It was just a couple years ago when strikes were taking place in Lebanon's Beirut to oust Syria from controlling the country. At the time it seemed like a middle east version of the Berlin wall crumbling down.
Times have changed and Lebanon has made some strange choices since, proving that when you try and please everyone, you please no one. Today, opposition groups led by Hezbollah have brought a general strike to the capital to oust the government and re-link Lebanon to Syria and Iran.
Hezbollah's failed war with Israel did not bring a Lebanese condemnation of Hezbollah nor a routing of the opposition from the country and now the country is paying the price again. Many Lebanese bridled at the Israeli attacks brought on by Hezbollah aggression and the country responded with an odd mixture of national resilience aimed at Israel instead of the instigators, Hezbollah.
That short sited national pride is now being attacked by the same instigators from within and threatens to force the country into a civil war unless the current Lebanese government just cedes control over the country. The current Lebanese government has the support of the US, France, Great Britain and Saudi Arabia. These absent allies do not want to see Lebanon fall under the direct influence of Syria or Iran, but any action they take to intervene or help will only fuel the fire locally if that help is not decisively enough to end Hezbollah's reign in Lebanon.
Following the Hezbollah v. Israel war, Hezbollah was very quick to provide assistance and support to the Lebanese victims of the war. Their humanitarian visage captured a great deal of grass roots support despite the fact that their actions brought the war in the first place.
The current international policies of letting the countries of the Middle East work their problems out internally seems to be failing as Iran and Syria are engaged in breaking down those countries. Countries like Lebanon, Iraq, Somalia, and Afghanistan are proving that they do not have a true grasp on their Sovereignty when confronted with a foe like Syria and Iran that are able to sew dissent and turn that dissent into action against the sovereign powers of the country.
These hidden attacks by outside forces are rapidly bringing a regional conflict to the area that will ultimately have to be responded to in kind by those countries that oppose Iran and Syria. The Bush foreign policy has failed to stem the attacks of these countries in Iraq and Afghanistan as an insufficient amount of force was provided to secure the Sovereignty of these countries. This example has enabled Syria and Iran to repeat the formula and only a massive campaign of military force will now be able to bring peace to the Middle East.
The world is going to find itself choosing sides very rapidly and with oil reserves at stake, these lines may blur and the conflict has the potential to bring China and Russia into play potentially on sides that may oppose other western nations. The middle east is bring turmoil to the rest of the world and could bring about a new world war. The world may need to step in and force a peace in the region for the greater good of the rest of the planet. This is an extremely unfortunate result, but mistakes and missteps brought by all parties around the world are rapidly sucking the world into a fight that it may not survive.
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