While the world's diplomatic and media attention focused on the natural disaster in Burma, a major political and strategic move reshaped the Middle East, handing yet another defeat to the West and a crucial victory to Iran: In the blink of an eye, the Islamic Republic of Iran conquered Lebanon. The mop up operations have not ended, but the key outcome is clear: Hezbollah, the militia created by Tehran and loyal to Iran's leading Ayatollah, has gained control of Lebanon. The crisis had been simmering for months, but the boiling point came on May 7, when Hezbollah militias -- heavily armed despite United Nations resolutions and assorted intra-Arab agreements -- quickly and easily took over West Beirut as a means to resolve a political dispute. It hardly needs to be spelled out, but let us state the obvious: This method of resolving political disputes, at the point of a militia's guns, demolishes any pretense that Lebanon is anything even resembling a democratic country.
How Iran Conquered Lebanon
