Wednesday, September 24, 2008

WINEP: "..Diversification of its constituency would insulate March 14 from local criticism regarding the party's perceived Sunni domination..."

Schenker is wrong AGAIN, on the most important details. For example, Hariri's trip to Najaf (and his meeting with Sistani) went really bad for the politically handicapped Hariri. As he rambled on the legitimacy of Najaf as a "marja'iyah" as opposed to Qom ... and voiced much anti-Iranian sentiment, Sistani ushered the 'end' of the meeting. One has to wonder: who are the geniuses that advised Hariri to brandish the anti-Iranian in the presence of a Tehran "guy"? As for chipping away at Hezbollah & Amal's base ... I have this to tell Schenker: He should prepare a paper on the plethora of Sunnis chipping away (and stealthily) at Hariri's Sunni base!....
"...At present, March 14 has only a handful of Shiites who
are willing to openly support the bloc -- not surprising given Hezbollah's
intimidation of non-conforming Shiites. Diversification of its constituency
would insulate March 14 from local criticism regarding the party's perceived
Sunni domination. The addition of Shiite supporters could likewise conceivably
encourage the defection of some of Hezbollah's Christian allies....
But it is possible over time to encourage political pluralism
among Lebanon's Shiites and chip away at the perception that Hezbollah speaks
for all Lebanon's Shiites. Except for the hardcore of Hezbollah supporters,
Lebanese Shiites do not possess a natural affinity for Iran and the religious
proscriptions of its leadership. Neither, would it seem, do the majority of
Iraq's Shiites. Hariri's recent meeting marks a long-overdo effort to exploit
this cavernous divergence..."

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

This guy should stop pontificating on Lebanon. He understands nothing, knows even less, and suggests disastrous policy measures. I think Hariri's opponents should really be happy that Schenker should continue 'advising' Hariri. It is the best way to damn the boy.