Recently, writing in The Washington Post, US Congressman Darrell Issa made "the case for talking to Syria." However, implementing his proposal would effectively reverse years of multilateral US policy to deal with Syrian behavior in Lebanon - a policy carefully constructed with Trans-Atlantic and Arab allies and enshrined in seven UN Security Council resolutions. Instead, Issa, a California Republican, proposed an awkward change of course for, well, it was unclear for what in exchange. The fuzziness at the heart of his argument only reflected that of most American officials who would like to see a renewal of dialogue with Syria.

One of the many problematic assumptions about Hezbollah that we often hear is that they have given up on their project to create a Khomeinist state in Lebanon.

The "proof" we're offered is their supposed "tolerance" of skimpily dressed women and of Lebanon's open social life, and thus they do not seek to impose their own ideology on the rest of Lebanon.