Jumblat’s desperate summersault

Walid Jumblat surprised everyone with his recent statements regarding his membership in the March 14 political grouping. However, Jumblat’s move is more than a political switch-over or change of heart. It is part of a scheme to blackmail him into returning to the pro-Syrian camp, and the price he is being asked to pay for [...]

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Even his allies accuse him of dirty tricks

Apparently, Amal, one of Aoun’s allies in the March 8 group, is complaining to Hezbollah about Aoun’s tactics in the Jezine election campaign. They accuse his candidates of using divisive language with sectarian tones to get Christians to vote for him in the upcoming elections.
Dah! Did they just find out that this is how Aoun always wins [...]

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What happened in May 2008

Last year Lebanon was on the verge of a new civil war when on May 7, 2008, Hezbollah and other pro-Syrian militias entered west Beirut and wreaked havoc. In the following days, Hezbollah and the Syrian Socialist Nationalist Party (SSNP) went on the rampage in Aley and the Chouf.
A recent Now Lebanon article tells in [...]

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Detlev Mehlis clarifies the issues

This morning Now Lebanon published an article in which the former investigator into the assassination of Rafiq Hariri, Detlev Mehlis, explained some of the facts surrounding the investigation. Most importantly, he dismissed criticism coming form the March 8/Hezbollah camp that the investigation has been politicized.
The pro-Syrian “opposition” has been celebrating the release recently of the four heads of security that [...]

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The truth about the Aoun/Hezbollah alliance

The other day I was having a discussion about the political situation in Lebanon with a reluctant supporter of the March 8/Aoun camp. He approached his support for this group as an Arab nationalist of the old school. For them, standing up to Israel comes first, and hating Hariri is high on the list.
When I [...]

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What arrogance!

Okay, I am not a supporter of Aoun or March 8 for that matter. That much is clear by now. However, I find it extremely arrogant and stupid the way March 14 people tell Aoun supporters that their leader’s alliance with Hezbollah is a mortal mistake and goes against all the values that the Christian [...]

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March 14 and fighting Israel

It has become common currency today that March 14, since they oppose Hezbollah’s “right to bear arms” is also opposed to standing up to, even fighting, Israel. That, however, is not the case. Hezbollah’s most effective myth has been to convince the Lebanese people that there is only one possible way to stand up to [...]

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The 2009 elections: some numbers

The Lebanese look forward to parliamentary elections in June of this year. The 128 seats in the Majlis Al-Nuwab, or parliament, will all be up for re-election. The elections will take place under a law agreed to last May in Doha, Qatar, when the Lebanese parties resolved a long-running dispute on a whole bunch of [...]

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And they want Aoun to lead us?

Here is how General Michel Aoun responded to the recent killing of a March 14 supporter who was returning from the commemorations that were held on February 14 on the fourth anniversary of Rafic Hariri’s death:

أعرب [عون] عن استنكاره لمقتل المواطن لطفي زين الدين، مقدمًا التعازي الى أهل الفقيد وداعيا إلى التهدئة. وأضاف: “التحقيق هو [...]

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We are not against the resistance, but against a sovereign militia!

Its very convenient for Hassan Nasrallah to dismiss all his critics by simply claiming that they are against the resistance in general and against defending Lebanon against Israeli aggression. Unfortunately for him, this is just not in line with reality. March 14 is all for recognizing Israel as Lebanon’s enemy which represents an existential threat [...]

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