Today's demonstration makes it very difficult not to view Aoun as a hypocrite. He vehemently opposed the use of protests to topple the largely unpopular president. However Aoun has engaged in the exact tactic he rejected in order to topple the premier in order to elect a pro-Syrian government that will ultimately select him as president of the republic.

Aoun has become visibly frustrated as of late with the thought of having to compete for the presidency. He refused to take part in discussions about alternatives to himself. This begs the question: How can someone so opposed to a democracy actually lead one?

Aoun's alliance with Hizbullah has apparently caused him to compromise on many issues, most importantly his new found allegiance Syria. For a man who fought Syria for over a decade, he has been dead set on pleasing the corrupt and potentially criminal Syrian regime which kicked him out of the country in 1990.

The man Aoun has in his crosshairs, Premier Fouad Siniora, just wrapped up a successful meeting with his British counterpart Tony Blair. His mission was to seek Blair's assistance in pressuring Israel to withdraw from the Shebaa Farms, thus liberating the final piece of Lebanese territory occupied by Israel. Doing so will give Hizbullah no excuses left to lay down its arms.

The reality is Hizbullah does not want to lay down its arms. Syria has no intention of legally demarcating the disputed Shebaa territory as belonging to the Lebanese, as they have a vested interest in keeping Hizbullah armed. Iran, Hizbullah's other international backer, would also not be keen to see the Shebaa Farms question resolved just yet - especially in view of the looming crisis over its nuclear program.

The timing of Aoun's demonstration on Wednesday was clearly dictated by his newfound closest allies - Syria, Iran and Hizbullah. They have every intention to make Siniora fail in his efforts to bring stability and reason to a country that is desperately trying to move forward.

In an attempt to mimic the March 14, 2005 protests of over a million Lebanese who demanded Syria withdraw, the one today paled in comparison. An estimated 30,000 showed up.

Source: Ya Libnan