Lights Out Temporarily in Lebanon By W. Thomas Smith, Jr.

The proverbial lights have gone out in Lebanon. But for those of us having faith in that country's swelling pro-democracy majority, the lights will only be out temporarily. For now, however, it's dark. In the wake of last week's shameful concessions to the terrorist group, Hezbollah, on the part of the Lebanese government and the legitimate army - which barely fired a shot in defense of the Lebanese people - Hezbollah has achieved a never-before-realized strengthening of its position in that country. This upper hand was achieved by force and against the will of most of the Lebanese people - Christians, Druze, and yes, Muslims, both Sunni and many Shiia. What makes it worse is that the international community - which has been warned time and again, heard appeals for assistance from various pro-democracy groups, and vowed to support the government, the army, and the will of the majority - did nothing to prevent Hezbollah's thugs from attacking the state and winning. [more...]