Lebanon Update: Not Again
I’ve been more interested in Lebanon than Iraq lately for my Middle East news, and things there appear to be coming to a head. There has been quite a bit of back and forth between the democratically elected government and the local thug-in-law, Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Hizbullah. Just like an unwanted relative, you just can’t uninvite him from the party. First come the pleas for sympathy and the threats. Problem is, he already followed through on his threats yesterday with the strikes after the government fired his supporter from the post of airport security when it was discovered he was allowing Hizbullah to surveil the airport undetected. Then the text messaging starts. (And the introspection about texting during a war.) Then the advice from the survivors of the previous war. (”Don’t try to leave until you know where the snipers are.”)
I pray for them, but I am afraid that if the Lebanese backers of Hizbullah don’t see the moral bankruptcy in their leaders yet, even instigating violence against their own people won’t let them see it. I have to say though, it puts our political disagreements here in the US into context. Clinton’s paramilitary force isn’t threatening the dissolution of the Army if Obama doesn’t withdraw from the presidential race.
To figure out how they got there, the Daily Star has a good Op-Ed which serves as an excellent backgrounder.