Bush to Nasrallah: An Offer Hezbollah Cannot Refuse?

[bemildred]

Exceptionally long, not at all "unbiased", but seems to know his history, he quotes people, willing to go out on limbs, provocative, not the usual drivel. I am at a loss for an excerpt, almost any part would seem to mislead as to the whole; so I just took the 1st four paragraphs. I'm not at all sure what I think about his main thesis, though I agree with the thrust of parts of his argument. I don't know if I even want to talk about it, but it's interesting. I'll leave you to follow the links to the other four parts if you like.

“The Bush administration parking a flotilla from its US 6th fleet off the coast of Lebanon was made necessary, it claims, to demonstrate Washington’s ‘commitment to stability in the region’. This provocation, aimed at Hezbollah and also Syria, is the equivalent of a Sicilian fish wrapped in newspaper with a white rose—left on a doorstep: “This is business. It is not personal. Here is an offer you cannot refuse“.

– Italian officer seconded to UNIFIL outside his Tebnine HQ, South Lebanon

Background to the Offer: the writing on the wall

Recent US back channel feelers to Dahiyeh, where Hezbollah’s decision makers are sometimes present, reflect US calculations that given current trends in the Middle East, Hezbollah will play a major regional role.

According to US Senate Intelligence Committee sources, the efforts to date have run tepid and less ‘qualitative’ than informal Iran-USA contacts. US diplomat Thomas Pickering has revealed that he has been a participant in secret Iran-US ‘back channel’ discussions for the past five years. The subjects discussed include Iran’s nuclear program, the broader relationship between the two and US relations with Hezbollah. Other participants include former US diplomat William Luers and MIT nuclear expert Jim Walsh. While “unofficial”, the discussions, organized by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute and the UN Association of the USA, are thought to be useful.

Dismissive of Republican Presidential candidate John McCain’s pledge to “drive Hezbollah out of Lebanon”, serious US officials want to engage the Lebanese Resistance partly because they are concerned with Israel remaining a Jewish state in the region.

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0804/S00385.htm

[madrchsod]

1. no one is going to accept anything untill after jan 2009

when the thing in charge is replaced by an adult

[bemildred]

2. Limp, quack, limp, quack, limp, quack ...

http://weblogs.newsday.com.nyud.net:8090/news/local/longisland/politics/blog/george-w-bush-picture.jpeg

[Vegasaurus]

3. Unless it is McCain, of course

We should be worried about Hezbollah though, because all of these nutters in the area are creating enormous regional instability.