Below The Beltway

It’s pretty obvious that Hezbollah is actively trying to overthrow the elected government of Lebanon:
BEIRUT, Dec. 3 — Sunni residents and Shiite protesters clashed in the capital Sunday, leaving one man dead and raising tension across Lebanon on a third day of demonstrations aimed at toppling the government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.
The shooting death […]

Lebanese Cabinet Member Pierre Gemayel, a vocal opponent of Syrian meddling in Lebanese affairs, was killed today in a gangland-style attack:
BEIRUT, Nov. 21 — Lebanese Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel, a vocal opponent of Syrian involvement in the country and a leader of the country’s Maronite Christian minority, was assassinated in Beirut Tuesday, intensifying an already […]

When we last left the nation of Lebanon, a cease fire was in place in the month-long war that erupted between Israel and the Hezbollah terrorist army. That cease fire, of course, did nothing to address the fundamental causes of the conflict between Israel and Lebanon’s state-within-a-state and was really nothing more than a pause […]

Newt Gingrich appeared on Bill O’Reilly Thursday night and called the cease fire deal that ended the Israel-Hezbollah war a defeat for the United States and Israel, and a victory for terrorism:
O’REILLY: Continuing now with FOX News analyst Newt Gingrich. Nobody I know thinks that the United Nations force and the Lebanese army is going […]

USA Today is reporting that, during the early stages of the Israel-Hezbollah war, the United States, Turkey, and Iraq intervened to stop a shipment of missiles from Iran to Hezbollah:

WASHINGTON ? The United States blocked an Iranian cargo plane’s flight to Syria last month after intelligence analysts concluded it was carrying sophisticated missiles and launchers […]

Whatever credibility France might have had as a serious player in world affairs is slowly dwindling away. Now, the French may be on the verge of destroying the very Middle East peace plan they helped put forward:
UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 17 — France has rebuffed U.N. pleas to make a major contribution to a peacekeeping mission […]

Its barely a week old and already the United Nations brokered cease fire in Lebanon is being revealed for the fraud that it is:
BEIRUT, Aug. 15 — Hezbollah refused to disarm and withdraw its fighters from the battle-scarred hills along the border with Israel on Tuesday, threatening to delay deployment of the Lebanese army and […]

James Joyner has an article at TCS Daily explaining why the current cease fire is a defeat for Israel and a victory for Hezbollah.
Money quote:
Israel has accepted a truce that falls far short of its original war aims, failing to establish control over their border with Lebanon, let alone deliver a crushing blow to Hezbollah. […]

Caroline Glick of The Jerusalem Post on the cease fire deal:
There is a good reason that Hizbullah chief Hassan Nasrallah has accepted UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which sets the terms for a cease-fire between his jihad army and the State of Israel.
The resolution represents a near-total victory for Hizbullah and its state sponsors Iran […]

Dean Barnett on the U.N. brokered cease fire in Lebanon:
Lebanon officially becomes Hezbollah-land. Hezbollah will rightly be considered the victor for withstanding the IDF?s onslaught. And the battle will resume at a time and place of Hezbollah?s choosing.
Like I said yesterday, this is not an end to the war, its merely a pause in hostilities, […]