Monday June 8, 2009

I've Been Thinking:

It appears as a bullet has been dodged in Lebanon.
Shiite Hezbollah and the pro-Syrian, pro-Iran coalition lost to the
pro-Western, Sunni coalition in yesterday's election.

The exact results are not in as of this writing, but Hezbollah has already conceded.
Certainly, Hezbollah can wreak havoc in the opposition.
Certainly, Hezbollah can attack the Lebanese army and government institutions and spurn government agreements.
But now the pro-Western Sunni/Christian alliance will be able to deal serious blows to Hezbollah whenever they violate the law and flaunt their rejection of Lebanon's international responsibilities.

One of the only responsibilities of a democracy is to self perpetuate.
In Lebanon, democracy has not learned that lesson.
The Lebanese people know how to vote, but the representatives they elect have always cringed for fear of civil war. That is how and why Hezbollah and its anti-democratic methods have been able to prevail in many parts of Lebanon.

Yesterday Hezbollah and by extension Iran and Syria were put in their proper place.
The people have spoken.
Lebanon must squash all anti-democratic violence and tolerate no intimidation.

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