Qifa Nabki
Hezbollah
The Beginnings of Another Lebanon-Israel Conflict?
Everybody and their brother thinks that 2010 will witness a second round between Hezbollah and Israel. I hope, for Lebanon’s sake, that this will not be the case and I’m not as convinced as some that a conflict is inevitable in the near term. The current situation benefits both sides, in my opinion: Israel gets … Continue reading
News & Notes (Dec. 30, 2009)
I haven’t read it yet, but judging from the reviews, it sounds like Lee Smith’s book is a bit of a dud. Max Rodenbeck skewers it for The National: “Smith believes he has much to teach us about this corner of the world, a patch he covered, from Cairo and Beirut, for the Weekly Standard, … Continue reading
Sleiman meets Obama
President Michel Suleiman met with President Obama yesterday afternoon in the Oval Office. Judging from the two leaders’ remarks at the post-meeting press conference, it seems like it went roughly according to script. Sleiman: Thank you for receiving us Mr. President. Obama: Thank you for coming, Mr. President. It’s an honor to have you. Sleiman: … Continue reading
New ICG Report On Syria
I try to read everything pertaining to the Middle East published by the International Crisis Group, and wanted to alert QN readers to its latest report on Syria, published today. The executive summary is posted below. Download the full report as a PDF here. Update: Part 2 can be found here. Reshuffling the Cards? (I): … Continue reading
U.S. Approves Massive Arms Shipment to Lebanon
BEIRUT, Lebanon — Ahead of a much-anticipated meeting between U.S. President Barack Obama and Lebanese President Michel Sleiman in Washington later this month, the Pentagon announced today that a major arms deal had been reached with Lebanon and that several millions of dollars worth of weapons and equipment would be delivered within weeks. This marks … Continue reading
Qifa Nabki 
And the people say…