Hezbollah’s “Suicide Mission”

Thanassis Cambanis:

Hezbollah is likely to emerge the end winner because it is willing to sacrifice the Lebanese state to maintain its standing in the Middle East and its perpetual war against Israel. But Lebanon’s lonely prime minister has no better choice than to play the long shot for a just resolution; otherwise, he’ll become a steward of Hezbollah’s impunity.

I don’t think Mr. Hariri’s behavior is based on a “least worst option” mentality. Mr. Hariri could very well be playing a good hand, but writers like Mr. Cambanis always tend to overstate Hezbollah’s influence and understate the sectarian system of checks and balances.

History taught us that never in Lebanon’s history has one group — no matter how powerful — been able to sustain a monopoly on power. In that sense, the title of Mr. Cambasis’s article could be even more prescient than he thought.