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Thursday, August 10, 2006

Does Hezbollah already own Lebanon?

I can't claim to be an expert on Lebanon's history or psyche. But what can one make of the following recent news items:
And then...
  • Hezbollah is interested in the plan where the Lebanese army replaces them south of the Litani river.
The only way this all makes sense is if Hezbollah is already confident that they own Lebanon, and therefore a Lebanese force at the border with Israel is synonymous with Hezbollah itself.

Lebanon is 60% Muslim and 40% Christian, so the Lebanon poll numbers may be considered suspect. But Hezbollah seems to have already established a network of fear, a modern Arab KGB, where politicians and the media are afraid to say anything that might upset them.

Lebanon may already be lost.

UPDATE: Meryl Yourish makes a similar point about Hezbollah and the Lebanese army, and adds evidence that the Lebanese army helped Hezbollah target the Israeli naval vessel in mid-July.