Qifa Nabki
Hezbollah
Hizbullah: Special Forces of the Lebanese Safavid Zoroastrian Persian Army?
The talking point de jour among the more Gandalfy fringe of the Sunni commentariat is to refer to the Lebanese Army as a “Safavid“, “Majusi“, “Batini” fighting force under the sway of Hizbullah and its Iranian patron. Medieval mud-slinging is in, big time. Dust off your Shahrastani if you want to have any chance of sorting out … Continue reading
Reactions to the Conflict in Saida on Kalam Ennas
The Lebanese political talk show Kalam Ennas with Marcel Ghanem will be broadcasting a special episode this evening about the confrontation between the Lebanese Army and Ahmad al-Assir’s followers in Saida. I’ll be live-blogging and translating some of the salient bits, providing the webcast holds up. ** 8:48: Program begins. Questions: Are we facing a new Shaker … Continue reading
Assir’s Gamble: Blunder or Breakthrough?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=BMhFGBm_xEk Translation: “To all of our supporters: we are coming under attack from the Lebanese Army, which is Iranian-[controlled] and sectarian, and also from the shabbiha of Hassan Nasr al-Lat and Nabih Berri. I call on all our supporters: the peaceful ones should go and block the streets. And I call on the honorable men — … Continue reading
Hizbullah & Grendizer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQERjZOCtvM A friend of mine, one Abdul Rahman C., published this amusing post on his Facebook wall today. I reproduce it here with his permission. I remember watching Grendizer episodes as a kid, but never thought about its political influence upon my brain. (I always assumed that the cartoon with more obvious resonances with Lebanese … Continue reading
Operation Strange Bedfellows
The last ten years have witnessed some of the strangest contortions in Middle Eastern political history. Tracking the maneuvers and realignments of Lebanese, Syrian, Qatari, Turkish, Palestinian, Saudi, and Israeli leaders as they navigated the shoals of SALSRA, the STL, the Doha Accord, the July War, the Iraq War, the Turkish flotilla incident, Operation Cast … Continue reading
Qifa Nabki 
And the people say…