So is George Bush’s strong and unwavering leadership responsible for this, too? Jittery Lebanese re-arm amid spree of bombings:
Pro-Syrian Christians have accused anti-Syrian Christians of planting the bombs to give the international community an opportunity to intervene.
As Lebanese watch their politicians bicker, they can’t help but remember where such squabbles have led before.
“Everybody is worried. Everybody can feel the tensions. We are living it day by day,” said Mohammed Barakat, 50, a shoe vendor in Beirut’s Shiite-dominated southern suburbs. “We want the politicians to make a solution. Nobody wants war, but we are worried because no solution is in sight.”
Although Lebanese overwhelmingly say they never want to fight again, there are some who remember the benefits of a war that brought employment for jobless young men, as well as lucrative business opportunities for militias in territories they controlled.
…
“All the Lebanese hate each other, you can be sure of that,” Jamous said. “Christian people can’t live with Muslims. This country was created for Christians, but Muslims, they want this country to be only for Muslim people. We cannot live together. We need a solution.”
Most Christians don’t take such an extreme view. But the United States’ support for UN Resolution 1559, which calls for the withdrawal of Syrian troops and for the disarmament of the Hezbollah militia, has convinced Jamous that America will support his goal.
“With George Bush, we have a chance,” he said.
That is precisely why Saleh, the Shiite grocer, decided he should take the precaution of buying a Kalashnikov. If America attempts to fill the vacuum left by the departing Syrians, Hezbollah will fight, he is sure.
“The opposition wants to replace Syria with America, and that will lead to conflict,” he said.
Ya can’t live with ‘em, and ya can’t live without ‘em. Eh. Pro-American supporters in countries like Lebanon might be a little too optimistic over what the Bush Administration can do for them — for all their grand ambitions, the Bushies are only human and (very clearly, as has been amply demonstrated) prone to folly.