Saad Hariri's Visit to Syria Marks US Failure in Lebanon.

Any time a Lebanese leader visits Damascus the first time there after the assassination of their father means a change has taken place. Lebanese PM Saad Hariri has accused Syrian President Bashar Assad for assassinating his father. It signifies a change of policy from adversarial to accommodation in regards to Syria. The Cedar Revolution that he helped spearhead has been waning. The reality is that Hezbollah and its pro-Syrian allies are the dominant force and that some of his March 14th allies have realized this and have been drifting to the anti-Western Hezbollah led opposition. The US in particular has been supporting Hariri's March 14th coalition since its inception on 2005. The US believed that the coalition could be used as a counterweight to Hezbollah by strengthening the Lebanese government and by limiting Syrian influence. The West also had a policy of Isolation against Syria .


A turning point was the brief out break of violence leading to Hezbollah taking control of most of Beirut in May 2008. The US failed to help them. Walid Jumblatt the leader of the Druze faction of the March 14th, whose father's assassination was blamed on Syria, drifted away from the Western camp. He spoke to Druze elders in June and told them that they must co-exist with the Shiites whose demographic has been increasing significantly. Hezbollah proved during its takeover of Beirut its power and he believed that Sunnis are potentially more dangerous. He held the view that if the Druze made accommodations with Hezbollah, they will be protected. This would also mean he would be more friendly to Syria -MEMRI

On another note, its been known that Israel and Syria have been talking to each other through Turkish channels. It is believed that Israel wants Syria back in Lebanon so it can hold Hezbollah by a leash; it is their belief that Hezbollah has become more unpredictable without Syria's presence. Western Reapproachment with Syria, started initially by France, once the colonial ruler of Syria and Lebanon, weakened US policy. The Obama administration has also quietly repudiated Bush's policy. Perhaps one of the biggest changes is that the Saudi Arabia, the biggest backer of Saad Hariri and the March 14th coalition, which recently has taken more of a conciliatory tone with Syria. - NYT

Regardless, the Pro-Western parliamentary majority is losing its clout, which means Hezbollah is on its way to monopolize its power. Iran and Syria are going to continue to reassert its influence in Lebanon and the US may be adopting Israel's view of Lebanon and that Syria's influence in the short term could be a good thing.

Senior Dissident Iranian Cleric Ayotollah Montazeri Passes Away

Iranian Ayotollah, Hossein Montazeri passed due to heart failure. His loss is a big loss not just in Iran but in anywhere there are people who yearn for freedom. He was a prominent founder of the Islamic republic who was once designated to be the successor to Ayotollah Khomeini. He had a falling out with Khomeini over the fatwa against Salman Rushdie, saying that the world will think that Iran's business is murdering people. He also angered Khomeini by calling for a political and ideological reconstruction of their system.

He should reminds us of the great Chinese leader, Zhao Ziyang, who as the secretary general of the communist party, the lone dissenter against the military crackdown in Tiananmen Square. He was a believer in that a parliamentary system was needed to support China's transition toward a market economic system. 1989 was the year of both of their downfalls. Montazeri over his statements in regards to the way things were handled in the Islamic republic. Tiananmen square was Ziyang's. (wiki)He went down to the protesters on the eve of the crackdown to warn them. The end result was years under house arrest. Ayotollah Montazeri was placed under house arrest after criticizing Khomeini's successor. After being released in 2003, he continued to be vocal by backing the Iranian reform movement. He has accused the government backed by Supreme Leader Ayotollah Khamanei of being " neither Islamic nor a republic." Just recently he accused the civilian religious militia the Basij as following the "path of Satan instead of the path of God." he railed against the crackdown against the opposition after last June's disputed election and voiced his support for them. (NYT)

Hopefully his death during these tumultous times in Iran will allow him to have one last hurrah by emboldening the oposition to expose the tyranny of Ayotollah Khamanei's spiritually bankrupt regime.

His death should be marked fanfare by the US and and by other leaders of the West. He was an important Islamic scholar who called for greater civil liberties in a part of the world where leaders stifle it in the name of Islam. Although both Montazeri and Ziyang failed in life to change the system they helped create, their memories will not fade.

Pakistan Seizes Weapons Allegedly from India.

Pakistani interior minister, Rehman Malik, claims that a large weapons cache recently found in the town of Bara which is close to the Afghan border, were originated in India. He accused India of fomenting instability in the country by supporting separatists in Baluchistan and militants in Waziristan. The chief minister of Punjab province also has accused India of behind attacks as he was touring hospitals visiting victims of Monday's bombings in the Lahore, which killed 48 people. (AKI)

The accusations against archenemy India is nothing new, but rarely do they ever back up their statements with facts. The weapons where discovered in areas that have a strong Taliban influence. Taliban sympathizers in the Pakistani government want the country to focus on the threat posed by India and not by ISI inspired groups. The Indian threat is the one thing that unites fractious Pakistan. With little information available its hard to discern the truth of these allegations. Pakistani FM Makhdoom Qureshi himself stated that more information would be needed to back up its assertions of India's role in the unrest.

"We need more information and material to plausibly argue our case (against India)." Qureshi (Dawn)