"So, how did they wind up losing to their US-backed opponents? This is getting to be a familiar pattern; ahead in the polls then an unexplained reversal on election day!" -- Wake the Flock Up
"Pro-Western majority defeats Hezbollah in Lebanon; Election seen as test of US peace efforts" by Sam F. Ghattas, Associated Press | June 8, 2009
BEIRUT - Lebanon's pro-Western coalition declared victory early today, as local television stations reported the faction had successfully fended off a serious challenge by the Shiite militant group Hezbollah and its allies to grab the majority in parliament....
The election was an early test of President Obama's efforts to forge Middle East peace. A win by Hezbollah would have boosted the influence of its backers Iran and Syria and risked pushing one of the region's most volatile nations into international isolation and possibly into more conflict with Israel....
Despite the conciliatory tone, Lebanon was at risk of sliding again into a political crisis over formation of the next government similar to the one that buffeted the country for most of the last four years.
Hezbollah had veto power in Saniora's Cabinet for the last year, which it won after provoking the worst street clashes since the 1975-1990 civil war. The pro-Western coalition had vowed not to give Hezbollah and its allies a blocking minority in the new government if they won....
Sunnis were also driven to vote for the pro-Western coalition to get back at Shiite Hezbollah gunmen for seizing the streets a year ago in Beirut from pro-government supporters. Some 3.2 million out of a population of 4 million were eligible to vote, and the interior minister said turnout was about 52.3 percent, an increase over the 2005 figure of 45.8 percent....
Warnings by the United States that it could reconsider aid depending on the election's outcome have sparked Hezbollah accusations of US interference. The United States has given about $1 billion to Lebanon's pro-Western government since 2006.
That's a billion you didn't need for anything, right, America?
"So, how did they wind up losing to their US-backed opponents? This is getting to be a familiar pattern; ahead in the polls then an unexplained reversal on election day!" -- Wake the Flock Up
I called it, folks: Biden Bullies Lebanese
"Pro-Western majority defeats Hezbollah in Lebanon; Election seen as test of US peace efforts" by Sam F. Ghattas, Associated Press | June 8, 2009
BEIRUT - Lebanon's pro-Western coalition declared victory early today, as local television stations reported the faction had successfully fended off a serious challenge by the Shiite militant group Hezbollah and its allies to grab the majority in parliament....
The election was an early test of President Obama's efforts to forge Middle East peace. A win by Hezbollah would have boosted the influence of its backers Iran and Syria and risked pushing one of the region's most volatile nations into international isolation and possibly into more conflict with Israel....
Despite the conciliatory tone, Lebanon was at risk of sliding again into a political crisis over formation of the next government similar to the one that buffeted the country for most of the last four years.
Related: What USrael Hopes to Gain From Lebanon's Election
Hezbollah had veto power in Saniora's Cabinet for the last year, which it won after provoking the worst street clashes since the 1975-1990 civil war. The pro-Western coalition had vowed not to give Hezbollah and its allies a blocking minority in the new government if they won....
Sunnis were also driven to vote for the pro-Western coalition to get back at Shiite Hezbollah gunmen for seizing the streets a year ago in Beirut from pro-government supporters. Some 3.2 million out of a population of 4 million were eligible to vote, and the interior minister said turnout was about 52.3 percent, an increase over the 2005 figure of 45.8 percent....
Warnings by the United States that it could reconsider aid depending on the election's outcome have sparked Hezbollah accusations of US interference. The United States has given about $1 billion to Lebanon's pro-Western government since 2006.
That's a billion you didn't need for anything, right, America?
Sigh. The costs of empire.
--more--"