate for his father after all. "While Barron is honored to have been chosen as a delegate by the Florida Republican Party, he regretfully declines to participate due to prior commitments," said a...27 comments 29 Recs
- Sacramento, CA – Despite a Superior Court ruling that sets limits on the Department of Water Resources’ ability to sell water bonds, a potential $27.6 billion budget deficit that will impact workers, healthcare, and education, and reversals to...4 comments 2 Recs
- So 61 years ago, I was born in the hospital smack dab in the middle of Yosemite National Park. 61 years ago, there was what was known then as a hospital there. It was nothing like what people think of as hospitals now and now there is no hospital in...5 comments 6 Recs
- I stayed up way too late Monday night watching the “Red Carpet” of the Met Gala on YouTube. �I couldn’t look away for many reasons, not all of them good. �It was…interesting. First, ...66 comments 21 Recs
- For many years, no one knew who had fathered Cass Elliot’s child. Now the identity is out. It was more or less an open secret in Fairfax, California that Chuck Day was the dad. Chuck had a lot of stories, and that was one of them. Chuck was also an...2 comments 12 Recs
- WELCOME TO THE EVENING SHADE YOU WILL FIND in the DIARIES a LOT of POLITICS AND EVEN MORE CRITTERS THE PERSON who MAKES the FIRST COMMENT WILL GET TWO CRITTERS EVERY PERSON WHO COMMENTS WILL GET A CRITTER RULES IN THE DIARY WHEN YOU FIND SOMETHING in...239 comments 31 Recs
- A favored principle in competitive Capitalism circles has been that of planned obsolescence. The idea being the creation of a need for replacing things previously purchased, a need caused by the prior item having gotten “past its prime,” and therefore...2 comments 9 Recs
- Late Night Snark: Let’s Get Boring Edition "I don’t know what's worse: that RFK Jr. had a worm that was eating his brain, or that his brain is so poisoned that it killed the worm. … And as if this story couldn’t get any weirder, it turns out that...107 comments 101 Recs
- Our system of government relies on a set of checks and balances. These checks and balances allow for harmful government actions to be corrected. The Judiciary Branch corrects many Legislative Branch and /or Executive Branch actions. Within the...4 comments 2 Recs
- That’s the short title. I should properly call this, “The End of Donald Trump’s Political Career”, because that’s the question facing us. How do we end Donald Trump’s political career? ...12 comments 20 Recs
- EveryTown For Gun Safety - FB Students Demand Action - News ---— Leaders We Deserve/Invest In Young People A grassroots organization determined, to electing young progressives to Congress and State Legislatures across the country to help defeat the...1 comments 2 Recs
- 🔥 "The children who remember their past lives- What happens when your toddler is haunted by memories that aren’t hers?" washingtonpost (Continues below- Thanks to MollyBloom for this article) 🔥 *This group's aim is polite philosophical...47 comments 22 Recs
- A series of witnesses testified today as the prosecution is beginning to wind up its case against Trump. Perhaps most damaging was a Trump tweet which proved an opening statement claim made to the jury by his attorney to be a lie. Here are today’s...11 comments 72 Recs
- The Biden administration has concluded it is “reasonable to assess” that Israel’s military campaign in Gaza may have violated international law or “established best practices” for protecting civilians, but has not found specific instances that would...4 comments 12 Recs
- The magnitude of the maladjustment within today's Republican Party has reached unprecedented levels of chaos and hostility. And while they unload plenty of vile on their Democratic foes, they frequently aim at one another, ripping themselves to shreds...12 comments 28 Recs