By Sami Moubayed
Asia Times
"Somewhere in Beirut, the head of Hezbollah, the resilient Hasan Nasrallah, is a happy man. Resolutions were hammered out in Doha on Wednesday giving Hezbollah and its backers long-coveted veto power in the Lebanese government - and the group gets to keep its arms, no questions asked. Syria and Iran were also winners and Saudi Arabia's proxies, defeated militarily last week, were beaten politically in Doha. Nasrallah is writing history, his way.....
Who wins now in Beirut politics? By virtue of avoiding another civil war, all sides win, topped with the Lebanese people. Certainly, Hezbollah came out victorious. So did the Syrians and Iran. The Syrians in particular seemed to be on cloud nine, since shortly after the agreement was announced in Doha another declaration came out, this time from Damascus, Tel Aviv and Ankara, saying that indirect talks had started between Syria and Israel, under auspices of the Turks.
The only side that might not be too happy with what happened in Doha is Saudi Arabia. The deal was brokered by the Qataris and not them, although they had been the ones to supervise the deal at Taif, which led to en end to civil war in 1990.
The Syrians, whom they had tried to sideline in Beirut and empower March 14, certainly proved that they still had a lot of weight in Lebanon, although they had been out of Lebanon - militarily - since 2005. Saudi Arabia's proxies were defeated militarily in the street confrontations last week, and politically in Doha. After all, despite all the macho talk, they finally bent and accepted the demands of the Hezbollah-led opposition. Hezbollah and its friends were actually given the veto power they had long wanted, kept their arms, and secured a president for Lebanon who was not a member of the March 14 coalition.
Nasrallah is writing history, just like Churchill but perhaps with a different pen and in a different handwriting. "
Asia Times
"Somewhere in Beirut, the head of Hezbollah, the resilient Hasan Nasrallah, is a happy man. Resolutions were hammered out in Doha on Wednesday giving Hezbollah and its backers long-coveted veto power in the Lebanese government - and the group gets to keep its arms, no questions asked. Syria and Iran were also winners and Saudi Arabia's proxies, defeated militarily last week, were beaten politically in Doha. Nasrallah is writing history, his way.....
Who wins now in Beirut politics? By virtue of avoiding another civil war, all sides win, topped with the Lebanese people. Certainly, Hezbollah came out victorious. So did the Syrians and Iran. The Syrians in particular seemed to be on cloud nine, since shortly after the agreement was announced in Doha another declaration came out, this time from Damascus, Tel Aviv and Ankara, saying that indirect talks had started between Syria and Israel, under auspices of the Turks.
The only side that might not be too happy with what happened in Doha is Saudi Arabia. The deal was brokered by the Qataris and not them, although they had been the ones to supervise the deal at Taif, which led to en end to civil war in 1990.
The Syrians, whom they had tried to sideline in Beirut and empower March 14, certainly proved that they still had a lot of weight in Lebanon, although they had been out of Lebanon - militarily - since 2005. Saudi Arabia's proxies were defeated militarily in the street confrontations last week, and politically in Doha. After all, despite all the macho talk, they finally bent and accepted the demands of the Hezbollah-led opposition. Hezbollah and its friends were actually given the veto power they had long wanted, kept their arms, and secured a president for Lebanon who was not a member of the March 14 coalition.
Nasrallah is writing history, just like Churchill but perhaps with a different pen and in a different handwriting. "
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