Lebanese troops battled jihadis in a fairly sizable fight:
Lebanese army tanks pounded a shadowy group suspected of ties to al-Qaida on Sunday, targeting its hideouts inside a Palestinian refugee camp after hours of clashes killed at least 22 soldiers and 17 militants.
The violence between the army and the Fatah Islam group erupted both in the northern port city of Tripoli and the adjacent Nahr el-Bared refugee camp. It added further instability to a country already mired in its worst political crisis between the Western-backed government and Hezbollah-led opposition since the end of the 1975-90 Lebanese civil war.
It was the most serious fight the army had engaged in Lebanon in more than a decade and the worst violence to hit Tripoli in two decades.
Got that? The actual presence of al Qaeda in Lebanon isn't the problem. The problem is that the Lebanese government fought it!
This is the same mindset that led to 9/11. Islamic fascism isn't the problem--noticing it is! And fighting back just makes it worse.
Really, the Left just wants to let the jihadis plot in peace so that the Left can put its head in the sand and enjoy a few years of pretend peace, ignorant of what our enemies are doing. When the enemy attacks, the Left wants to lob a few cruise missiles and then go back to ignoring the problem while the enemy plots again for new murder. If the enemy uses nukes, no matter. For a couple weeks the world will proclaim they are all Americans and it will be a really nice weepy moment before the world starts cutting deals with the jihadis by reminding them that they aren't actually Americans.
With an attitude like this, is it any wonder that the Syrians figure they can buy enough time to avoid repercussions over their Lebanon crimes?
The problem in Lebanon isn't caused by fighting evil. The problem in Lebanon is caused by accepting evil interference in Lebanon by Syria and their jihadi allies.