Wednesday linkdump

Hezbollah forced the collapse of the Lebanese government, ahead of the expected indictment of Hezbollah members to be handed down "within hours or days." Meryl Yourish noticed an interesting quote:

Alloush, a former lawmaker, expressed concern about possible street violence encouraged by Hezbollah and the movement's patrons in Tehran.

"At the end of the day, it's an Iranian decision," he said.

Because, in the end, Hezbollah is merely a wing of Iran's Revolutionary Guards and Lebanon will never be free as long as Hezbollah has effective veto power over the government.

Lee Smith at Tablet talks about the problems of reporters believing Arab statements when the Arabs have a tendency to, you know, lie. (h/t Silke)

Jennifer Rubin talks about another elephant in the room: that Muslim countries aren't quite as tolerant of religious freedom as Western countries. Shouldn't American foreign policy be pushing these human rights issues?

The State Department awarded a multi-year, multimillion dollar contract to an organization with ties to Blackwater, apparently for securing US consulate personnel in the West Bank. Hamas is complaining, calling it a "scandal" and saying it proves the collusion between the PA, the CIA and Israel. Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said it is "aimed at protecting the security of the occupation and the liquidation of all the defenders of the Palestinian cause."

Which sort of makes it sound like Hamas considers US diplomats to be legitimate targets, doesn't it?

And, from JTA, "Former French actress and national sex symbol Brigitte Bardot is leading an animal rights campaign against ritual kosher and halal methods of slaughtering animals."