Walid Jumblatt, Certified Nutball

Something I left out of today’s column: in trying to back up his assertion that Syria is to blame for the assassination of Lebanese politician-businessman Rafik Hariri, Michael Young cites one Walid Jumblatt, the head of the Progressive Socialist Party. But who is this guy, Jumblatt, and why should we take him seriously? Well, we shouldn’t take him seriously, as evidenced by his past statements (reported by the New York Sun, via National Review):

“The Lebanese MP is also known for espousing conspiracy theories against America. On April 28, 2004, he gave an interview to Al Arabiyya TV, in which he detailed how America was really behind September 11: ‘Who invented Osama bin Laden?! The Americans, the CIA invented him so they could fight the Soviets in Afghanistan together with some of the Arab regimes. Osama bin Laden is like a ghost, popping up when needed. This is my opinion.'”

So, this Jumblatt character is to be believed — why? Young never says. Jumblatt’s loony ravings continue:

“Mr. Jumblatt was asked ‘Even 9/11?’ and answered: ‘Even 9/11…Why didn’t the sirens go off when the four hijacked planes took off?'”

He’s not only loony-tunes, he’s a rabid anti-Semite and racist:

“In addition to hating America, Mr. Jumblatt has also spoke against the countries that support America. Lebanon’s Daily Star published a February 3, 2003, article quoting him as saying that the true axis of evil is one of ‘oil and Jews’ … The oil axis is present in most of the U.S. administration, beginning with its president, vice-president, and top advisers, including [Condoleezza] Rice, who is oil-colored, while the axis of Jews is present with Paul Wolfowitz.'”

Jumblatt’s rantings are about as credible as this entire blame-Syria scenario, which is to say the whole thing is bull. What’s striking is that the War Party would stoop this low: citing a loon like Jumblatt whose views are positively Hitlerian. And it’s not as if Young didn’t know about Jumblatt’s crackpot views: after all, this account originally appeared in the Beirut Daily Star, where Young edits the opinion page.