I tend not to pay attention to the AP analysis on the Middle East, because it is so often wrong. Watching the AP spin the “negotiations” for the new Lebanese prime minister is a great example of how they get it wrong.
Hezbollah is taking a leaf from its Iranian masters and insisting that “cooperation” means “Do what we say or we won’t cooperate.” Here’s my favorite bit:
“In case the person we support is chosen to form the Cabinet we will work for this Cabinet to be a government of national unity,” Nasrallah said in a televised speech. “We do not seek to cancel anyone.”
That is significant because Hezbollah and its allies had appeared to be closing in on enough support in parliament to form a government on their own, if they had chosen to try to do so.
That’s the exact opposite of what they’re doing. Consider the opposition to Hebollah’s “suggestion” for PM:
A senior March 14 source said Mikati was the candidate of Hezbollah, adding that there was no Saudi cover for his nomination. “Mikati is not a consensual candidate. He is a candidate of Hezbollah. The problem is that Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is appointing the Sunni prime minister,†the source told The Daily Star.
“We will not participate [in any Mikati government] because we consider that Saad Hariri is the only one who can form a national unity Cabinet in which all parties participate,†MP Ahmad Fatfat of Hariri’s parliamentary Future bloc told al-Jadid TV.
Strong-arm tactics are not cooperation. And that is how Hezbollah works. It’s sheer bullshit to imply otherwise, and the AP does more than imply that Hezbollah is willing to “cooperate.” Really? Like this?
“The Lebanese Druse leader Walid Jumblatt received threats from Hizbullah; if he didn’t support them – Hizbullah would conquer their stronghold in Chouf mountains [south-east of Beirut],” MK Majallie Whbee told Army Radio Saturday.
Whbee, a member of the Druse community, estimated that such threats emanating from Hizbullah camp were the basis for Jumblatt’s recent support of the Hizbullah-Syria alliance in the present Lebanese political crisis. He also suspected that Jumblatt would not, in the end, join a government coalition headed by Hizbullah.
Instead of reading Hezbollah apologists, try reading Tony Badran and Michael Young. They write true analysis, not Hezbollah spin. So does Barry Rubin. The AP? Feh.