The Real Faces of the Opposition in Beirut: I saw one familiar face today on a Lebanese TV station. It was the face of one of the "opposition" leaders in Beirut. He is Fu'ad Abu Nadir, former commander of the right-wing death squads known as the Lebanese Forces (and a relative of the Gemayyel family). He used to salute Ariel Sharon when he would drop by the headquarters of the Lebanese Forces after the Israeli invasion of 1982. And this guy dares to speak about "freedom," "democracy", and "sovereignty." Really? The former head of the militia that slit the throats of Lebanese who belonged to the "wrong religion" wants to lead change in Lebanon? Or Amin Gemayyel? Or Walid Jumblat who was one of the most submissive clients of the Syrian regime? I also saw in another segment the pathetic head of the pro-Syrian Ba`th party in Lebanon. One of the virtues of the Syrian military withdrawal in Lebanon (when it occurs that is) is that Lebanese politics will be revealed as it actually is, and not as Syria wishes it to be. Thus, the pro-Syrian Ba`th party will go back to its real size: utter insignificance and unpopularity. Yet, the Syrian regime (and successive Hariri cabinets) insisted on representing this highly unpopular party in every Lebanese cabinet. And last night, the thuggish leader of the party `Asim Qansu lead a demonstration of a 100 or so supporters of the party in front of the...Headquarters of Syrian mukhabarat (intelligence) in Beirut. And US will be wrong (again) if it assumes that opposition to Syria in Lebanon will translate into support for US or Israel (just as US had assumed that opposition to Saddam in Iraq would translate into support for US). And one Arab journalist informed me the other day that pictures of the notorious `Aql Hashim were seen among the demonstrators in Beirut. Is that true?