No More Mr. Nice Guy

The Future Movement is beginning to expose its assertive face.

So much symbolism in today’s Morning news. It seems the Hariri camp is no longer in an accommodating mood and they are starting to show their “ugly” face.
They’re losing patience, and now they’re in their famous counter-attack mode.

Hezbollah is bothering them? Put a big picture of Seniora shaking hands with Dick Chaney on the front page of their Almustaqbal Daily.
Nabih berri is grumbling? “the legislative branch should start getting used the separation of powers” shoots Seniora.
Walid Jumblat is making noises? Privately force him to retrieve his statements while publicly declare an “unflinching alliance” with him.
The terminology is also telling: “We will not be baited into a political crisis in Lebanon on the eve of the U.N. report about his father’s assassination” Saad announces. In a first-of-its-kind statement, Seniora declares to the Washington post that Lahhoud was “Syrian imposed”.
Finally, the fact that Saad Hariri made his statements to his own Almustaqbal newspaper (as opposed to alsafir or alnahar) is symbolic. It says: we are not in a reaching-out mood.

The Future Movement has to carefully tread their assertive tone though. A bit of firmness every now and then is helpful, but they have to remember that in Lebanon, you cannot shoot at everyone, even if everyone is misbehaving.

But for someone like Seniora to lose his patience, you have to know the kind of mess we are in.