Say what you want about the CVs of many of our leaders... few, if any, are saints. Say what you want about the sincerity of Lebanese politicians... sincerity is not a prerequisite for office. Say what you want about foreign patrons... we all have them. Say what you want about sectarian interests often coming before national priorities... it's true. Say what you want about corruption in all its guises... it's there. But all these shortcomings in Lebanese politics are present across the board and, in a peculiarly Lebanese way, cancel each other out. Most importantly, they are nothing compared to the festering boil that is Hezbollah and its Iranian-financed weapons.
The latest impediment prolonging Lebanon's political constipation is the wording of the role of the Resistance in the upcoming ministerial statement. Hezbollah wants the same status it got in the 2005 statement, apparently without any consideration given to the moqawama's responsibility in initiating the catastrophic 2006 war, the threat of violence and then the use of its weapons to hijack the state and kill Lebanese civilians in May of this year, as well as its knack at being able to incorporate anything it deems necessary - including illegal phone lines - under the umbrella of the Resistance. There is also the small matter of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, by which the Lebanese government is bound and which calls for the disarmament of all armed groups.