On the same day when President Bush was telling the Israeli Knesset about the folly of negotiating with radicals, the Siniora government was sitting down with Hezbollah to do exactly that.
After Hezbollah's easy takeover of Beirut and other sites and army chief General Michel Suleiman's refusal to carry out Siniora's orders or use the Shiite dominated army fight for the regime, they had little choice.
Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora has already rescinded the two rulings last week that prompted Hezbollah's coup d'etat. First, Hezbollah's private spy telecom network will remain in place and outside government control And second, Hezbollah ally General General Wafiq Shuqeir, who was allowing arms shipments from Syria and Iran into Lebanon for Hezbollah will be reinstated as head of the Beirut airport.
The Siniora government also agreed to direct 'negotiations' with Hezbollah, if that's the proper term for what's going on. The regime also apparently caved in on okaying Hezbollah ally General Suleiman as a compromise candidate for the presidency, ending the political stalemate that's been going on for months while the Syrians and Hezbollah used assassination to whittle down the March 14 Movement's parliamentary majority to a bare three or four seats.
Hezbollah and Iran realize that it's no longer necessary to overthrow the Siniora government. They can just control, and take over in their own good time.
What we're seeing now is simply negotiations over the terms of surrender.
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