Free Republic

Occasionally you get glimpses of how things really are, and Frances Guy has given us just such a glimpse. She has been the British Ambassador in Lebanon since 2006, and is said to have a lot of Middle East experience. Her employers, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, had up on their website this week her extraordinary obituary of Sheikh Muhammad Fadlallah, a Shia cleric and former guiding spirit of Hezbollah, Iran’s armed militia and proxy in Lebanon. The title of her obituary tells all: “The Passing of a Decent Man.” She writes, “The world needs more men like him willing...

Hizbullah spiritual leader Sheikh Mohammed Fadlallah, who authorized suicide bombings and other attacks killing hundreds of people, was “a true man of religion” whose death last week left Lebanon “a lesser place,” according to British Ambassador to Lebanon Frances Guy. The world “needs more men like him,” she said. "People in Lebanon like to ask me which politician I admire most... I usually avoid answering by referring to those I enjoy meeting the most and those that impress me the most. Until yesterday my preferred answer was to refer to Sheikh Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah, head of the Shia clergy in...