Two Micheals

A lot of Americans don't quite understand the relationship between Hezbollah and the rest of the Lebanese. They find it difficult to understand that my previous post is mainstream thinking here in Lebanon. Americans who lived in Lebanon on the other hand understand the complexity of the sometimes irrational relationships in this country.

Two Americans, both named Micheal, shed further light.

Micheal Totten, who blogs about Lebanon wrote:

The (second in a decade) attack on Qana that killed scores of civilians has all but cemented the Lebanese public and Hezbollah together.

Cable news reports that 82 percent of Lebanese now support Hezbollah. Prime Minister Fouad Seniora – whatever his real opinion in private – is now closer to openly supporting Hezbollah in public than he has ever been.

Hezbollah was popular while Israel occupied South Lebanon. When Israel left Lebanon it finally became possible for Hezbollah's power to be strictly relegated to it own little corner because support for the organization evaporated.

Now that Israel is back, Hezbollah's support is back.

It doesn't matter if this support is reasonable or not. (It isn't reasonable. Israel wouldn't even be in Lebanon if it weren't for Hezbollah.) But it was entirely predictable.

Support for Hezbollah will drop again after Israel leaves. But Israel can't (or won't) leave until some kind of arrangement is hammered out. And Israel will now have to deal with a manifestly more hostile Lebanese public while working out that arrangement.

This is a disaster for Lebanon, a disaster for Israel, and a disaster for the United States. It is a tremendous boon to Syria and Iran.

Another Micheal, from Oklahoma city, wrote a comment on my previous post. I Thought it's worthwile publishing:

Your latest post explains very clearly the relationship between most Lebanese and Hezbollah. I cannot understand why this concept is so difficult for westerners - especially my fellow Americans - to understand.

I am truly fed up with listening to the talking heads on television who claim that this is Lebanon's fault for not disarming Hezbollah (not to mention their blind justification of just about anything Israel does). How quickly they forget that Hezbollah had six years of Syrian protection and support in the south. The Lebanese army doesn't even go into the armed Palestinian camps! The world throws 1559 into the face of the Lebanese government and says: "Do it!" without any understanding of the political climate and culture of the nation and region. Having lived in Beirut before, during and after the Hariri assasination, I can honestly say that the U.S. government - and the public - is totally ignorant of the nuances of Lebanese politics.

I support the right of all people and all nations to live in peace and without the fear of terrorist attacks or the wanton and reckless targeting of civilians in military actins. Whether it is U.S. Marines in Iraq, Hamas suicide bombers, Israeli airstrikes and artillery, or Hezbollah's Khaibar rockets the willful and intentional targeting and killing of civilians is morally reprehensible and should be considered a crime against humanity.

Lebanon is in a no-win situation. If the army throws in with Hezbollah, they invite more massacres and destruction at the hands of Israel. If they do nothing the innocent still suffer. If they resist Hezbollah it's back to civil war. I hope and pray for a quick cease-fire though I know the U.S. will not demand one of Israel. I also hope that both Israel and Hezbollah will be held accountable by the global community and Lebanese voters for the ruin that they have jointly brought down on the wonderful people of Lebanon.