Lebanon and Czechoslovakia

Barry Rubin is right about the Fall of Lebanon, It is a sad betrayal. There is nothing, however, that could be done in Lebanon itself. Israel could do nothing, and Western troops sent to Lebanon would have only served as targets for suicide bombers. Moreover, not only Barack Obama has no plan, as Rubin notes. Nobody else does. It is futile to blame it on Obama, since he is not in power.

 

Even before the shameful capitulation of the UN, I had written two very sad comments on Lebanon:

 

Springtime for Nasrallah and Iran, winter for Lebanon and France

The news from Doha is that the long Lebanese impasse is finally over. Aided by the good offices of the ostensibly pro-Western Qatar government, the Hezbollah has seemingly scored a knockout blow over its Lebanese opponents. Qatar mediated a "compromise" that apparently gives Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah, Syria and Iran everything they wanted, and puts an end to Lebanese independence in all but name. The crucial issue, which pro-government forces had supported during the many months of the Hezbollah siege, was the question of granting Hezbollah and its allies over 1/3 of the 30 cabinet members in the government. This provides them with veto power, and will probably make it possible to stop the international tribunal that was to try the murderers of Rafiq Hariri.  (Continued: Springtime for Nasrallah and Iran, winter for Lebanon and France)

 

Lebanon: frozen in the headlamps of history

Watching the events in Lebanon from a safe distance provides a frustrating sense of deja vu. It happened in 1938 in Czechoslovakia, but that was before my time. It happened in Hungary again in 1956, and in Czechoslovakia again in 1968, and in Iran in 1979, and now it is happening in Lebanon. A people is being crushed, and the world looks on helpless. Never mind that nobody cares about the Lebanese people. Foreign relations and foreign policy are never really based on humanitarian sentiments and affection. That is just bumf to be written in speeches and schoolbooks. But it is shocking that nobody seems to care that Lebanon has taken one more step on the road it began to travel with the foundation of Hezbollah: the road to becoming an Islamic Republic. The Lebanese government itself, and those who should care about Lebanon, did not seem to have the sense to stop playing with the fire of Hezbollah when it was still possible to do so.

(Continued: Lebanon: frozen in the headlamps of history)

Ami Isseroff

Cross posted: Israel News  Middle East Analysis