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Time: Lebanese Druze leader Jumblatt under virtual house arrest.
Stunning. US policy is in shambles. Jumblatt: "The U.S. has failed in Lebanon and they have to admit it... We have to wait and see the new rules which Hizbollah, Syria, and Iran will set. They can do what they want." (Via FLC). Posted by Laura at May 12, 2008 10:21 PMThere are no longer any Hizballah fighters surrounding the grand red sandstone Beirut town house belonging to Walid Jumblatt, a member of Parliament and one of the leaders of Lebanon's governing coalition. Still, Jumblatt, a top American ally, is under virtual house arrest. After the lightning speed with which opposition Hizballah fighters defeated government supporters in a six hour battle on Thursday — only to vanish a few hours later — it became clear that it is pointless to resist the Iranian and Syrian-backed militia, which could return at any time. "I am a hostage now in my home in Beirut," he said over the telephone to his rival Nabih Berri, the speaker of parliament and a top opposition leader, while TIME waited nearby for an interview. "Tell [Hizballah leader] Sayeed Hassan Nasrallah I lost the battle and he wins. So let's sit and talk to reach a compromise. All that I ask is your protection."[...]
A former princely vassal to the Syrian Assad regime, he switched his loyalties to the Bush administration after the invasion of Iraq, when it briefly seemed like American military power would transform the region. Yet, despite the fact that Hizballah is perhaps the world's most fearsome guerilla organization, somehow Jumblatt misjudged the ease with which Hizballah could pull Lebanon back into the Syrian and Iranian orbit. "I must admit that the Iranians are smart and they knew how to play it in Lebanon," he said. "They chose a time when where the U.S. is weak in the Middle East and did it."