The Middle East, Today....

General Suleiman, the New Lebanese President, entered the Presidential Palace and began the process of rebuilding the political institutions of the nation. Hassan Nassrallah also spoke today and committed Hezbollah to work on strengthening the Lebanese State. As for Israel, Jimmy Carter noted that Israel has 150 nuclear bombs in its' arsenal. Also, the IAEA (the International Atomic Energy Agency) reported that Iran is yet to come clean on its nuclear program. Yet, interestingly enough, Iran's Islamic Republic News Agency reports that the U.S. is the main culprit in how Iran has been perceived and Iran continues to believe that it is fully transparent and its' program is fully peaceful.

As I reviewed the day in the Middle East and continued to listen to Al Jazeera, I wondered if it was a typical day....not quite!!! It shows how challenging the region is and how the United States has truly misread and mishandled the matters at hand.

Lebanon Is Burning!!!

Lebanon went up in flames, again. Hezbollah pulled back from the brink when the Army intervened. The country has been without a President since late 2007. This instability has been caused by one thing and one thing along: The U.S. Invasion of Iraq and the 2006 Israeli invasion of South Lebanon. To this date, I can't understand why the United States stayed silent for almost a month while Israel destroyed South Lebanon.

The so-called New Middle East that the Secretary of State talked about is in flames. The Arabs, also, have to be ashamed. The so-called Arab Leaders are nothing but puppets. The good news is this: At least in Qatar, Bahrain, the UAE and to a lesser extent, Oman and Saudi Arabia, there is a a realization that oil won't last forever. But, our leaders don't seem to realize that and have floated ideas like a gas tax holiday. The world is changing...and I wonder if our present structures can cope with it.