Ahmadinejad’s Inferior Worldview

Ahmadinejad wants to teach Americans about the world. What’s Persian for “chutzpah”?
Repeat after me: America is the great Satan.
The Iranian President clearly seems to believe that Americans need to learn “correct and clear” information about the world. This is why he decided to make use of his appearance in the USA to grace Americans with [...]

Why The Lebanese Presidential Election Matters

If you want to understand what’s the great fuss about the presidency, read this excellent piece by Micheal Young in the wall street Journal.(H/T tony)

Saudi Arabia And Nabih Berri

There is a strange duality in the way Saudi Arabia and its Lebanese allies treat Syria and Mr. Nabih Berri.

It is a given in many Lebanese circles that the opposition is organically linked to Syria. Many Lebanese -including pundits- fall too commonly into caricature by believing that a simple puppeteer-puppet relationship exists between Damascus and [...]

Is The International Tribunal Really A Deterrent?

The latest assassinations are weakening the argument that the International Tribunal will deter the killers.
After each assassination of a March 14 leader, angry voices start clamoring for revenge with a “let’s kill one of them” logic. Of course, any sane person is appalled by extra-judicial killing, but in the ways of deterrence, it works. [...]

Who Killed Antoine Ghanem?

Yet another savage assassination of an anti-Syrian M.P

To any March 14 supporter, there is no doubt who was responsible for this savage act. A few days ahead of the election of a President, Syria wants to reduce as much as possible the number of voters who are planning to vote for an anti-Syrian President with [...]

Is Lebanon Showing The Limitations Of European Power?

In “Fear Factor: Lebanon and the European Way of Peacekeeping“, The Brussels Journal discusses Lebanon’s UNIFIL and argues that effective peacekeeping and appeasement don’t go hand in hand:
UNIFIL’s rules of engagement were deliberately muddled by politics to prevent the force from actively looking for Hezbollah’s weapons. The lack of a clear commitment to disarm Hezbollah [...]

Berri’s Initiative: Made In Syria

According to Alhayat, Syria has claimed ownership of Berri’s initiative and is waiting for Washington and Riad’s reply:
وعلى صعيد المواقف السياسية، كان لافتاً أمس الموقف الذي كشفته مصادر ديبلوماسية لـ «الحياة»، وفحواه ان عدداً من كبار المسؤولين السوريين الذين التقاهم السفير الفرنسي في دمشق ميشال دوكلو، أبلغوه ان مبادرة بري في شأن الاستحقاق الرئاسي في [...]

Hezbollah’s Tent City, Now On Google Earth

Google announced that it had new Hi-Res images for various countries including Lebanon (Hat tip Taq). It includes one place in particular that will not enjoy the limelights.
Remember those grumpy bouncers outside Hezbollah’s tent city who wouldn’t allow you to take pictures? They won’t be happy about this at all. The tent city will [...]