Why Is the British Press Sexing Up Stories on Hezbollah, Iran and China?

Why Is the British Press Sexing Up Stories on Hezbollah, Iran and China?

The British press seem to be doing a rancorous business of late of fabricating stories about Iran, Hezbollah and China. It’s almost as though these subjects are fair game for the old newsroom saying, once repeated often by hacks at the Daily Express in the 80s “make it sing, make it dance, but above all,…

Can Lebanon be Saved?

Can Lebanon be Saved?

“Well, we can all agree that the sea took 70 per cent of the blast!” a close Lebanese friend announced to me this week, with intriguing if doubtful science. I had asked him – because I knew the answer – which of Lebanon’s religious communities had suffered most grievously from the explosion that changed the…

The Politics of War: What is Israel’s Endgame in Lebanon and Syria?

The Politics of War: What is Israel’s Endgame in Lebanon and Syria?

On August 4, hours before a massive explosion rocked the Lebanese capital, Beirut, Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, issued an ominous warning to Lebanon. “We hit a cell and now we hit the dispatchers. I suggest to all of them, including Hezbollah, to consider this,” Netanyahu said during an official tour of a military facility in central…

Lebanon: The Paradise from Hell

Lebanon: The Paradise from Hell

In the old days there was no more charming city in the eastern Mediterranean than Beirut. Set on a maritime plain with the mountains rising dramatically behind it, the scenery was magnificent, the culture charming, the people hospitable and the city rich in history. Unfortunately, however, Lebanon’s prime geographical position sucked the country and its…

Horror in Beirut – Was It An Accident or a Warning?

Horror in Beirut – Was It An Accident or a Warning?

The Establishment explanation for what occurred in Beirut’s port on August 5th is that the horrific series of explosions that killed hundreds, injured thousands and left hundreds of thousands homeless was a terrible accident that came about due to a multi-faceted failure by Lebanon’s corrupt and incompetent government. Or at least that is the prevalent…