Lebanon—reactions

I have picked out some of the more interesting commentators on Lebanon's "May events".

Asia Times quotes veteran journalist Nir Rosen:

"The Americans along with their Saudi allies backed the creation of sectarian Sunni militias in Lebanon, some of whom were even trained in Jordan. Their ideology consisted of anti Shi'ite sectarianism.

"But these Sunni militiamen proved a complete failure, and America's proxies in Lebanon barely put up a fight, despite their strident anti-Shi'ite rhetoric. Now it is clear that Beirut is firmly in the hands of Hezbollah and nothing the Americans can do will dislodge or weaken this popular movement."

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Josh Landis, of SyriaComment blog, has this assessment:

"There will be those who believe this is part of a larger US and Israeli plan to sucker Hezbollah into overreaching only to provide justification for a second Israeli attack. I am inclined to believe that March 14 was dragged along by rash leadership. It is hard to believe Washington would be so foolish."

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The Los Angeles Times interviews Hizbollah expert Augustus Richard Norton:

"While the political stalemate may continue in form, in substance the weakness of the US-supported government is now on full display. In short, what has happened is a decisive setback for the US agenda in Lebanon."