[Kadhim]

I think people need to calm down and do some serious sanity check reflection on the situation. Hezballah has been pretty consistent in the padt years in being a leading force to resist efforts to spin Western-led provocations like assassinations, etc. into destablilization. So suggestions that this turmoil was about Hezballah trying to destabilize Lebanon or selfishly seize power unprovoked should be looked at with a critical eye.

My understanding is that the situation was as follows. Up until the past weeks, serious discussions were taking place, with some considerable success, to determine a peaceful way to fairly share power in Lebanon. Then, a few weeks ago, Saad Hariri returned from several months in Saudi Arabia (where, presumably, he got his latest orders from **** Cheney, who was in Saudi on an overlapping visit). Suddenly, the tone changed 180 degrees and Siniora and the government turned very agressively against Hezbollah. A Hezbollah official at the airport was fired on some lame excuse and orders were made to shut down the Hezbollah TV station. Militias representing Hariri were out in the streets first, and attacked Hezballah and Amal. Apparently Hezbollah then seized these men and turned them over to the army. The Hariri gangs were part of the reason behind the seizure of the Hariri station.
The army pressured the government to back down, and the situation has cooled.

This incident should be understood properly in the context of perennial efforts by the US, Britain, and Israel to stir up trouble in Lebanon and the middle east in general.
In particular, it is linked as well to larger ambitions by the British and American neo-cons to launch war against Syria and Iran.

EDIT: I will also add for the record, to be perfectly clear, that any general level approval on my part of the repsonse of Hezbollah as an organization as a whole to this situation does not in any way excuse any improper action by individuals nominally attached to the organization. On the contrary, anyone who went out of line, intentionally killing unarmed civilians, whether actually with Hezballah or pretending to be as some smear operation has my complete condemnation from the depths of my being. If such actions were carried out by a Hezballah soldier, then I hope that Hezbollah's internal "quality control" department rapidly re-assigns such individuals to a shallow grave on the south side.
Over and out.