The Nation on Lebanon

Tell me if this paragraph doesn't strike you as a touch sympathetic toward Hezbollah:

This class battle transcends sectarian boundaries. Hezbollah has formed an alliance with the Free Patriotic Movement, led by Maronite Christian politician and former army commander Michel Aoun. With this coalition Hezbollah is trying to prove that it's not a purely sectarian party, it's not seeking to impose an Islamic government and it's willing to ally not just with nationalist Sunnis but also with Christians. Because Aoun stresses honest government, accountability and economic equality, he and Hezbollah seemed like a natural fit. By playing up its alliance with Aoun–and downplaying its partnership with the notoriously corrupt Shiite Amal party–Hezbollah can reinforce the reputation for honesty shared by many Islamist movements in the Middle East.

For one thing, I wouldn't know from reading this that Aoun — unaffectionately nicknamed "the General" by a large sector of the Lebanese population — was exiled in Paris up until the Cedar Revolution for his opposition to Syrian irrendentism. What finally brought him back home was his eagerness to renege on that opposition by making common cause with Syria's proxy militia, whose kidnapping of Israeli soldiers or rocketing of Israeli civilian apartment complexes (inhabited by Jews and by Arabs) go unmentioned in this Nation dispatch.

Mohammed Bazzi, who titles this piece "A People's Revolt" (just in case you didn't gel to his own leanings from the text), seems to think the present alliance with Nasrallah is governed by hard materialism and Shi'ite poverty. Never mind that Aoun has made triangulation and cynical deal-making an art form. Never mind that his party cares little for the shanty-dwelling Shia. What's important here is that Aoun's a secular liberal and therefore his unlikely backing of Hezbollah must represent a united front for reform. (Where have we heard "secular" used to dismiss suspect motives in the region before?)

Easy enough to account for why Hezbollah's suddenly at the cool kids' table at counterintuitive Lebanese caucauses. Israel's disastrous handling of the August war, and the milita's Chavez-like willingness to buy populism with alms has made it the inevitable winner of any successful coup against the Siniora regime. Aoun wants in from the storming of the palace steps, even if the car that gets him there is marked "Made in Damascus."