In "Arab Voices" I describe Lebanon as "a tinderbox, with too many groups still playing with matches". Iranian President Ahmadinejad's visit to that dear but fragile country has to be seen in that context.
Instead of helping Lebanon and its fractured polity come together, he worked to deepen their deep divisions. Instead of recognizing the country's vulnerability and the dangers of renewed conflict with Israel, he egged them on. And instead of acknowledging Lebanon's unique character, he behaved as if the country were an extension of his own.
His bluster and triumphalism and his verbal flights of fancy may have created momentary euphoria in his alienated and disenfranchised audiences, but celebrations and speechifying do not reflect reality nor do they provide a pathway to needed change. As such, his visit and his behavior amounted to nothing more than a dangerous provocation.
I maintain what I said back in 2006 when too many Arabs across the political spectrum were celebrating Hezbollah's "victory" -- can we be so desperate that losing 1,400 lives and incurring billions of dollars of damage and the destruction of so much of the country's infrastructure can still be called a victory? What happened in 2006 was a tragedy and a disaster, pure and simple. It was a wasted and foolish war which no one won -- and one in which Lebanon and its people paid too great a price.
The behavior of the Iranian President reminds me of what Dr. Ron Walters used to say about Rev. Louis Farrakhan, the leader of the Nation of Islam. Ron, who passed away last month, was an African American political scientist and one of the smartest analysts with whom I've had the honor to work. In 1984, as Jesse Jackson was running for President, seeking to empower African Americans under the banner "our time has come," Farrakhan jumped into the mix. He used the occasion to regularly issue forth outrageous comments creating a continuous stream of disruptions and provocations. Knowing that the spotlight would always be on him (the loudest and most extreme voice always draws the most attention) and that he could always goad opponents into attacking him, Farrakhan never wasted an opportunity to take center stage and create a distraction.
One day Ron sat with a group of us to analyze what was taking place. He understood the game that was afoot. Farrakhan needed to be the story and knew that creating outrage was the way to do it. Did his antics advance the African American agenda? No. Did it further empower the community? No, in fact, more often than not, it created setbacks. But it did succeed in advancing Farrakhan's agenda and, as he would engage in provocations that would create angry rebukes, it kept him at the center of attention.
I asked Ron to explain the community's reactions to all this. He replied that "Farrakhan is the measure of the depth of black alienation from white America." Farrakhan understood this and so knew that his clever rhetoric would inflame passions (even among some in the so called "black establishment," who despite their success shared in the alienation born of discrimination). And he knew that whites would respond and counter attack and that this would only serve to deepen the support he would then receive from among his already alienated supporters. It was a vicious and unending game, in which the fears of some whites were reinforced, the frustrations of some African Americans were likewise reinforced, and nothing changed for the better -- except that Farrakhan drew record crowds and got lots of press.
This same dynamic is playing out in Lebanon and across parts of the Arab World today. Lebanon, in desperate need of reform and national reconciliation, is struggling to restore its sovereignty and its unity. Palestinians are denied freedom, with Gaza under siege, and the West Bank, despite some progress, still occupied. Millions of Palestinians remain in refugee camps, denied their fundamental rights. Iraq is in disarray and in many parts of the Arab World, having witnessed repeated tragedies in Palestine, Lebanon and, now Iraq, there is a gnawing sense of powerlessness and disarray and an uncertainty about the future.
Into this world, comes Ahmadinejad with his "in your face" bravado and his blusterous taunts. His message fuels anger, which provides but a temporary salve. Other than stirring the pot of discontent and rubbing old wounds raw, he offers no solutions for change. Instead of counterattacking and playing into his game (which benefits only him and his enemies), the response should be to proceed apace with the change the region so desperately needs. Strengthening Lebanon with reforms to empower the disenfranchised and working to guaranteed freedom and long denied rights to the Palestinians, would be the perfect places to start. As long as these wounds fester, the region will be a fertile place for alienation, provocation and disruption.
Flynt and Hillary Mann Leverett: Iran's "Soft Power" Increasingly Checks U.S. Power
Nazanin Afshin-Jam: Human Rights Activists Must Work To Halt Iran's Nuclear Weapons Program, Too
Sam Sedaei: Ahmadinejad in Lebanon: A Love Story
"I think that two wrongs don't make a right. And I have been in the situation of counseling young girls, not 13 but 15, who have had very at risk, difficult pregnancies. And my counsel was to look for some alternatives, which they did. And they found that they had made what was really a lemon situation into lemonade."
Both leaders fund groups that do not stand for democracy in the nations they were speaking in. Infact the Egyptians Obama supports stand less for democracy than Hezbollah does.
You don't remember that?
He drew a pretty big crowd. It made big news.
to call Mahmoud out. If his vision is clear, he should be more than willing and able to prove the clarity of his analysis. Through constructively countering all forms of probing enquiry. Such an unclouded mind’s eye would indubitably see, that the world might be modified by virtue of authoritatively validating that realization. If, however, his understanding is naught but superficial in extremis. He will avoid at all costs that call.
"Erdogan: Turkey wants to triple trade with Iran within 5 years"
http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/erdogan-turkey-wants-to-triple-trade-with-iran-within-5-years-1.314180
"trade between China and Iran grew by 35% in 2009 to $27 billion. "
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/LJ14Ag01.html
"Railway construction most important Armenian-Iranian project "
http://www.aysor.am/en/news/2010/10/11/armenia-iran/
"Mottaki: Iran to lift visa requirement for neighbouring states "
http://gulfnews.com/news/region/iran/mottaki-iran-to-lift-visa-requirement-for-neighbouring-states-1.697939
Etc.
To see how Reality Trumps Bull, see http://www.bibijon.org/iranimage/
Where, and to whom:
Robert Fisk 1996 Qana, Lebanon http://www.bintjbeil.com/E/occupation/robert_fisk_qana.html
It was a massacre. Not since Sabra and Chatila had I seen the innocent slaughtered like this. The Lebanese refugee women and children and men lay in heaps..."
2006 Human Rights Watch http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2006/07/29/israellebanon-israel-responsible-qana-attack
Lebanon: Israel Responsible for Qana Attack
Indiscriminate Bombing in Lebanon a War Crime
July 29, 2006
"Responsibility for the Israeli airstrikes that killed at least 54 civilians sheltering in a home in the Lebanese village of Qana rests squarely with the Israeli military, Human Rights Watch said today."
What Was Said:
"I have come to thank you for your patience, resistance and honor. I have come to offer greetings to you and to Qana, the land of patience and resistance. Qana is living proof of resistance, patience and faith of the people of Lebanon. The innocent and defenseless martyrs of Qana are proof of the innocence and resistance of the people of Lebanon. Qana is living proof of the crimes of the criminal ..."
http://www.juancole.com/2010/10/8944.html
If Jackson/Farrakhan references leave you scratching your head, try this for analysis:
http://www.raceforiran.com/the-true-significance-of-ahmadinejads-lebanon-visit
"Simplistic to some, perhaps – Islamist movements and Iranian leaders do harp continuously on just those global inequities, inequalities, lack of respect and of exploitation to which Brzezinski attributes the unprecedented political ‘awakening’. The tables are turned: as the values of ‘the market’ and the secular liberal world order appear increasingly hollow to those who see in it only privilege, disparity of wealth and self-enriching self-interest, the language of resistance and defiance of western political and business élites, who style themselves as ‘the international community’ of course resonates deeply in a Middle East that is ‘awakening politically’ and ‘stirring’"
Lebanese Prime Minister Sa'ad Hariri told Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that Beirut will not join a regional axis because Lebanon's unique coexistence formula prevents the country from joining any regional alliances, according to a report in Lebanon's An Nahar on Friday.
from: http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=191564
Therefore, an initial reading [of this visit] is that Ahmadinejad rushed to Lebanon in response to the historic joint-visit undertaken by Saudi King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to Lebanon, travelling on the same airplane. This means that the Iranians, who have clearly become fed up with the Syrian disposition – although this is an article for another time – decided to publicly visit the country this time, in order to rescue Nasrallah from the findings of the Hariri tribunal. This is what Ahmadinejad's speech in the southern suburbs of Beirut revealed, and here it is important that we recall the surprise on Nasrallah's face on the day that he made his famous speech saying "they have acquitted Syria" in order to understand Iran's concern for Hezbollah today.
from :http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=2&id=22688
I fail to see how Saudi influence is more in the US interest than Iranian influence. The Saudis have been working against our interests for a while.
The Moderate Muslims Community is Scared to Death to Stand Up to the Extremists. .
this is Tyranny and it ain't goin away any time soon . . and US . .
Yup . . that's our heads in the sand . . fool on Wayne!!!
I would also hope that Nasrallah remembers that the other segments of Lebanon's population doesn't want to be dragged into another war, and that his constituents would do a lot better if he earns the trust of the entire Lebanese people.
So, which is it?
Just be glad you got out, you'd been fought to a standstill.
i thought obama was the anti christ and would bring peace to the middle east. guess those people were wrong
"We used to hustle over the border for health care we received in Canada," Sarah Palin March 8, 2010
come on sarah where were you born. Show us the birth certificate.
Beck has a lot in common with Ahmadinejad.
Yes, Ahmadinejad's visit is a danger to those in Lebanon who do not want it to take its place in the world as a proud and independant country, able to look to the south with head held high and say 'you might be able to beat, rob, and maim me, but you can't crush me'. Now, whether you regard that as a danger to Lebanese in general depends on your view of things.
Do you really think that the Sunni Muslims, Maronite Christians, Druze, and probably other factions who think that Lebanon is better off without Syrian and Iranian interference don't want to take their place in the world? Or are you using the presence of a few defeatists (they are on both sides) to denigrate people who think that being a Syrian puppet is not independence?