World View: Hezbollah Commander Assassinated in Increasingly Violent Lebanon

World View: Hezbollah Commander Assassinated in Increasingly Violent Lebanon

This morning’s key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com

  • Lebanon’s army takes control of Tripoli
  • Hezbollah commander assassinated in increasingly violent Lebanon
  • Extremism-related crimes spiking in Russia’s North Caucasus
  • Der Spiegel predicts a stock market and real estate crash

Lebanon’s army takes control of Tripoli

Map of Tripoli, Lebanon, showing the two districts (Shia/Alawite versus Sunni), separated by Syria Street, that have been fighting (BBC)
Map of Tripoli, Lebanon, showing the two districts (Shia/Alawite versus Sunni), separated by Syria Street, that have been fighting (BBC)

Lebanon’s government has ordered that Tripoli be placed under armycontrol for six months. The army is charged with stopping the proxywar that’s going on in Tripoli between Shia/Alawite and Sunni citizenswho are, respectively, siding for and against Bashar al-Assad. Atleast 100 people have been killed this year, mostly in gunfightsbetween the two sects, and the number has surged recently. Al-Jazeera and BBC

Hezbollah commander assassinated in increasingly violent Lebanon

Hezbollah commander Hassan al-Laqqis was shot to death by gunmen withsilencers as he arrived home late on Tuesday evening in Beirut,Lebanon. This was a new shock for the Shia terrorist militiaorganization, because al-Laqqis was supposed to be well protected fromsuch attacks. Hezbollah reflexively blamed Israel for theassassination, though Israeli officials have denied having anything todo with it.

Since April 30, when Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallad gave atelevised speech committing Hezbollah’s soldiers to enter Syria andfight on the side of Syria’s Shia/Alawite genocidal monster presidentBashar al-Assad, sectarian (Sunni versus Shia) has been surgingthroughout the Mideast. (See “27-Sep-13 World View — How Hezbollah’s reluctant foray into Syria changed the Mideast”)

It was just two weeks ago that two suicide bombers attacked theIranian embassy in Beirut where it was also supposed to besuper-secure. In that case as well, Iran reflexively blamed Israel(“The Islamic Republic of Iran takes the Zionists and theirmercenaries responsible for this action.”), but since then, both Iranand Hezbollah have acknowledged that the perpetrators were Sunnijihadists, possibly funded and supported by Saudi Arabia, who haveessentially declared war on Hezbollah since their April 30announcement. ( “20-Nov-13 World View — Lebanon bombing sharply escalates sectarian Mideast conflict”) It’s most likely that Sunni jihadists were theperpetrators of Tuesday evening’s assassination, and it’s possiblethat the assassination is related to the surging violence in Tripoli.Daily Star (Beirut) and Jerusalem Post

Extremism-related crimes spiking in Russia’s North Caucasus

Russian officials are reporting that the number of extremism-relatedcrimes in the North Caucasus, Russia’s southern provinces, rose by 40%in 2013, compared to 2012, with the greatest increase in Dagestan.Over 100 servicemen died and more than 300 were wounded in attacks inthe first nine months of 2013, while over 200 militants were killedand more than 250 arrested, according to Russian government figures.According to a prosecutor:

“Unemployment and the absence of stable sources ofincome for a significant portion of the population result incitizens’ involvement in bandit groups of extremist origin andalso create a breeding ground for attempts to use ethnic tensionsto fuel ethnic strife.”

Russian officials blame unfavorable economic conditions and rigid clansystems for the Islamization and radicalization of young people.Jamestown

Der Spiegel predicts a stock market and real estate crash

Der Spiegel is possibly the most mainstream of the mainstream newsmedia in Europe. It’s well to the left of center, and usuallyapplauds even the most dangerous radical policies advocated by farleftists like Paul Krugman. But today, Der Spiegel is predicting acrash:

“Central banks around the world are pumping trillionsinto the economy. The goal is to stimulate growth, but theiractions are also driving up prices in the real estate and equitiesmarkets. The question is no longer whether there will be a crash,but when.”

By the way, according to Friday’s Wall Street Journal, the S&P 500 Price/Earnings index (stockvaluations) on Friday (December 2) morning was 18.72, which isastronomical by historic standards, indicating that stocks are faroverpriced, and the stock market bubble is worse than ever. Der Spiegel

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