*  Congratulations, Condoleezza! We have just lost a country called Lebanon, or better betrayed  that country by doing nothing. To talk about ‘elections’ now after the fact reeks a lot like Forrest Gump:
‘stupid is as stupid does..’ Condi-Delusions:
*Â On every point, Hizballah, Iran, and Syria, got all they wanted from Lebanon’s government: its surrender of sovereignty. They have veto power over the government; one-third of the cabinet; election changes to ensure victory in the next balloting; and they will have their candidate installed as president.
Defying the laws of logic; real politics or wishful thinking?
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US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, British counterpart say Hezbollah ‘been hurt’ in ‘long term’.
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PALO ALTO, California – Hezbollah has been left weakened by the recent turmoil in Lebanon and could pay the price in next year’s elections, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her British counterpart said on Thursday.
“Hezbollah has lost something very important which is any argument that it is somehow a resistance movement on behalf of the Lebanese people,” Rice told journalists aboard her plane as she and British Foreign Secretary David Miliband headed to Palo Alto, California.
“Yes, I think they have been hurt in the long term.”
The two top diplomats spoke a day after Hezbollah won concessions in a deal with the government in Lebanon.
Under the agreement signed in Doha, the Hezbollah-led opposition secured veto power in the new government after having seized large swathes of west Beirut from their rivals in sectarian fighting.
“The context was set by an unacceptable show of force on the streets and that did create an illusion, I think, in the first few days, of Hezbollah’s strength,” Miliband said.
“I think what struck us in the subsequent days is that the reaction of the Lebanese has been very negative about that, because, as Condi said, the guns of Hezbollah were turned on their own people,” he said.
* What a nitwit! Of course they turn their guns on their own people, its called ‘living under the gun’- that’s what they do! Just look at Gaza!
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“And I think the long term consequences of that are actually potentially going to strengthen the forces of moderation and democracy in Lebanon.”
* That train left the station. But these two twits somehow still didn’t get the message yet…
The Doha agreement set the election of a president for Lebanon on Sunday after months of stalemate. Parliamentary elections are due in 2009.
The United States will keep up its sanctions on Iran until it renounces its program of enriching uranium, Rice said Thursday.
“We will continue to designate entities as we find them trying to use the international financial system for their ill-gotten games,” she said.
“And yes, we are going to continue to do it and we are going to continue to do it aggressively.”
Iran has said it is ready to enter “serious and targeted” negotiations with world powers on a wide range of issues, including nuclear energy,
In a package, attached to a May 13 letter from Iran’s foreign minister to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Tehran offered talks on nuclear disarmament and the peaceful use of atomic technology, according to the translation posted on the website of the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS).
But Iran’s proposal to six world powers — the United States, France, Britain, Russia, Germany and China — does not include any promise to halt uranium enrichment work.
The Bush administration’s campaign to isolate Iran and Syria has backfired as the two countries ended up this week sidelining the United States, analysts said.
Supported by Iran and Syria, Hezbollah bolstered recent military gains in a deal with Lebanon’s government while Syria emerged from the shadows with the announcement of indirect talks with Israel, they contend.
Few would dispute that Iran’s regional influence has risen since 2003 when US-led forces invaded Iraq, overthrew Saddam Hussein and empowered once downtrodden Shiite Muslims close to Iran.
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Barry Rubin: The Fall of Lebanon
Barry Rubin, director of the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center and editor of the Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA) Journal, explains why May 21, 2008 is a date that should live in infamy.
“If you have tears, prepare to shed them now…. Oh, what a fall was there… Then I, and you, and all of us fell down.” .–William Shakespeare, “Julius Caesar,” Act 3, Scene 1 May 21, 2008, is a date—like December 7 (1941) and September 11 (2001)—that should now live in infamy. Yet who will notice, mourn, or act the wiser for it?
On that day, the Beirut spring was buried under the reign of Hizballah.
Speaking on October 5, 1938, after Britain and France effectively turned Czechoslovakia over to Nazi Germany, Winston Churchill said, “What everybody would like to ignore or forget must nevertheless be stated, namely, that we have sustained a total and unmitigated defeat….”[i]
In contrast, Assistant Secretary of State David Welch said that the agreement over Lebanon was, “A necessary and positive step.” At least when one sells out a country one should recognize this has happened rather than pretend otherwise. But this is precisely what took place at Munich, when the deal made was proclaimed as a concession that brought peace and resolved Germany’s last territorial demand in the region.
Churchill knew better and his words perfectly suit the situation in Lebanon today:
“The utmost [Western diplomacy] has been able to gain for Czechoslovakia…has been that the German dictator, instead of snatching the victuals from the table, has been content to have them served to him course by course.”
Yes, that’s it exactly. On every point, Hizballah, Iran, and Syria, got all they wanted from Lebanon’s government: its surrender of sovereignty. They have veto power over the government; one-third of the cabinet; election changes to ensure victory in the next balloting; and they will have their candidate installed as president.
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