The Oppostion Should grab some "Market Share"

Many of the opposition sympathizers, especially the younger ones, like to talk in black and white when it comes to the situation in Lebanon.

It's not rocket science -they would say-, You have on one side, the good guys, the "true Lebanese", who want Syria out, sovereignty restored and real elections soon. (as a parenthesis, why would a country like India -with 1,200,000,000 person- have its whole election conducted in one day, and tiny Lebanon require several phases for its elections?)

On the other hand, you have the "Bad guys", who are not interested whatsoever in Lebanon's well being. Those "stooges" have sold themselves to the devil, and are willing to do whatever the Syrians tell them to. The best thing to do is to ship them to Syria where they really belong.

Unfortunately, things are never that clear in Lebanon, and the opposition, while the majority (and in my opinion, the ones with the moral high-ground) is not alone on the political scene. Some people out there love their country, but still don't buy into the opposition's ideas and suspect their motives. They even don't think that the Syrians Killed Hariri.

To understand how the Legitimate Pro Syrians think, I suggest you read this BBC page. I'm sure lots of you have friends who are like that. I keep on getting emails about people who are having a hard time "converting" their friends (I admit, it's especialy very common in the recently-transformed traditionally-Arabist Sunni community, where recent alsafir statistics put their opinions roughly on a 50/50 basis regarding the contentious points (who killed Hariri, the roles of America, France, Syria).

But now, the situation has changed, and the grounds are ripe more than ever for the opposition to have even more dominance. The Firzgerald report presents a great opportunity for them to "convert" what they would call 'misguided compatriots.'

While there would always remain some hard-core Conspiracy theorists, the people close to the center are now in a revisionist mood and are asking questions. They just can't stay where they are; they have to either become more extremist (and believe that the whole world is conspiring against them, -Ireland was also part of the game?-), or to join the opposition.

This is why I advise all those people who are having problems converting their loved ones, to cease this opportunity. It is pointless to talk about the outrageous comments of the last Sahhafs standing (Franjyieh, Hammoud, Mrad, Addoum), we should all focus on Lahhoud's accepting cooperation and on the security services' now-established shameful incompetence.