They even had the temerity to try and spin their shameful performance to make it look as an achievement for the state that they have lost.

Lebanon, in its present form, is over sixty years old. But over this period of over six decades the closest that this country came to fulfilling its potential of democracy and personal freedom was the short period during 2005 when the grass roots movement of The Cedar Revolution erupted to shake the traditional bankrupt system of governance to its roots. But as soon as the "revolution" was born the traditional politicians conspired to co-opt it, and they did. They made sure that it was a still birth.

But when the only alternative is the choice between an "opposition" lead by a group inspired by and pays homage to Iranian Mullahs, allied with a megalomaniac ex general and some other have been politicians whose allegiance to the state was dubious at best then offering support to those that have made promises when they took over the extemporaneous peoples movement was the lesser of two evils. Things have not changed much over the past two and a half years. The March 14 ruling group that claimed to be the voice of the Cedar Revolution presented itself as the only sane alternative to the undemocratic opposition especially due to the fact that no other voice emerged.

There were plenty of signs that March 14 was not capable of ruling effectively. They were, and still are, totally preoccupied by the international tribunal to the exclusion of everything else. They failed to understand that a state needs to be governed efficiently and effectively in all areas, political, social and economic. March 14 sought an electoral alliance with Hezbollah, invited them to join the cabinet and helped support Nabih Beri as the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies. Each of these decisions came back to haunt them but one of the most frustrating decisions by the March 14 politicians was to accept at the Qatar talks the formulation of the new cabinet . They have accepted to offer the opposition the veto power since the new cabinet is to have 16 members from the majority, 3 members that represent the president elect and 11 members that represent the opposition. So what is so wrong about this? The simple fact is that Hassan Nassrallah, the Secretary General of Hezbollah, made his first demand for a veto power for the opposition around 19 months ago; he made his demand on October 30, 2006. If the idea was bad then, it still is bad now. Actually it is even worse because of all what has transpired over the past 19 months to show as clearly as possible that Hezbollah has its own agenda and that is not guided by the welfare of the Lebanese state.

The Doha agreement offered the opposition all what they asked for 19 months ago and gave the majority zilch, nada, nothing in return. This raw deal was arrived at as a result of the success of the recent attack on and occupation of West Beirut and the International Airport. If March 14 believed that this was a raw deal 19 months ago then why is it acceptable all of a sudden? On the other hand if it is a good deal now then why was it refused 19 months ago, 19 months of turmoil, war, deficits and stagnation?

March 14 leadership is attempting to spin the Doha agreement as being good for the country. They must think that we are imbeciles. They have betrayed our trust, they have sold the county short and above all they have made their incompetence so visible that no amount of spin will be able to put an acceptable face on this rotten deal. If Lebanon is to be resuscitated then it is incumbent on us to "throw the rascals out" so to speak in the next elections, if Hezbollah and friends will allow the nascent democratic game to proceed. In the final analysis "people get the government that they deserve". Well this is our lot if we are not to stand up for what is right and decent, what is democratic and just, what is modern and secular. We can redeem ourselves only once we realize that" we have seen the enemy and it is us", therefore no change will come about until we change ourselves, each and every single one of us.

SNAFU is an acronym meaning roughly, "things are in a mess -- as usual". The most commonly accepted rendering is "Situation Normal: All F**ked Up".

Tags: Cedar Revolution, Civil War, Doha, Fouad Siniora, Hezbollah, Iran, Lebanon, March 14 Alliance, Nabih Berri, Negotiations, Opposition, Qatar, Saad Hariri, source: Ya Libnan, Syria, Weapons