Since when is stability a good thing in a region where all too many regimes seek to do the US (or Israel) harm?
Since when is stability a good thing in a region where those decisions to stabilize matters means that terrorist groups end up having a veto over the democratic government in Lebanon?
Since when is stability a good thing when a terrorist group gets to set up shop on the border with Israel and continues a war of attrition?
Stability is now the name of the game since President Bush has only months left in his term as President. So, that's why we get Secretary of State Condi Rice peddling stability as an end unto itself. She now says that power-sharing in Lebanon between Hizbullah and the other political factions is necessary.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Monday she welcomes a new power-sharing arrangement in Lebanon even though it increased the power of Hezbollah militants at the expense of U.S.-backed moderates.Where does one start with this muddled mess that supposedly passes as analysis by MSNBC?
"Obviously in any compromise there are compromises," Rice said during a surprise visit to meet Lebanon's new consensus choice for president. The election of former army chief, Michel Suleiman, last month is the clearest sign that Lebanon stepped back from the brink and that the deal with Iranian-backed Hezbollah is taking hold.
Hezbollah's ascendancy is a bitter pill for the U.S., which is worried that Iran's influence is spreading in the Middle East and had spent millions backing the Lebanese government for three years.
Rice's blessing is a sign that the Bush administration has accepted that Western-backed democratic leaders who helped Lebanon throw off three decades of Syrian domination could not govern the country alone. Lebanese politics operate on ambiguity and consensus, and in this case that meant giving veto power to Hezbollah, a militia and political force that the United States lists as a terrorist group.
Syria is still in charge in Lebanon, precisely through its proxy force in the face of Hizbullah. They are still pulling the strings. The Syrians might not have their armed soldiers roaming the streets, but Hizbullah has enabled them to retain control and expand the sphere of influence for both Syria and Iran. Millions of Lebanese will suffer more for it.
The compromise that made the situation in Lebanon a reality came about because the March 14 lost its will to stand up for what it believed in and the belief that accommodation with Hizbullah would prevent a bloody civil war. Never mind that Hizbullah already engaged in a destructive war with Israel and seeks to do so once again. By deciding to cave now, the likelihood for an even more destructive war in the future is all too real. Hizbullah hasn't changed its motivations, and by controlling what happens in Lebanon, it can game the system wholly to its benefit.
And that means that the Lebanese lose. Israel loses. And the notion of stability loses.
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