[andyfox]

I'm not expert on Lebanon. But, for example, according to an article in today's L.A. Times by Reza Aslan of USC, when Syria was forced out of Lebanon after the assassination of former Prime Minsiter Hariri, Hezbollah rallied in support of Syria. This is how it was seen by our leaders. But the rally also involved a display of Lebanese nationalism. The half a million Hezbollah supporters who were in Beirut in March 2005 were clothed in the colors of Lebanon, not Syria. And since Syria's withdrawal, Hezbollah has continued to advocate protecting Lebanese territory and working across religious and sectarian lines to promote Lebanese unity, even forming a political partnership with Christian leader Michael Aoun.

As Lyndon Johson once said, all politics is local. To ignore that dimension is to see only part of the picture and it's often the part one doesn't see, either by choice or by myopia, that comes back to bite one in the ass.