Sazar
06-08-05, 06:52 PM
I am a little surprised no one has talked about Lebanon over the past couple of weeks.
There were numerous threads that erupted after the death of Hariri and the popular protests that occured after the fact but a deafening silence since Hezbollah and pro-Syrian parties swept the recent elections in southern Lebanon.
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=8697418
I would have considered it to be cause for concern that something so positive that arose from the death of a great man has turned into something so negative with the election of anti-western (read anti-US) factions into power.
More surprising is the success of pro-Syrian's when there were such well publicized protests of Syrian presence in the country.
The positives are that Hariri's son has won a resounding victory in Sunni dominated Beirut while the Shi-ite dominated south continues to support the Hezbollah led alliance.
Ironic is it not that the exact opposite is present in Iraq?
Pro-western support is stronger in Beirut and areas around it and hopefully it will lead to a majority in the long term for the parties led by Hariri's son. Whether having Sunni's in power based on what took place in Iraq is a positive, we won't know immediately. The mix of the populace seems more balanced than in Iraq.
There were numerous threads that erupted after the death of Hariri and the popular protests that occured after the fact but a deafening silence since Hezbollah and pro-Syrian parties swept the recent elections in southern Lebanon.
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=8697418
I would have considered it to be cause for concern that something so positive that arose from the death of a great man has turned into something so negative with the election of anti-western (read anti-US) factions into power.
More surprising is the success of pro-Syrian's when there were such well publicized protests of Syrian presence in the country.
The positives are that Hariri's son has won a resounding victory in Sunni dominated Beirut while the Shi-ite dominated south continues to support the Hezbollah led alliance.
Ironic is it not that the exact opposite is present in Iraq?
Pro-western support is stronger in Beirut and areas around it and hopefully it will lead to a majority in the long term for the parties led by Hariri's son. Whether having Sunni's in power based on what took place in Iraq is a positive, we won't know immediately. The mix of the populace seems more balanced than in Iraq.