Recently in Lebanon Category

Is it possible to be shocked and yet not surprised? If so, put me down for that:

Pierre Gemayel, the Lebanese minister of industry, a member of the Christian Phalange party and supporter of the anti-Syrian parliamentary majority (struggling for power with factions led by Hezbollah) was assassinated in a Beirut suburb today. Draw your own conclusions.

Pierre was named after his grandfather, the founder of the Phalange Party; he was the nephew of Bachir Gemayel, president of Lebanon, who was assassinated in 1982, nine days before being inaugurated. His father, Amin, was elected to succeed Bachir.

When Bachir was murdered, the country quickly slid into chaos. Things look pretty rocky now as well:

Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora said Tuesday his depleted cabinet was legitimate despite the resignation of six pro-Syrian ministers, and warned that any anti-government protests could turn violent.

Pro-Syrian Hezbollah and its allies are preparing to take to the streets to topple Siniora's government, which they accuse of being allied with the United States, arguing that it has lost its legitimacy since Shi'ite Muslims are no longer represented.

[...]

Gemayel is the fifth anti-Syrian figure to be assassinated in the past two years in Lebanon. Rafik Hariri was killed in a massive car bombing in February 2005. The journalist and activist Samir Kassir and former Communist Party leader George Hawi were killed in separate car bombings in June last year. And lawmaker and newspaper manager Gibran Tueni was killed in a car bombing in December.

Contrary to what I've urged previously, it now looks more likely that the Israel-Lebanon war really might be the undercard to the main bout: US-Iran. Meteor Blades tells it.

The Economist (no link, sorry):

Lebanon's prime minister is in a fix. Lebanese patriotism obliges him to celebrate Mr. Nasrallah's great victory. But most of the coalition government over which he presides wants to seize the opportunity, enshrined in [U.N. Resolution] 1701 (and made possible by Israel's deplorable bombs), to turn Lebanon into a normal country, not one in which Iran and Syria maintain the Hizbullah fief.

Good luck with that. The Lebanese Army is toothless, the UN mandate to disarm Hezballah is a non-starter, Israel is licking its wounds and the US government is AWOL. Looks like Lebanon will be, again, a puppet state and possibly vulnerable to another civil war.

Hey Seniora -- was it worth it, making nice with terrorists?

(HT to Slate)

Cenk Uygur explains.

After the war is over, Hizballah will face three challenges: military, political and humanitarian.

Will the fabric of Lebanese society be able to hold together long enough to see if Hizballah can meet those challenges?

Michael Young:

This is the essence of Lebanon's dilemma as the war nears its fourth week. Does Hezbollah agree to integrate itself into the Lebanese political system and disarm? Or does it exploit its substantial reserves of men and weapons to bring all of Lebanon forcibly into line with the party's priorities? The first means the end of Hezbollah as we know it and is a suicide option; the second could bring Lebanon down around everybody's head in renewed civil war. Call it Hezbollah's Samson option.