Mahgreb muddle...

Lebanon looks to be in bad shape given Hezbollah's victory in forming a paper thin majority. There goes another American ally in the Middle East. We might well take instructions from Hesbollah's political engineering capabilities. Leveraging money and support from Iran and Syria respectively, they targeted the impoverished and neglected Shiites of South Lebanon through development assistance projects aimed at grass roots participation in housing and agriculture.

The next few weeks and months should prove interesting as I understand Lebanon is split roughly down the middle with respect to Islamic rule, Hezbollah, support of Shiites and relations with the West. Pity, Beirut was once the Middle Eastern destination of choice for European tourists.

Dubai has taken over that prize and I simply cannot understand why. What with its morality laws and several highly publicized prosecutions of sex offences, e.g. kissing on the beach, its impossibly and diabolically hot weather, and its lurking and leering Arab youth population, I would prefer to take my chances in Lebanon.

I am led to understand that the recent anti government violence in Tunisia was conducted largely by a population seeking greater material rewards and a greater slice of the economic pie and, most significantly, without reference to conservative or fundamental Islam.

I read further that similar feelings in Egypt, Libya, Algeria and Mauritania prevail, especially among youth populations. The Maghreb looks to be the next hot spot. Indeed the entire coastal area of North Africa is seeking reformation.