Get Along, Little Debbie

Via The Jawa Report, I came across a story this morning so mind-numbingly unsupported that I was certain it had to be written by the Lord of the Dunce himself.

Unfortunately, the post in question, one accusing most Americans in Lebanon of being Hezbollah supporters, comes from one Debbie Schlussel.

She states:

One thing is lost in all the press coverage of the whining Americans who went to Lebanon of their own accord and now want us to pick up the tab to get them out.

THE MAJORITY OF AMERICANS IN LEBANON ARE HEZBOLLAH SUPPORTERS.
Most of them are Shi'ite Muslims, many of whom hold dual U.S. and Lebanese citizenship. Many are anchor babies born here to Muslims in the U.S. illegally. Some are illegal aliens who became citizens through rubber-stamping Citizenship and Immigration Services (and its INS predecessor) coupled with political pressure by spineless politicians.
Of the 25,000 American citizens and green-card holders in Lebanon, at least 7,000 are from Dearborn, Michigan, the heart of Islamic America, and especially Shia Islam America. These 7,000 are mostly Shi'ite Muslims who openly and strongly support Hezbollah. Ditto for many of the rest of the 25,000 that are there.

If these allegations are supportable, it would be a major bombshell of a story.

So where is Schlussel's proof?

There isn't any. Schlussel's "proof" seems to consist mainly of blind assertion and links back to her own site.

It would be nice—not to mention customary—for someone making a factual claim to provide some sort of a link to credible sources to support her contentions.

For example, what proof does Schlussel have that 7,000 Dearborn residents are in Lebanon? Does the U.S. State Department or the Dearborn Chamber of Commerce provide her with those numbers?

If there are Dearborn 7,000 residents, what is her evidence showing that the Dearborn residents in Lebanon are Muslims? Lebanon doesn't even know what percentage of their population is Muslim—they haven't done a census since 1932—and Debbie somehow knows? I doubt it.

What evidence is there that they are Shia Muslims? Shia Muslims only make up 30%-40% of the Lebanese population, and they are among the poorest of the religious groups, meaning they are less likely to have the funds to immigrate to other nations at all. Christians and Sunni Muslims—not huge fans of Hezbollah, for those of you keeping score at home—make up the bulk of the rest of Lebanon's population, a nation which has no less than 18 recognized sects of varying religions.

What evidence does Debbie Schlussel have that if there are Dearborn Shia Muslims in Lebanon, that they "openly and strongly support Hezbollah" as she charges?

Mere assertion that they belong to a Dearborn Lebanese cultural center. These are serious charges, seemingly implicating an entire community of what is essentially treason in a time of war, and Schlussel provides no credible evidence at all of her charges. None.

By her incredibly loose standards, it appears one could label every Irish American in Chicago that ever bothered to travel to Ireland as a member of the Irish Republican Army.

Please forgive me if I find it nearly impossible to take any slanderous thing she says seriously.