tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16816866.post5047265601781774201..comments2024-02-29T02:10:56.878-08:00Comments on J O S H U A P U N D I T: Lebanon heats up...Freedom Fighterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13649470110087808596noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16816866.post-31058706936851647712007-02-14T11:25:00.000-08:002007-02-14T11:25:00.000-08:00Hi Harrison!Actually,while Hamas is indeed pro-Ira...Hi Harrison!<BR/>Actually,while Hamas is indeed pro-Iranian, let's not forget that they are also Sunni and an offshoot of the Muslim brotherhood as well as Arabs (as opposed to Persians)<BR/><BR/>The Mecca deal was, essentially, the Saudis bidding for Hamas' loyalty and shoring up their credentials on the Arab street as leaders of the jihad aginst Israel and the West, IMO.<BR/><BR/>Lebanon,which has a large Shiite population and much more involvement with Iran and Syria (the Alawites that rule Syria are a Shiite branch)than Hamas will be another story.Freedom Fighterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13649470110087808596noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16816866.post-57776143859848136532007-02-13T16:32:00.000-08:002007-02-13T16:32:00.000-08:00This article at The Daily Star caught my attention...This article at The Daily Star caught my attention, but more ominously, it was the last sentence of that piece that <A HREF="http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=79485" REL="nofollow">spelt potential trouble</A>:<BR/><BR/><I>Asked whether talks in Mecca were being planned like those which united Hamas and Fatah, Siniora said he was aware of no such move.</I><BR/><BR/>Everything should be done to discourage Saniora from ever considering pulling the Saudis in as mediators between the government and Hezbollah, because nothing good will come out of it. The Saudis would feel the need for geopolitical equilibrium to be established right after it basically handed Palestine over to Hamas (which is pro-Iranian), and it has probably calculated that an anti-Iranian regime in Lebanon would more than offset pro-Iranian factions in Syria and Palestine, so it would not be surprising if the sheikhs <A HREF="http://gotfetch.blogspot.com/2007/02/keeping-saudis-away.html" REL="nofollow">jumped at the chance to intervene</A> in Lebanon.Harrisonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17688001023588334672noreply@blogger.com