The Bush administration has spent the last two or three days going after Iran and Syria for trying destabilizing Lebanon. As of this morning, that effort is now officially totally useless:
Hezbollah is threatening street protests to force early elections in Lebanon if its demands are not met for a “national unity” Cabinet that would give the Islamic militants and their allies veto power over key decisions. The bold move reflects the Shiite group’s push to consolidate the political power it gained following its self-proclaimed victory in its punishing summer war with Israel. The effort seems certain to further exacerbate an already tense political situation in Lebanon, where the Western-backed government of Prime Minister Fuad Saniora has refused earlier Hezbollah calls to step down and allow the formation of a new Cabinet. It could also lead to violence, with pro-government groups warning of a confrontation with militants in the streets. “Our concept of the national unity government is that all the basic forces in Lebanon be in it … actual and serious participation, not an aesthetic participation,” Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s leader, said in a lengthy interview on Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV Tuesday night.
We’re not even sure which way this cuts. If Nasrallah fails, does it mean that Hezbollah lost the war? If Nasrallah succeeds, does it mean that the Bush administration – by reigning in Israel in an effort to save the Saniora government – helped pave the way for the demise of the Cedar Revolution? Does the Cedar Revolution even matter if this is the kind of government that democratic elections in Lebanon produce?
Previously: List of Things That Would Cause Us to Have More Sympathy for Lebanon’s Prime Minister, Israel Does Everyone’s Dirty Work, Gets Condemned Anyway, Lebanon PM Has a Plan – Israel Will Stop Defending Itself, and Then Hezbollah Will Be Disarmed By the Make Believe Army that Exists Only in His Mind. Brilliant!
[Cross-posted at IsraPundit]
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