Election rally in Beirut
Except for employing the inaccurate and hackneyed description of Hezbollah as “the Iranian-backed Shiite fundamentalist group”, Robert Dreyfuss has a worthwhile piece commenting on the upcoming Lebanese elections and US foreign policy perspectives, in which he notably scans the hysterical neocon press. He also comments on the Der Spiegel claims which I’ve omitted but can be read in the original (see also Der Spiegel’s Sensational Hariri Tribunal ‘Breakthrough’: “Hezbollah Did It” (Updated) and Der Spiegel Tries Again) in a post he’s entitled ‘The Battle of Lebanon’, but which might just as equally be characterized as The Battle for Lebanon:
Five days before the crucial elections in Iran on June 12, voters go to the polls in another Middle East country: Lebanon. The stakes in Lebanon are high, since it’s looking more and more likely that Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Shiite fundamentalist group, and its allies will win a majority and take control of the government in Beirut. That would create a fundamental choice for the Obama administration: does the United States continue to have contact with, and send military aid to, a Lebanese government controlled by Israel’s implacable foe?
First, credit where its due: Time’s political columnist Joe Klein joins a growing number of journalists (Chris Hedges, Jim Lobe,
