The New Masters Are Watching Over Lebanon: Brace Yourselves. Sa`d Id-Din Al-Hariri flew all the way to the US presumably to...receive US official condolences for the death of his father. I am not big on protocol, but...And it took 10 minutes after his return to Beirut, for him to receive the US and French ambassadors in Lebanon. They are the new masters of Lebanon after all. The right-wing opposition in Lebanon (who belong to different sects) does not complain about the new masters because they are Europeans who belong to the superior Master Race. And Lebanese ultra-nationalists have been trying for decades to convince themselves and convince outsiders that they themselves are also members of the superior Master Race. They have done so by a long tradition of contempt for things Arab. I thought that Lebanon was teaming with sectarian dynasty, and am I supposed to cheer the inauguration of the new Hariri, Inc sectarian political dynasty? And if the Hariri dynasty were to lose its fortune, how many people would support Hariri, Inc? And how many would make the daily pilgrimage to the gravesite? And how many of the vulgar "artists" and "performers" would be producing the cheesy songs about Hariri? Joseph Samahah wrote yesterday that Emile Lahhud is desperately looking for a sect, while Wisam Sa`adah wrote that one has to get away from the myth that "all Lebanese militias" were equally responsible for the war. He rightly singled out sectarian Christian right-wing militias for the primary responsibility for the war, and for the creation of a fascist order in East Beirut. He did not absolve the militias of the other side from crimes of course, but called their rule more "Inkishariyyah-like". I am not in favor of releasing war criminal right-wing Samir Ja`ja`, who specialized in sectarian massacres, and the dispatch of car bombs. I also believe that war criminals from other sects should be sent to join him in jail too. I always opposed the general amnesty that was issued after Ta'if, and believe that unless we have civil war crime tribunals, and truth commissions, Lebanon is destined to sink again and again and again in civil wars. A group of Syrian intellectuals and human rights advocates (from different ideological orientations) issued a statement condemning Lebanese racism against Syrians, and the abuse and murder of poor Syrian workers in Lebanon. I add my voice to theirs. Hariri, Inc should know that they may bribe some people all the time, but they do not have enough money to bribe all the people all the time. When I watch Gen. `Awn speak (and LBC-TV is now in a non-stop hagiographic coverage of the man) I realize that the deep sectarian divisions of Lebanon will impede his fascistic ambitions. Otherwise, the Mussolini of Lebanon--well, Mussolini was not financially corrupt and this one may have enjoyed millions from donations in the 1980s--will have a free reign.