Breaking News – 09:43am GMT

Israeli commandos seize ship containing arms destined for Hezbollah. Ship was off the coast of Cyprus and had originated from Iran.
Lebanese Army refused to comment stating that the incident occurred outside Lebanon’s borders and outside its national waters. The contents of the ship are being unloaded at the Israeli port of Ashdod.

Source

Update: November 5, 2009

Hezbollah denies link to arms seized from ship by Israel

…Israel had not provided evidence the arms were meant for Hezbollah - and the guerrilla group denied any link to the shipment. In a statement faxed to The Associated Press on Thursday, Hezbollah said it “categorically denies” any connection to the weapons.

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The Gulf

The war of words between Iran and the (pro-US) Arab World may have spilled onto AUB’s campus (its been bound to; its been on the streets of Lebanon forever):

The American University of Beirut (AUB) has canceled an exhibition, which was to display historical documents about the Persian Gulf.
…
University officials canceled the event the night before it was to kick off, saying that the decision was made to avoid confrontation with Arab states.

The issue at hand? The body of water between Iran and Arabian Peninsula:

While historical documents show that the waterway has always been referred to as the ‘Persian Gulf’, certain Arab states have recently mounted efforts to remove ‘Persian’ from the name of the waterway.

Of course this isn’t the first time we’ve had actual “war of words” when it comes to the Arabian/Persian Gulf. Here’s my, hands-down, absolute favorite:

An old dispute got a new airing this week [May 3, 2006], when the Iranian president and the emir of Qatar got into it over the name of the body of water that separates Iran from the Arabian peninsula.
….
The emir, seeking diplomatic goodwill, said he hoped Iran’s national soccer team would bring pride to all the “Arabic Persian Gulf” region during the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

Not missing a beat, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad shot back:

“I believe you called it the Persian Gulf when you studied in school.”

Just incredibly entertaining!

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Thumbs Up from the Time’s

Time Magazine has given rave reviews to the current political play titled: The Suleiman Era.

Expectations were low when the former head of the Lebanese Armed Forces, General Michel Suleiman, became president in May 2008 after a nearly two-year political crisis that ended in pitched battles between rival militias in the streets of Beirut.

Apparently, they are comparing his ‘rule’ to Rudolph Giuliani who employed a “Broken Glass” policy whereby he focused on the grassroot issues in the hope improvements would spread to greater issues.

Unable to solve the big problems facing the country, Ziad Baroud, Suleiman’s choice to lead the powerful Ministry of the Interior, began focusing on problems that might actually make a difference in the lives of average Lebanese. In particular, the police began cracking down on the single biggest cause of death in the country: not terrorism, or war, but traffic accidents. After years without traffic enforcement, Lebanon’s roads were dysfunctional and dangerous, with stoplights often ignored and one-way traffic directions optional, and too many drivers acting like they’re on the Autobahn.

The Time also goes on to say that the Lebanese Army is being properly upgraded for the first time in post-civil war history thanks to a consensus on both sides (Israel & the US on one side and Syria & Iran on the other) concerning the issue.

Meanwhile, the country has for now managed to avoid the worst of the global financial crisis, thanks to the conservative policies of its central bank governor, Riad Salame, who banned the exotic financial instruments and over-leveraged practices that became common in the rest of the world. While Salame took office before President Suleiman came to power, the validation of his banking policies are adding further shine to the reputations of the country’s non-partisan officials.

The Time seems to conceed that things are actually going extremely well.

Suddenly, Lebanon feels like an island of stability in a world upside down.

Wow, everything is perfect! This is too good to be true. Oh wait, it isn’t:

In the end, Lebanon’s fate is out of the hands of even its best and brightest. While tempers may remain calm as leaders in Washington and Tehran test the waters of engagement, Lebanon can’t have a separate peace of its own for long. So there’s one more reason for Lebanese to fasten their seat belts: if the Obama administration can’t pull off a regional peace deal, there may well be another civil war.

Well, it was a good run while it lasted.

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