I never thought that I would live to read Condoleezza Rice offering her "analysis" of the Shi`ite situation in Lebanon. I did not enjoy Rice's work on the Soviet Union, and I enjoy less her "work" on the Middle East. But how ill-informed she is. There is no Amal Movement to speak of. Nabih Birri needs Hizbullah, and the latter could easily win all elections without Amal, and Amal can't win elections without Hizbullah support. But most importantly, Nabih Birri today issued a strongly-worded statement in response to Rice in which he stressed the firm bond between Hizbullah and Amal, and he accused her of restoring to the same simplistic analysis that prevails in Iraq.