Coup attempt in Lebanon: reflections

Fouad Siniora, Lebanon's impotent leader

Hizbullah Beats Lebanese Government Challenge -Daniel Williams

Hizbullah handed sections of Beirut to the Lebanese army after forcing pro-Western Prime Minister Fouad Siniora to abandon efforts to curb its military activities.

Siniora had instructed the army to shut down Hizbullah's electronic surveillance operation at Beirut's international airport and a vast land-line telephone network it controlled. By occupying parts of the Lebanese capital for five days, Hizbullah forced Siniora to back down.
(Bloomberg)


Hizbullah Redrawing Mideast Map -Joshua Mitnick

Hizbullah's dramatic gains in Lebanon are just part of a regional process that began last year in Gaza and will continue in Jordan and Egypt, Sheikh Yazeeb Khader, a Hamas political activist said in an interview.

"What happened in Gaza in 2007 is an achievement; now it is happening in 2008 in Lebanon. It's going to happen in 2009 in Jordan and it's going to happen in 2010 in Egypt." "We are seeing a redrawing of the map of the Middle East where the forces of resistance are the ones moving the things on the ground."

His remarks highlight a growing alliance linking Hamas, Iran and Hizbullah. The notion of new countries falling under Islamist influence reflects a goal of Hamas' parent group, the Muslim Brotherhood, of replacing secular Arab regimes with Islamist governments.
(Washington Times)


Showdown between Hizbullah and Beirut -David Schenker

Sadly, for Washington, there are few realistic policy options to reverse the Hizbullah coup.

With so much at stake, now is the time for Washington to use whatever leverage it might have to encourage the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) to fulfill its national responsibility to protect Lebanese institutions. If the LAF does not act soon, Lebanese sovereignty may become a thing of the past.
(Washington Institute for Near East Policy)


The Lesson of Lebanon -Noah Pollak

The crisis in Lebanon teaches us the same lesson we learned from Hamas when it took Gaza: Islamic supremacist groups such as Hizbullah and Hamas cannot be integrated into states or democratic political systems.

In the streets of Beirut, Hizbullah is making it abundantly clear that its participation in Lebanese politics ends when it is asked to submit to the state's authority.
(Commentary)