[whataretheysaying] Mary Madigan: Mere anarchy without a center still holds...

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Posted by Mary Madigan:
Mere anarchy without a center still holds...
http://whataretheysaying.powerblogs.com/posts/1171578756.shtml


   [1]Michael Totten writes about the recent rally in Beirut..

     Valentineâs Day isnât a romantic occasion in Lebanon. Itâs the
     anniversary of the murder of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri,
     who was assassinated February 14, 2005, with a 600 pound bomb in
     downtown Beirut. A large crater still exists in the middle of the
     street, which is blocked to traffic. Pedestrians are kept away by
     strips of yellow police tape. The St. George Hotel, which was
     refurbished after the civil war, stands ruined once more by the
     explosion.

     Yesterday hundreds of thousands of Lebanese gathered in Martyrâs
     Square to memorialize Hariri and to demonstrate against his Syrian
     assassins and their Lebanese Hezbollah proxies â who have also been
     demonstrating downtown without letup since December 1 of last year.
     Sectarian and political tensions havenât been higher in Lebanon
     since the civil war ended. Violent street clashes have already
     broken out. Yet activists from both the pro- and anti-Syrian camps
     co-existed in downtown Beirut peacefully and, apparently, without
     incident.

     Very nearly no one in Lebanon wants civil war. Beirut is a
     tinderbox ready to blow. Lebanese might get war anyway. But itâs
     telling that the most militantly opposed factions in the country
     can still co-exist in the same physical space â albeit separated
     from each other by fencing, rows of razor wire, and the army â
     without fighting.

     A small group of violent fanatics from either side easily could
     have sparked a major conflagration if thatâs what they wanted, even
     if the overwhelming majority of even the militant activists didnât
     want conflict. It really wouldnât take much. One guy with a machine
     gun could possibly do it. Weapons sales have tripled in Lebanon
     over the past couple of weeks. It looks, though, like everyone in
     the now-thriving gun market is thinking of defense rather than
     offsense...

     ...The Lebanese civil war is one of the most ridiculous wars I have
     ever studied. It was World War I writ small. Everyone lost. As a
     result, everyone is more restrained and mature since the end of the
     war, even Hezbollah.

     Hezbollah no longer kidnaps anyone inside Lebanon (not Lebanese,
     and not foreigners either), and they have apparently given up â at
     least on paper â their dream of conquering all of Lebanon and
     imposing a Shia Islamist theocracy. They may yet topple the
     government, but they cannot replace that government with
     themselves. And they know it. Besides, Hezbollah is adored in much
     of the Arab world outside Lebanon where no one has to suffer the
     consequences of living with them. All that would be lost if
     Hezbollah were to become the Shia butcher of Sunnis.

     What if they declared a war and nobody came? Itâs a silly old
     hippie slogan from the 1960s. Thatâs how itâs playing out now,
     though, in the Middle East of all places. Bashar Assad has called a
     civil war, and no one is coming.

   Maybe things succeed in Lebanon because the best, as well as the
   worst, are willing to stand by their convictions.

   Also: more independent reporting from Lebanon, interviews with
   [2]Liberals and [3]neo-cons there. Just keep scrolling..

References

   1. http://www.michaeltotten.com/archives/001384.html
   2. http://www.michaeltotten.com/archives/001383.html
   3. http://www.michaeltotten.com/archives/001380.html