Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for December 30/12
Egypt to pursue relationship with Hezbollah
U.N.: 170,637 Syrian Refugees in Lebanon
Lebanon: National Dialogue hopes tumble over terms
Geagea would accept presidency if asked
Potato chip company robbed in east Lebanon
Bekaa farmers hit as olive oil revenues fall
Jumblat, Raad Stress Need for Dialogue to Establish Stability in Lebanon
Berri, Miqati Hope Parliamentary Subcommittee Would Achieve its Objective
Assassination fears still grip Lebanon: Charbel
Interior Minister Marwan Charbel : Fear of Assassinations still Lingers in Lebanon
General Prosecutor Visits Roumieh Prison, Says Trials to Kick Off in February
Brahimi Warns Lebanon Can No Longer Support Massive Influx of Syrian Refugees
Report: Qabbani Rejects Miqati's Proposal on Elections of Higher Islamic Council
CNN: Assad using Iran-made missiles
Brahimi: Choice in Syria between diplomacy and 'hell'
Hopes for Syria breakthrough faint as U.N. envoy visits Russia
Assad forces take district of Syria's Homs: NGO
Syria Rebels Promote Leader Idriss to General
Fateh missiles and Russian-Iranian military cooperation to bolster Assad
Iran slowing down uranium enrichment efforts'
US: Norman Schwarzkopf dies at age 78
Only political process can save Syria from 'hell'-envoy
Indian gang rape victim dies; New Delhi braces for protests
Egypt's Morsi to focus on economy in senate spee
New Egypt constitution means equality, says Morsi

Where do we finally End?
Elias Bejjani/No one will live forever, no one. We all shall depart from this world once Almighty God decides to take back his gift, our life, the soul. What we always try to forget is the fact that no one can take with him any thing from this earth, nothing at all except his acts according to which he will face the Judgment Day. It is very helpful always to keep this fact in mind and never ever fall in the delusion that we are living for ever. This reality is simplified in a Lebanese proverb that says: "If it had lasted for others, it would not have came to you".

CNN: Assad using Iran-made missiles
US military officials say Syrian army fired at least two Iranian-made, short-range ballistic missiles at rebel strongholds this week
Ynet Published: 12.28.12, 18:58 / Israel News
The Syrian army fired at least two Iranian-made, short-range ballistic missiles at rebel strongholds this week, US military officials have told CNN.
According to Friday's report, the Fateh A-110 missiles are more accurate than the older Scud variants that Syrian government forces have used in recent weeks. Iran has not commented on the issue
Iran's Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi announced in August that the Islamic Republic had successfully test-fired a fourth generation Fateh 110 missile. He did not say when and where the test was conducted.
According to reports, the missile is used by the Hezbollah organization in Lebanon.
The Fathe-110 is a surface-to-surface medium-range missile, whose range has been improved – according to the Iranian defense minister – to more than 300 kilometers (185 miles). He said defense ministry experts improved the ability of the missile, which could previously travel 200-250 kilometers.
"Iran's Armed Forces can use the Fateh-110 missile to hit and destroy ground and sea targets, missile sites, arms cache, radars and other targets," the minister was quoted by Iran's Press TV as saying.
He emphasized that Iran was among the few countries in the world capable of producing this type of missile.
“Iran's capabilities are defensive and will only be used against aggressive countries and those who threaten our country’s interests and territorial integrity," Vahidi pointed out.
"The pinpoint capability in all weather conditions, longer durability, longer durability in standby position after being deployed on the launch pad, lower time for pre-launch or launch-time tests, shorter firing and takeoff time are among the key capabilities of the missile," Vahidi told the Fars news agency.

National Dialogue hopes tumble over terms
December 29, 2012/ By Hussein Dakroub/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: President Michel Sleiman was locked Friday in a war of words with the opposition March 14 coalition over his latest call for National Dialogue in a development widening the gap and dashing hopes for bringing the March 8 and March 14 parties to the negotiating table.
Further weakening the chances of holding a new round of National Dialogue scheduled on Jan. 7 was a new condition set by the opposition for attending the all-party talks: a declaration by Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah that he is ready to discuss placing the party’s arsenal under the authority of the Lebanese state.
“When Hezbollah’s secretary-general declares that he is ready to discuss putting [the party’s] weapons under the authority of the Lebanese state and that he will not use arms in any internal conflict ..., we will then be the first to participate in the Dialogue,” former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said.
Even before the verbal sparring between Sleiman and March 14, the prospects for Dialogue appeared to be in doubt after the opposition reiterated its demand for the government’s resignation and the formation of a neutral salvation Cabinet as a prerequisite to attend any talks with the Hezbollah-led March 8 alliance.
“I have issued an invitation to the Dialogue table. I will not abandon this until the [Dialogue] table is convened or those rejecting it propose an alternative, no matter what this alternative is,” Sleiman said in the remarks published by Al-Joumhouria newspaper Friday.
Addressing March 14 politicians, he added: “Let them tell me of an alternative that is more important than dialogue among the Lebanese. For my part, there is no alternative to dialogue. The day may come when we benefit from this dialogue. Matters cannot be solved with the push of a button.”
Sleiman strongly rejected reported proposals to extend his six-year term in office which expires in 2014, saying that efforts were under way to hold next year’s parliamentary polls on time.
Renewing his support for the government’s draft electoral law based on a proportional representation system with 13 medium-sized electoral districts, the president said: “I will do everything I can so that the elections can be held on time under the 1960 law or other laws. I want proportional representation.”
The 1960 law, which adopted the qada as an electoral district and is based on a winner-take-all system, has been rejected by officials on both sides of the political divide, as well as the Maronite Church. The 1960 law was used in the 2009 parliamentary elections.
Responding to the March 14 demand for the government’s resignation, a source close to Sleiman said that the opposition cannot link this demand to dialogue.
“The president is not in a position to force the government to resign. The government’s resignation is stipulated by the Constitution: Either the prime minister or one-third of the government’s members resign, or Parliament withdraws its confidence,” the source told The Daily Star.
Meanwhile, Siniora responded to Sleiman’s call for Dialogue by reiterating the opposition’s demand for the government’s resignation and the formation of a neutral salvation Cabinet to oversee the 2013 polls.
Siniora, who heads the Future parliamentary bloc, added a new condition for the March 14 parties to attend any dialogue session: putting Hezbollah’s arsenal under the authority of the Lebanese state.
Praising Sleiman’s contacts with the feuding parties in an attempt to explore a solution for the current political crisis, Siniora said in an interview with his own official website: “We also say that the alternative to dialogue is dialogue. There is no other language for us except dialogue. We believe only in dialogue on the grounds that dialogue is useful, fruitful, productive and leads to results, rather than a photo-op dialogue whose decisions remain ink on paper.”He recalled actions by Hezbollah which, he said, undermined all decisions of previous dialogue sessions, especially the so-called “Baabda Declaration,” which called for distancing Lebanon from regional conflicts, particularly the 21-month-old uprising in Syria. Siniora cited Hezbollah’s dispatching of an Iranian-made reconnaissance drone over Israel in October, and a declaration by Nasrallah that the party was “sending fighters to participate in jihadist operations in Syria” as violations of Dialogue decisions.
“After what Hezbollah has done, it was normal to ask questions about the usefulness of dialogue sessions and why we go to dialogue and then agree on things that are violated the next day,” Siniora said.
He added that the Oct. 19 assassination of Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hasan, who headed the police’s Information Branch, had destroyed all dialogue efforts.
Siniora said the March 14 parties did not trust the government, Hezbollah and other March 8 parties.
Among steps needed to restore confidence, Siniora said Hezbollah should hand over four party members indicted in the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
He added that Hezbollah also must also hand over a man suspected of participating in the assassination attempt against March 14 MP Butros Harb. Siniora’s remarks came a day after Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, in an open letter to Sleiman, said that the alternative to dialogue was the government’s resignation and the formation of a new Cabinet to supervise the elections.  Also Friday, Mikati struck an upbeat note about the prospects for the upcoming year and voiced confidence that the 2013 elections would be held on time. “I am very optimistic about 2013: The elections will be held on time and everyone will convene to agree on a new, modern [electoral] law which we are in need of,” Mikati said, speaking to employees and journalists at the Grand Serail.

Geagea would accept presidency if asked
December 29, 2012/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea said Saturday he is not considering a campaign for presidency but stressed he would consider running if he was nominated. “I’m not thinking about the issue of presidency," Geagea told a local magazine. “I won’t be a traditional candidate in terms of preparing appropriate [campaign] positions or cutting deals and things like that,” he said. “Instead, I will continue doing my work in a normal way just like I am now.” “But if elections near and several [parliamentary] blocs wanted me to become a president, naturally I look forward to that, since this role allows me to achieve my project and the aspirations that I have for Lebanon.” President Michel Sleiman was elected president in May 2008 after he was generally accepted as being the only possible, unifying candidate. Under the Constitution, Parliament elects the head of state for a non-renewable six-year term by a two-third majority.

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel : Fear of Assassinations still Lingers in Lebanon
Naharnet/Interior Minister Marwan Charbel stressed that the security agencies are prepared to take the necessary precautions to ensure the safety of officials who believe themselves to be threatened, reported the Kuwaiti al-Seyassah daily on Saturday. He told the daily: “Fear of assassinations still lingers in Lebanon as long as the political tensions and disputes persist.”“It is unfortunate that the threats remain and this requires all who feel in danger to take the needed measures to protest themselves, including limiting their mobility,” he explained. In October, March 14 alliance MPs Houri, Ahmed Fatfat, Hadi Hbeish, Khaled al-Daher and Nuhad al-Mashnouq said that they were texted death threats from a Syrian telephone number before and after Internal Security Forces Intelligence Bureau head Wissam al-Hasan's assassination. Hasan was killed in a car bomb in Beirut's Ashrafiyeh district on October 19.Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea and opposition MP Butros Harb both escaped assassination attempts in April and July respectively.

Jumblat, Raad Stress Need for Dialogue to Establish Stability in Lebanon
Naharnet /Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat stated that dialogue is the only choice left for the rival political factions, reported As Safir newspaper Saturday.He told the daily: “Dialogue lies in the best interest of all sides and the stability of the country.”“I was the first who called for dialogue among the Lebanese and Speaker Nabih Berri called for all-party during the most difficult circumstances in 2006,” he remarked. The talks eased tensions in Lebanon and its decisions enjoyed the agreement of all participants, noted the MP. “We are passing through a critical situation and impossible preconditions will not yield any results,” Jumblat said. “To those banking on regional changes, I assure them that they will not favor any side,” he stressed. Meanwhile, the head of the Loyalty of the Resistance bloc MP Mohammed Raad told As Safir: “We must positively approach President Michel Suleiman's call for dialogue.”“Our positivity stems from our conviction that stability in Lebanon require all sides to beg for dialogue in order to reach common ground to protect the country against conspiracies,” he noted.
Suleiman had called the members of the all-party talks to a session on January 7.The March 14-led opposition had announced its boycott of dialogue in light of its failure to tackle Hizbullah's possession of arms among other issues. The Phalange Party had recently declared however that it would attend the session, explaining that it does not seek to “boycott” Suleiman.

Berri, Miqati Hope Parliamentary Subcommittee Would Achieve its Objective
Naharnet /Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Najib Miqati hoped that the parliamentary subcommittee that is set to resume its meetings in the new year would achieve their objective of reaching an agreement over a new electoral law, reported the daily An Nahar and As Safir on Saturday. Berri told An Nahar: “It is necessary for the subcommittee to perform its required role ahead of referring its agreement to parliament, which will have the final say over the electoral law.”For his part, Miqati told As Safir that the resumption of the subcommittee meetings is a positive development. “We hope that its daily meetings will help relieve the insecurities of all political factions without exception,” he remarked. The two officials had held talks on Friday over the subcommittee meetings, revealed As Safir. The speaker had hoped during the talks that the members of the subcommittee intensify their meetings to tackle each of the proposed electoral laws. Miqati said that it will address the positives and the negatives of each of the suggestions. The draft law with the greatest approval will be backed by the government, he stated. “I was never and will never stand as an obstacle in the process of reaching an agreement over a law that would bolster national unity in Lebanon,” stressed the premier.
The March 14-led opposition had announced its boycott of government-related work, including parliamentary meetings, in light of the assassination of Internal Security Forces Intelligence Bureau head Brigadier General Wissam al-Hasan on October 19. It accused Syria of being behind the crime and the government of covering up for the criminals. It announced on Monday however that it would return to the meetings of the parliamentary subcommittee aimed at reaching an agreement over an electoral law. The meetings are set to resume January 8. The government proposed in August a parliamentary electoral law based on proportional representation and 13 districts.
It was met with the opposition's rejection, which deemed it as being tailored to the March 8 camp's interests.

Brahimi: Choice in Syria between diplomacy and 'hell'
By REUTERS LAST UPDATED: 12/29/2012/ UN-Arab League peace envoy meets Russian FM in Moscow, says only options for Syria are "hell or a political process"; Lavrov: Negotiated solution to Syria conflict still possible; no new initiatives presented. Photo: REUTERS MOSCOW - Russia on Saturday said that a negotiated solution to the conflict in Syria is still possible, but the international mediator struggling to end 21 months of bloodshed warned of "hell" unless a deal is struck. Sergei Lavrov and Lakhdar Brahimi announced no major new initiatives after talks in Moscow and their remarks underscored the obstacles the UN-Arab League envoy faces in bringing about a solution. Related: Russia says neither side will win Syrian civil warRussia urges Syrian dialogue with opponents"If the only alternative is hell or a political process, then all of us have to work continuously toward the political process," said Brahimi, adding it was still possible to reach "a solution that would work" but that the barriers were daunting.
"The chance for a political settlement remains and it is our obligation to make maximal use of that chance," Lavrov told reporters in a joint appearance after his talks with Brahimi, who met Syrian President Bashar Assad earlier in the week. Lavrov, whose country has blocked Western and Arab efforts in the UN Security Council to put pressure on Assad, repeated that Assad's exit must not be a precondition for a political process, saying such demands were "wrong" and counterproductive. He said the refusal of the Syrian opposition National Coalition to talk to the Syrian leadership was a "dead-end position," and criticized the coalition leader for rebuffing an invitation for talks with Russia. Brahimi's talks with Lavrov occurred a day after the main Syrian opposition group rebuffed diplomatic advances by Russia and firmly reiterated it would not negotiate with President Bashar Assad's government. The UN-Arab League peace envoy is trying to build on an agreement reached in Geneva in June by world powers, including the United States and Russia, that called for the creation of a transitional government but left Assad's role unclear. In Damascus on Thursday, Brahimi reiterated the call for an interim government to rule until elections in Syria and said only substantial change would meet demands of ordinary Syrians, but did not specify who could be part of the transitional body. Russia has vocally supported Brahimi's efforts while refusing to join Western and Arab calls for Assad's exit, as it has throughout a conflict that has killed an estimated 45,000 people since protests in March 2011 elicited a fierce government crackdown. Russia, together with China, has angered the West and some Arab states by vetoing three UN Security Council resolutions meant to put pressure on Assad, who has given Moscow one of its firmest post-Soviet footholds in the Middle East.

Egypt to pursue relationship with Hezbollah
By JPOST.COM STAFF 12/29/2012/
In shift from Mubarak-era policy, Egyptian Ambassador to Lebanon reveals Brotherhood-dominated Egypt will engage terror group. In a dramatic policy shift, Egypt will seek to forge "tight" relations with Hezbollah, Egyptian Ambassador to Lebanon Ashraf Hamdy revealed in a candid interview published Saturday in Lebanon's Daily Star. “You cannot discuss politics in Lebanon without having a relationship with Hezbollah," Hamdy was quoting as saying, before describing the terror group as a "real force on the ground" with "big political and military influence." Related: Egypt's Morsi signs Islamist constitution into law. In this respect, Hamdy announced that Muslim-Brotherhood-dominated Egypt would begin “stretching [its] hand out in the proper, balanced way to all regional powers," including Hezbollah, in order to forge "tight" contacts with Lebanon's rulers.
Egypt-Hezbollah relations, generally strained under former President Hosni Mubarak, in large part due to Egypt’s peace treaty with Israel, reached rock bottom in 2008 during Israel's Cast Lead military operation. At that time, Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah called on Egypt, to no avail, to intervene militarily on behalf of Gaza-based Palestinians. For its part, Egypt in the past has accused Hezbollah of operating terror cells in the country. In his interview, Hamdy denied reports that Hezbollah had sent a delegation to Egypt to meet with President Mohamed Morsi's regime, but confirmed that he personally had met with members of Hezbollah’s political bureau in efforts “to understand each other better.”“In discussions we said we want Hezbollah to remain as a political force in Lebanon,” Hamdy revealed. "Resistance in the sense of defending Lebanese territory...[is] their primary role. We...think that as a resistance movement they have done a good job to keep on defending Lebanese territory and trying to regain land occupied by Israel is legal and legitimate,” he continued.
Hamdy concluded by saying that while domestic concerns had slowed Egypt from undertaking new, ambitious foreign policy objectives, the country ultimately sees itself playing an instrumental role in the region. “Egypt’s soft power is its strength,” Hamdy said. “To expect 180 degree shifts in strong positions take some time.... Egypt will reveal itself as a real regional power and a ‘doer’ on the regional scene and we are keen to show that.”

Fateh missiles and Russian-Iranian military cooperation to bolster Assad
DEBKAfile Special Report December 29, 2012/ French and Israeli intelligence sources affirmed Saturday, Dec. 29, that, contrary to reports appearing in the United States Friday, Iran has accelerated rather than slowed down its 20-percent grade enrichment of uranium and is racing toward a nuclear weapons capacity. Furthermore, for the moment, there is not the slightest indication that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has any intention of accepting the Obama administration’s latest plan for a nuclear deal. As debkafile has revealed, this plan would require Iran to discontinue production of 20-percent enriched uranium (which can be quickly converted to weapons grade material), and confine itself to producing low 5 percent uranium in agreed amounts. Tehran would also have to accept the removal from the country of its entire stock of 20-percent refined uranium.
The same sources point to the first appearance this week of Iran-made Fateh A-110 high-precision, short-range missiles in the use of the Syrian army against rebel fighters, under the guidance of Iranian officers and instructors, as underscoring the inter-dependence Tehran draws between the Syrian and nuclear issues.
Khamenei now links an acceptable solution for the Syrian dilemma to his possible nuclear flexibility.
debkafile: When Iranians talks about an inter-power solution for ending the Syrian war, they mean a deal between Washington, Moscow and Tehran on both issues.
The Fateh missiles are being fired quite openly by Iranian military personnel in command of Syrian missile units as Tehran’s answer for the deployment of US, German and Dutch NATO Patriots on the Turkish side of the Syrian border. They also carry a message in response to Israel’s threat of offensive action against Syria if it becomes necessary to thwart its use of chemical weapons. According to our French and military sources, Tehran is using the Fateh missiles and the Iranian military presence in Syria to warn that there is no bar to their use against Turkey, Jordan and Israel as well, in the event of a US or Israel attack on Syria’s chemical stores.
On no account, will Iran permit the overthrow of Bashar Assad’s regime in Damascus. At most, Tehran conceives of his departure in stages and handover to an emergency government led by the military or an armed forces faction to which certain opposition elements may be co-opted. Elections, in the Iranian view, must be deferred until hostilities end and the security situation is stable.
American and French sources agree that Tehran and Moscow have attained full coordination in their strategies for Syria and also on Iran’s nuclear program. They note that it was not by chance that the Russian Navy Wednesday, Dec. 26, launched its largest sea maneuver ever in the Mediterranean and the approaches to the Persian Gulf, just two days before Iranian warships, submarines and aircraft embarked on their week-long Velayat 91 sea exercise in the Straits of Hormuz, the Gulf of Oman, and northern parts of the Indian Ocean.
The command centers of the Russian and Iranian war games are under orders from Moscow and Tehran to jointly exhibit naval muscle in order to bolster the Assad regime against collapse.
Parallel to the influx of Fateh missiles from Iran to Syria, Moscow is rapidly expanding the deployment of its highly-sophisticated S-400 air and missile interceptors in Russia’s southern military region near the Turkish border.

Lebanon’s year of living dangerously
December 27, 2012/By Michael Young/The Daily Star
Lebanon never ceases to depress, and the Lebanese never cease to depress by harping on that fact. And yet, as 2012 closes, with mediocrity on all sides, there are hopeful signs of better. And this may shape how we behave next year.
The most hopeful sign of 2012 was that the Lebanese avoided war, and were infused with a very real sense that events in Syria must not overwhelm civil peace in Lebanon. Instead, the Lebanese fought each other by proxy, with Hezbollah and Lebanese Sunni groups sending combatants to Syria to prevent or accelerate Bashar Assad’s downfall, assuming this would somehow affect their fate at home.
There were moments of worrisome exception. On the night of Wissam al-Hasan’s funeral, gunmen in Tariq al-Jadideh began firing on quarters in which Shiite parties are based. The army intervened the following day to bring the gunmen to heel. Fighting between Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen has been frequent, though mostly containable. And in Sidon, the men of Ahmad al-Assir entered into a gunbattle with Hezbollah, reminding us that the southern city remains a dangerous confrontation line between Sunnis and Shiites.
This is hardly proof that all is well, but the Lebanese in their majority recoiled before any prospect of new violence. This was especially true of the botched effort by March 14 members to forcibly overthrow Prime Minister Najib Mikati by storming the Serail building after Hasan’s burial. Even March 14 supporters were shocked by this display of loutishness that echoed behavior they had once denounced in Hezbollah, which, with its allies, sought in 2006-08 to overthrow the government of Prime Minister Fouad al-Siniora.
Which brings us to another promising sign from 2012, namely that many Lebanese began seeing the advantages of the political center. With March 14 having broken off all relations with Hezbollah, it was inevitable that the Lebanese would be drawn to political forces able to speak to both sides. One shouldn’t over-idealize the center, whose influence remains relatively limited. However, its ability to stand aloof of polarization is something the Lebanese have applauded.
For President Michel Sleiman, who embodies the center better than most, the slogan has been continued dialogue. He seeks to reinvigorate a National Dialogue, which is today rejected by March 14, on the grounds that one cannot hold a dialogue with killers. But as many Lebanese accept, when the well-being of the state is at play, everything is possible. They do not want their country thrown into a new civil war because political coalitions aren’t willing to speak to one another. And if dialogue is hypocritical, then better a hypocritical dialogue that defuses tensions to none whatsoever, which makes violent behavior more likely in the future.
What will all this mean at election time next year? It’s not clear that the center has the electoral weight to challenge Hezbollah or March 14. Lebanon remains polarized, despite it all, which is why there are those at both extremes who argue that supporting the political center is a waste of time. Yet polarization may mean that the representatives of the center, Sleiman or the Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, may emerge from next year’s elections again holding the balance of power in parliament, and will be essential in forming a government.
Even the international community, through foreign ambassadors in Beirut, are tired of the March 14-Hezbollah rift. The ambassadors, alas, now seem to regard March 14 as part of the problem in Lebanon. Hopefully this will change, but in the meantime there is more comfort with the political actors in the middle, who are willing to use constitutional means to limit Hezbollah’s ability to bend the system in its own direction. The party will not disappear, whatever happens in Syria, the envoys feel, so it’s best to keep an open channel to Hezbollah’s leadership to negotiate a solution to their weapons.
The Lebanese also went through the year without an economic collapse. The advantages are limited, given that many Lebanese are asking that a salary increase be implemented. For bankers, such a step would spell the collapse of the pound, and would shake the banking system to the very core.
It’s debatable whether next year will be better. Lebanon is suffering from the negative effects of the Syrian conflict, which has suffocated Lebanon’s overland export trade, has limited the number of Arab tourists driving to Lebanon, and has cut into Syrian and Arab demand for Lebanese goods and services. That’s not heartening, but nor is it bad news that the country has managed to keep its head above water despite 21 months of a debilitating war on its doorstep.
The year 2013 may be difficult for the Lebanese economically. Yet much will depend on what happens in Syria. If the Assad regime collapses relatively quickly, Lebanon may be at the forefront of reconstruction there. Assad’s departure may usher in a period of instability, and may even force rival Lebanese alignments to clash with one another. On the other hand, this is hardly inevitable, and Assad’s exit may, instead, help stabilize a Lebanon that has spent decades shaking to the rhythms of Syrian-imposed volatility.
With the Assads gone, Hezbollah’s ability to wage war will be greatly reduced. The party is aware that most Lebanese, including Shiites, are not eager to go to war with Israel. No one wants to face the consequences of such a conflict, above all the destruction that would ensue, especially if it is perceived as a favor done to Iran.
The past year has not been an easy one for the Lebanese, and next year may bring more headaches. However, bad years impose modesty, and the Lebanese have few illusions left. Fear of violence, a desire for dialogue and economic vulnerability are not things that induce recklessness. In that conclusion lies hope for a people forever afflicted with doubts about their future.
*Michael Young is opinion editor of THE DAILY STAR. He tweets @BeirutCalling.