Why Would Anyone Want to be a Lebanese Politician?
It has never been easy to be in Lebanese politics. And that may be the understatement of the year. For the past few decades, Lebanon has been split into those who supported the Syrian control over the Lebanese political system and those who were pushing for sovereignty. Since its creation in 1982, Hezbollah has been … Read more
The Danger of Flower Throwing
In response to the news that US ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford, was welcomed by flower-throwing protesters when he visited the city of Hama on Thursday and Friday, Mustapha, of the Beirut Spring Blog, recalled the fickle nature of flower throwers: in 1982, Lebanese southerners greeted the invading Israeli army with flowers. While this seems … Read more
The Party of God and Bringing Down Lebanon, Part II
I just finished summing up the STL indictment of four men in connection with the 2005 assassination of then Prime Minister Rafik Hariri of Lebanon, noting that the STL may not be finished with its indictments. For now, the situation in Lebanon is truly wait and see. Hezbollah could be simply sacrificing these four men … Read more
The Party of God and Bringing Down Lebanon
So the big news today is the indictment of four Lebanese men by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) which was set up in 2007 to investigate the murder of then Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. This is big news, of course, because this initial indictment could spread to include senior members of both Hezbollah and … Read more
Pawlenty: Like Brad Pitt in Achilles
Tim Pawlenty, the republican governor of Minnesota, presented his views on the Middle East and his contempt (natural for a Presidential candidate) for the current policy for the region adopted by the White House. Unsurprisingly, Pawlenty gave an over-simplified version of events that highlighted the importance of Israel and the evils of Iran while blasting … Read more
Iran’s Position On Syrian Uprising
Since the outbreak of the now termed “Arab Spring” protests across the Arab World Iran has been actively supporting the protestors in their media except in two cases. The first and not as important case is Libya, which seems to stem more from a disdain of Western policy regarding the issue than a liking of … Read more
Like Frogs That Refuse To Jump Out Of A Pot Of Hot Water
America is losing its grip on the Middle East. This, of course, has been apparent for a while now to those who spend their free time tracking the rise of the resistance movement or the sandy foundations of American regional policy. The rise of Hezbollah (vis-a-vis March 14) and Hamas (vis-a-vis Fatah) as well as the … Read more
Surrounding Israel
Nicholas Noe has been blogging regularly about what he is calling the ‘Resistance Axis,’ comprising of the states that have not accepted Israel’s occupation of Palestine or the annexation of Arab lands. The axis includes Hezbollah, Hamas, Iran, and Syria. These groups make up a political front that have a common interest in opposing Israel: … Read more
America In The Middle East
During the first Gulf War, the United States stopped short of invading Baghdad and toppling Saddam Hussein, leaving Rumsfeld, Cheney, Libby and the other one time supporters of the NeoCon Project for a New American Century with strike one. Iraq, the Sequel was supposed to get the job done. Dispose of Saddam and watch the … Read more
A Calm Week In The Middle East
I returned last night after a week in Jordan, purposefully ignoring both newspapers and my Google Reader, only to find out that nothing really happened in my week away. Well, besides for the collapse of two regimes in the region. But nothing major anyway… As you have probably have heard or read about the regime … Read more
