Free Republic

Syria's and Iran's strategy in Lebanon is changing. So too, by extension, is that of their local allies. Having realized that the government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora will not be brought down through street protests, the opposition and its regional backers are now implementing a policy of putrefaction: Impede everything and drive Lebanon into grinding disintegration, so the government will scream first. There are several reasons for the new approach. Michel Aoun is no longer capable of playing boulevard politics, after his followers' appalling performance just over two weeks ago, when the only thing allowing them to obstruct traffic...

BEIRUT – I returned to Beirut after eight months and a hot summer war and found that the city had little changed, at least on the surface. My old neighborhood in West Beirut was intact. Civil war reconstruction continued downtown. More restaurants and pubs had opened close-in on the east side of the city. Solidere sported a brand-new Starbucks. Beirut did not appear to be reeling from war. Post-Syrian gentrification had proceeded as scheduled. On second glance, though, all was not well. I was the only guest in my eight-story hotel, and I genuinely shocked the staff when I stepped...

It’s as if the Arab nations are addicted to disappointment and delusional leaderships! After clinging onto Gamal Abdul Nasser who lost more Arab land in 1967 than was already occupied and whose attempts to free Palestine through Syria, Yemen and others failed, then came Saddam Hussein. This ‘unrivaled’ leader led wars of ‘idiocy’ such as the Iran-Iraq war that lasted eight years and the invasion of Kuwait – in both cases the aftermath was disastrous for his country and his people. The odd thing is that both Nasser and Saddam Hussein raised the slogan claiming that the way to free...

Briefing on Efforts To Stop Violence in Lebanon Secretary Condoleezza RiceJerusalemJuly 30, 2006SECRETARY RICE: Good afternoon. I am deeply saddened by the terrible loss of innocent life in the bombing in Lebanon this morning. The people of Lebanon have the deepest sympathies of President Bush, the people of the United States and my own heartfelt condolences. Our prayers go out to all the victims and their families. I first learned of this tragic loss of life as I was meeting with the Israeli Defense Minister this morning and once again I was reiterating our strong concern about the impact of...

The Lebanese distributor of the International Herald Tribune (IHT) decided not to sell Thursday's edition of the Paris-based daily because of what it termed was a pro-Israeli advertisement in the newspaper. A front-page note in the Daily Star, Lebanon's only English-language daily distributing the IHT since last July, said the decision was "due to possible legal action by the Lebanese government because of advertising content in the IHT." The full-page advertisement titled "Short Memory" and placed by the American Jewish Committee (AJC) listed around 200 recent instances of anti-Semitism throughout the world, editor Hanna Anbar told The Associated Press. The...