By Barry Rubin

Is there a pattern here? I guess I’m going to be writing a series of “things keep getting worse” articles for some time to come because that’s what’s happening. After five months of bickering Lebanon has a government. It’s now a satellite of Syria and Iran with a government dominated by Hizballah (18 of 30 seats!) The new prime minister said the new government would liberate “land that remains under the occupation of the Israeli enemy.” And what Lebanese land might that be? If you needed any further proof of the functional insanity of the mass media on issues like this, consider the New York Times headline: “In Lebanon, New Cabinet Is Influenced by Hezbollah.” Yes, I’d think having sixty percent of the cabinet posts and more guns than Lebanon’s army might constitute influence.

So let’s see, Turkey is governed by a more confident (arrogant) Islamist regime. Egypt is about to be governed by an Islamist regime. The Gaza Strip is governed by an Islamist regime now allied with the Palestinian Authority and backed by Egypt and Iran and Syria. Iran is moving toward nuclear weapons. The Saudis, Israelis, and lots of other people have lost confidence in the U.S. government. And the brave dissidents in Iran and Syria get no Western help. Meanwhile, Western Middle East policy is based on the work of a great political philosopher and statesman. Click here to see who he is and what he advises