In case you haven’t been following it, the Lebanese government appears to be on the verge of collapse, (see Story) thanks in part to Hezbollah, and meddling from outside Syrian & Iranian influence, least that perhaps might be the take many in the West will have. But is it the whole truth? In fact, if one looks closely at Lebanon and the devastation there, from endless bickering and wars with Israel and other nations butting in, one can see there is more to the whole nightmare, least in my paranoid eyes. Or is it my anti american eyes?

I suppose some might say I am Anti American, but in reality that hasn’t been the case other than perhaps since Bush Sr. was President. I think my disgust grew more each year as our American neighbour continued to force its attitude and beliefs up into our neck of the woods. There are many fine Americans that I call friends, but the style of government and national persona is something that I think perhaps I have come to loathe.

As the world grows nastier, I think that the bullying by the United States has caused a great deal of the unrest. People can take only so much of being pushed around, of being bullied really before they react in unpleasent ways. Take Lebanon as a possible example. You have a nation war torn by meddling by others, including the United States. So one has to wonder, is the unrest fostered by Syria and Iran or is their interference a reaction to American Interferance? Think about it.

Lebanon’s political stability, and the success or failure of the sitting government, is not just consequential for this country of four million. It is part of a broader contest between the United States, which backs the government coalition, and Iran and Syria, which support Hezbollah. (full story)

News calls the current government, US Backed, and so one has to wonder, is it failed USA policy that has led to this apparent break down or is it the latest round of Israeli attacks? I suppose you can go around this forever, but Hezbollah is a force to be reckoned with, not because it has popular support in its areas, but because of how it has gained that influence. Something the Democrats and other Americans should perhaps take heed of.

You see, Hezbollah does what the Lebanese Government does not do. It feeds the people, helps in their medical problems, and helps in their educations. So in essence it is acting like a government, dealing with Health, Welfare, and Education. Something the legitimate government has fallen down on, similar perhaps to the Republican government of the USA in the last six years.

When others do the work you should be doing, they are naturally the ones who will garner your favour, your support. This is something Hezbollah has learned and put into practise quite effectively in Lebanon, and so now the real government is near collapse. In the United States, the Democrats have taken power, but are they truly a change? Are they truly willing to once more make the Federal Government responsive to the will and needs of the American People or will they do what is common these days. Will they point fingers, make accusations and recriminations and as such fail to capitalize on their opportunity?

See, it is that inability to accept responsibility that is what has plagued American lately, the insatiable need to point elsewhere, and to find fault with others. I mean take the whole softwood lumber issue Canada has with the United States. The claim is our government acts unfairly with our industry, so the result was to blame us for poor performance by US companies, and then demand change in how we do business. All this despite having an agreement in place that was agreed to knowing exactly how we deal with our forest industry. It is this inability to honor their word, to accept their own responsibilities, that leads to much of the anger against the United States. And frankly, it isn’t a Republican issue, or a Bush issue, but an American one because the issue followed the years of the Clinton Administration as well.

With Hezbollah demanding veto power without having the representation, with them threatening demonstrations and other tactics, one can see how a country dissolves when the duly elected government fails to accept its obligations.

Many will call me alarmist or simply paranoid, however look inwards at what has been happening in the United States. You have troops dying in Iraq daily in a war that is no longer popular. I wonder though, is it that the war isn’t popular because it is war, or because once again the United States is losing? If the US forces were winning, how unpopular would the war be? War is never easy, and is always filled with reversals, but frankly if this war is lost in Iraq, where will the next war be? Madison Avenue or Pennsylvania?  This is about fighting terrorists and yet, as we see in Lebanon, they are winning because the United States is unwilling to accept that its not the all knowing, all seeing diety it thinks it is. This is the problem, and yes it is a complicated world, but only because we make it so.

There was an opportunity to exploit China’s fears of North Korea, to exploit Russias fears with Iran but instead the United States has chosen a path of unilateral action that has only increased world tension. The Democrats have a chance, a small window of opportunity but listening to them, and you really wonder, has anything changed?

When the government fails to do its duty to its citizens, which is to protect them from others, to insure they can achieve success in their lives, that their rights are kept safe, that health and education are not a privelege, but available to all equally,  that government is soon left alone, risking civil war, or worse, tyranny. What is happening today in Lebanon is a warning, because time is running out for gunboat diplomacy. The threat of United States action is no longer a threat to many, as they see how impotent the USA is militarily. It is a fact, because if the so called greatest military force cannot subdue some gang of cuthroats, as Rumsfeld labeled them, or some death squads as is the current labelling of the insurgents, how can they stop a determined nation like North Korea or Iran? So why should they fear the USA?

My anger though isn’t with the government representatives, because in all honesty, they represent what the voter wants. It is the voter or the ’stay at home voter’ that is at fault here. They want solutions, but you know, to have real honest solutions one has to actually work at it, actually participate in it, not simply take the easy road out. To have voted Democrat in this last election was the easy road out. It got rid of the Republican control, but it changed nothing. Look at the wrangling already, with the Democrats trying to prevent the reconfirmation of UN Ambassador Bolten. If they were serious about making change, then make it, but not with stupid nit picking and annoyances. If Bolten is doing his job, which most agree he is, he should stay. It really is that simple, however Bush is pushing him, so Democrats oppose him. Bolten objects to Democrat plans for Iraq so that is ground to remove him? He does what the government orders, and so far he has done it well, so why remove him?

It is this attitude that has many abroad seeking their own courses. It is why China is not rushing to support the USA in North Korea. It is why Russia is not jumping up to help the USA with Iran. There is no fear, but there is no trust that America will do as it says anyhow. That is what has made the world what it is today, what has made terrorists so popular that they can dictate to the national government, and in some cases, form a coalition government as Hamas has with Abbas in Palestine.

This is what meddling and bullying has accomplished. This is what US policy has created.