?

It has been pointed out several times that the Israel-Lebanese conflict shows, amongst other things, how blogs have become a powerful medium for providing information about how people in the middle of the conflict are dealing with the trauma. Blogs can’t be centrally controlled, so in that sense they’re democratic. However, they can also just be sounding boards for extremist views. But what is enlightening, in the blogs I’ve looked at, is the attempts to provide understanding about the complexity of the situation and in the circumstances to give a balanced account.

On Monday I mentioned a couple of Lebanese blogs that I’d heard about, but it wasn’t a thorough list. For example, I neglected to mention the Lebanese Political Journal, a blog highlighted by the Guardian (Bah!).

Today, Lebanon.Profile, a writer for that blog gives a very thorough analysis, I think. For example, he/she/they make the point:
“Hezbollah stupidly carried out an attack. The Lebanese leadership brought Hezbollah into the government worried that not doing so would start a civil war and continue the campaign of assassinations against Lebanese political leaders.”

This highlights the continuing weakness of the Lebanese government and their political reliance on Hezbollah.

However, Lebanon.Profile continues:
I hate to say this, but Israel has been surprisingly restrained given the leeway they have been given by the international community. Lebanon does not deserve to be destroyed in this way, but the world sees this as an opportunity to isolate Iran and Syria, and Israel has a case for war. This war is ridiculous because it isn't one. Israel is at war. Hezbollah is doing little damage to Israel. Lebanon is being destroyed.

The irony is that the Lebanese people, by and large, support the Western agenda. There is little positive sentiment for the Iranian or Syrian regimes and for Hamas. This is the diametric opposite of the Syrian people who fully support the destruction of Israel.

The Lebanese were trying to get rid of Hezbollah. They were not given the time it takes in this region to get anything done. Sadly, the West does not have time to wait. Iran refuses to cooperate, and Lebanon suffers.

Urshalim also provides a round up of Lebanese blogs.