Weak and Inane Talk from the Government

Story from Naharnet. My comments/additions are bracketed. (From Naharnet, full story here). Ghazi Aridi is Information Minister and thus the official spokesman for the Lebanese government.

[Title] Cabinet Wants to Ban Palestinian Weapons Outside Camps

[I thought they were already banned. The cabinet means it wants to apply the law, a very different story.]

The Cabinet has said it will revive efforts to ban Palestinians from deploying weapons outside refugee camps, saying last week's shooting incident in Naameh of two Lebanese by Palestinian gunfire prompted the government to resolve the Palestinian arms issue more speedily.

[I don't think "revive efforts to ban" is the kind of aggressive immediate action asked for by residents of Naameh, or those living close to Ain-El-Helweh. Those people have asked for the army to deploy in order to protect them. They did not ask for lamentable and lame efforts to "revive efforts to ban" what is already banned. When you talk like that you cannot expect your agents to collect on traffic tickets or on electricity bills.]

"The ministers unanimously agreed over the necessity to implement cabinet resolutions regarding Palestinian weapons inside and outside the camps," said Information Minister Ghazi Aridi following a weekly cabinet meeting on Thursday.

[Blah blah blah. Agreed on the "necessity"? Fine, then what? Implement? WHEN?, give me a date, WHEN?
Further empty talk which projects WEAKNESS and undermines respect for all laws, criminal and civil. Lebanese People, expect MORE trampling on your dignity, law and sovereignty.]

Aridi was referring to resolutions reached before the Shiite boycott of the cabinet, which included forbidding the deployment of Palestinian weapons outside refugee camps and obliging armed groups inside the camps to meet certain guidelines.

[Good. So it is, and was, unanimous, from before the Shia boycott. "Implement" NOW, stop gabbing.]

"Therefore, regardless of the (Naameh) shooting, the cabinet resolutions should be implemented," said Aridi, adding that the incident triggered the government to speed up the implementation process.

[More useless yackety-yack-yacking. "Speed up" implementation? From what pace? One AK-47 every 30 years to, say, 5 rifles the next 30 years?]

Last week, a member of the Popular Font for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC) shot and wounded two municipal policemen in Naameh, south of Beirut, causing uproar and turning the spotlight on Palestinian weapons deployed outside refugee settlements.

[Notice they (gvmt. and press) keep saying "municipal" like this makes the assault on the state's authority less serious.]

The PFLP-GC, which is headed by Damascus-based Ahmad Jibril, maintains a network of tunnels and arms caches in Naameh. Israeli warplanes have often struck the town.

[Is the town of Naameh Lebanese territory or some "municipal" outpost? Is there a need to draw maps here, like for the Shebaa Farms?]

Aridi said the government will work on the local and regional levels to secure the implementation of cabinet resolutions concerning these arms.

[More and further and improved empty crap about "IMPLEMENTATION".
"Work on local level" means we have to talk to the thugs and get their permission. Good luck.
"On the regional level" means we have to kiss Syrian-Saudi-PA-someone's butt before we can apply the law and protect the citizen in our own country. If unanimous decisions are impossible to implement simply and directly, what's left?]

"It is unacceptable to continue using weapons against the Lebanese in a way that harms the Palestinian cause and the Palestinian people's interests," said the minister.

Therefore, like Walid Eido and countless others, Aridi is saying it’s ACCEPTABLE to shoot Lebanese if it helps the Palestinian cause.
I am getting very sick and very tired of the friggin "cause". What is UNACCEPTABLE is: a government which does not shoulder its basic responsibility, keeps blabbing about it, does not protect its citizens, and wants them to DIE for the cause of a neighbor. To stay polite: stuff it Ghazi!

Can we have a referendum on this? Then maybe our irresponsible representative idiots will find the guts to stop saying stupid things.

Here's a proposition for Mr. Aridi (and Eido) which helps his beloved "cause" and does not kill any Lebanese:
Let's automatically give 50% of your income, each year, to the "cause". You can direct the money as you please: refugees, PA, Hamas. What do you say to that Mr. Aridi? We'll even take 25%. Thank you for your help.

Asked if the government would force Palestinians to comply with the cabinet resolutions, Aridi replied: "We are not raising this option, and we hope to implement all resolutions peacefully to serve the interests of the Lebanese and Palestinians."

Weak, weak, weak. Dangerously weak. "Hope to implement", without mention of force, isn't exactly going impress the thugs in Naameh, or anywhere else. Your age-old problem, Ghazi Aridi and Lebanon, is still staring you in the face.