Poor Lebanon. Really, poor Lebanon. Its internal political struggles are fought mostly by bomb and gun. Some place in one of our national newspapers last week (I don't remember where) I read about the various sectarian ruling families and the quick ascension to leadership of the sons. The dads get assassinated. Hariri, Gemayel, all of the others. The scions inherit. In this one story, a daughter inherited. This is a great and honorable national custom, the blood loyalty of children to their pops.
Of course, Lebanon is also the scene of ongoing mass violence committed by the sectarian militias, of which Hezbollah is the most deadly. Its mullah Nasrallah now has the country by the cajones because it expects to win many more seats in the mid-June parliamentary elections than it has today. And what if it doesn't? More relevant: what if it does?
Vice president Biden has just been to Beirut to wish the political system "talley-ho." He expressed no preferences, nor should he have. But what was the purpose of his visit? This is a traveling administration.
There is an old war-front between Lebanon and its neighbor, Israel. This also was Hezbollah's initiative. It is now over, more or less. But there is lots of arms smuggling into the southern region by the Shi'a incendiaries, all in violence of Security Council resolution 1701 which was passed in 2006 in full knowledge that it would be violated on the morrow.
Now, Israel does some spying in Lebanon, much spying. Spying is probably the most civilized way of waging war. Everybody does it, even friends against friends. I am sure that the U.S. spies on the U.K. and the U.K. on the U.S.
Lebanon has now arrested some 20 alleged Israeli spies, that is Arab spies for Israel. It is actually easy to get Arabs to spy for Israel. Collaboration with the enemy is an easily acquired taste, especially in societies that don't give its members reason to be loyal.
Well,
last week Beirut filed a complaint with the United Nations against
Israel's spying and particularly complaining that it helped two spies
escape across the frontier. Maybe, Lebanon can get a resolution passed
against something or other at the United Nations Human Rights Council.