Another Bush failure-Big trouble in Lebanon!

[wisteria]

Senator Kerry saw this coming. He warned us of this. Where is f*king Bush,were are all of our other supposed leaders? How about the media? David Gegory interviewed Kerry recently and tired to discuss this important issue and Gregory was more concerned about 08. Lebanon's democracy is fading fast.


From MSNBC,


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16765115 /

“The opposition is attempting a coup by force ... This is not a strike. This is military action, a true aggression and I’m afraid this could develop into clashes between citizens,” Fatfat, the youth and sports minister, told Al-Arabiya.

From Senator Kerry,

"Lost in the shadows of Iraq, the struggle to save the fragile democracy born of the Cedar Revolution has reached a moment of truth. If America does not act now, this key front in the broader struggle between moderates and extremists for the future of the Arab world will be lost -- and the consequences will long be felt throughout the region. The radicals' ambitions for overthrow move from Prime Minister Fouad Siniora in Lebanon to President Mahmound Abbas in Ramallah to Prime Minister Nouri al- Maliki in Iraq. They are determined to achieve a clean sweep."


http://www.johnkerry.com/news/articles/newsarticle.html ...

The video,


http://video.johnkerry.com/video/flash/122006_nbc.html



Somedays, I just can't take it anymore. The ignorance and the incompetence, the lies.

[Igel]

1. The question is, What could have been done?

In the south the great jihad for reconstruction waged by God's Party has stalled, and they're blaming Siniora's crew. That Party's partying in the street for more power; now, power isn't something that Islamic parties of any stripe decline, and something that Islamist parties push for. It doesn't help that the Shi'ites have been more fecund; if they get power, the minorities will be sure to know they're minorities. Witness Iraq, with vaguely similar kinds of dynamics.

Nasrallah wants more power. So, how to fight him?

Come out in support of Siniora etl al.? In the face of the xenophobia and tribalism that rules in the ME? Remember: the claim is that *'s support for Fatah and for the 'reformists' in Iran helped Hamas and Ahmedinejad. So supporting Siniora et al. is out of the question.

So, we can't support Nasrallah, and we can't support Siniora et al. without de facto supporting Nasrallah.

Perhaps forcing Israel to back off would have been the best thing. You know, show exactly how successful Nasrallah and his minions are, and how they're the proud resistance. That would certainly hurt Nasrallah. And it would show Siniora couldn't control his foreign policy or his borders, thereby making him look even stronger. Or perhaps that's precisely backwards. Yes, that's the problem. Israel's passivity would have yielded similar, but milder, results.

Perhaps training the Lebanese army, esp. Nasrallah's followers? Wait ... we're doing that sort of thing already in Iraq, and it's a disaster.

In Lebanon, as in Iraq, an 'us versus them' mentality seems to be dominant, esp. in the rural areas. As outsiders, the object of divine hatred preached by at least one side, and dislike by at least one other side, we have to stay out, or at least make sure any support isn't leaked.

[wisteria]

2. More to this story, and it appears our news media left out some important details.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L22775528.htm

SOS Rice is going to the conference. So, this doesn't qualify as a full blown Bush screwup.

[Poll_Blind]

3. This is predictable fallout from the Israeli attack/invasion from this summer.

  The Israeli military relentlessly attacked the civilian infrastructure of the country and stated so openly. The damage they did only succeeded to increase sympathy for Hezbolla (or decrease dislike of them, to look at it from the other side of the coin). When you destroy a country's ability to function properly by destroying the civilian infrastructure, is it terribly surprising to anyone that undesirable elements gain a stronger foothold in the vacuum?

PB