I arrived early for my talk at the Jerusalem Center in DC. I sat in the audience for some minutes. This college students from DC was sitting next to me. He leaned over, and whispered in my ear: "So, I hear the Angry Arab is speaking." I was amused. When I told him that Angry Arab is me, he was amused. After my talk at MESA, my friend Zeina overheard a Lebanese woman tell a friend about me: "I hate this guy." I was amused. Gen `Awn, who continues his excellent adventure in DC, has not secured meetings with high officials, but that does not matter in a silly country like Lebanon, where a meeting with the barber of a staff person of Bush can be seen as high-level endorsement by the US government--not meaning any disrespect of barbers of course. `Awn did not meet with Hasan Nasrallah before his trip; I knew that he would not. Not before the US visit because he did not want his fanatical Zionist benefactors in the US House of Representatives to be angry with him. I expect him to meet with him upon his return, especially if he finds US endorsement of his candidacy lacking. And I don't understand why Hizbullah is so keen on pleasing `Awn. But then again: I don't understand Hizbullah's conduct in Lebanon anymore, and will not be surprised if they join Hariri's bloc some day. I can confirm that `Awn met in secret with Emile Lahhud before his visit to US, despite a vehement denial by `Awn to news to that effect in An-Nahar newspaper. Nayla Mu`awwad also is begging the US to endorse her candidacy, and I hear that Amin Gemayyel also wants to be president. Of that I am certain: he will NEVER make it. Gemayyel left a bitter taste with everybody he dealt with when he was president, including in the US government, not to mention his own population. Lebanon is celebrating today is Day of Independence. How could a country that never was independent celebrates its Day of Independence? That, I don't understand. What was with Prince Bandar's mission in Damascus? Why the sudden Saudi softening of its stance with Syria? Could this be related to the interview that Na`im Qasim (deputy secretary general of Hizbullah) gave 10 days ago to AlJazeera, in which he stated that any instability in Syria spill over to neighboring countries, including Saudi Arabia? Arab governments may be worried about the expansion of instability that was generated by the Iraq war. Apparently, US officials have been meeting with Rif`at Al-Asad in Spain, but I could not confirm whether National Security Advisor has met with him. But Saudi Arabia is working very closely with Rif`at in its campaign against Syria. Rif`at, as you may remember, is brother-in-law of King `Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. But then again, King `Abdulalh is half-brother with half of the Arab male population. Hassan Fattah of the New York Times wondered to somebody in the Middle East why Angry Arab has not been criticizing him as of late. Well, his last interview with King `Abdullah of Jordan should have carried the royal seal of the King. He merely takes dictation from the king. That is his role. No more. New Yorker's Jeffrey Goldberg, I hear, is expressing his political divorce from the neo-cons. His last piece on Scowcroft was the certificate in that regard. I am not impressed. Neo-con or no neo-con, Goldberg is one of the most ill-informed reporters on the Middle East, and his service in the Israeli army does not amount to Middle East expertise. In his trip to Washington, DC, Lebanese prime minister Fu'ad Sanyurah, insisted that Lebanese ambassador not attend any of his meetings. Hariri Inc wants to send of their own as a new ambassador. Israel today just dropped 150 bombs on South Lebanon. Kofi Annan will not even notice, and Security Council will NOT convene, and Mehlis will NOT investigate, and Sa`d Hariri will NOT seek the truth, and Hummus will NOT be spilled, and Bush will NOT shed tears. Oh, and Rafiq Hariri's cash payments to presidential candidate Chirac may have (reportedly) amounted to something like $7 million or more a month at one point.