Reply #13: what seems absent from this discussion is that the guy you're citing... [View All]

...was discussing his perspective about internal divisions within Lebanese society itself, with an emphasis on "his perspective" and whatever axes he has to grind. Hiz'bullah militants in Lebanon are themselves Lebanese (with some very small percentage of exceptions, no doubt)-- those Lebanese would likely present a different perspective. Further, the U.S. media is intent upon demonizing Hiz'bullah so it doesn't surprise me that if they had to round up one Lebanese guy to represent "the Lebanese opinion" they'd pick a strongly anti-Hiz'bullah Lebanese to do it. Remember the footage that aired last week of young men in Beirut chanting their support for Hiz'bullah after the apartment block was bombed? They're Lebanese too, with an obviously different opinion than the one expressed by the guy you heard.

Lebanon is only just out of a long civil war-- it's not surprising that there are deep divisions among Lebanese about the roles each faction plays in the current government and the larger society, or even the degree to which factional alliegence trumps nationalism. The result is there probably isn't one person who can properly represent Lebanese public opinion about anything. I think there is a real danger in accepting such voices as broadly representative-- we did that with Ahmed Chalabi, too.

edit-- recall too that the roots of Hiz'bollah's support are in the poorer Shi'a parts of the country and neighborhoods-- not the sort of folks who frequently travel to America and end up being interviewed in American radio studios.