I often tend to approach Thomas Friedman's articles with some hostility for his oversimplified anecdotes of the Middle East. But sometimes, simplicity is beauty, and dead on:
For now, Team America is losing on just about every front. How come? The short answer is that Iran is smart and ruthless, America is dumb and weak, and the Sunni Arab world is feckless and divided. Any other questions?
And isn't that cute. The Pulitzer Prize winning former correspondent to Beirut during the Israeli invasion in 1982 has a weak spot for Lebanon. Raphael Patai, author of The Arab Mind, had also declared that he fell in love with the Middle East beast he was studying behind a cage. God bless Orientalists:
We’re not going to war with Iran, nor should we. But it is sad to see America and its Arab friends so weak they can’t prevent one of the last corners of decency, pluralism and openness in the Arab world from being snuffed out by Iran and Syria. The only thing that gives me succor is the knowledge that anyone who has ever tried to dominate Lebanon alone — Maronites, Palestinians, Syrians, Israelis — has triggered a backlash and failed.
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