THE MAJORITY GETS TO DOMINATE:

Shiite-Christian Alliance Shakes Lebanon Politics (AP, 6/02/09)

Sunday's vote pits factions backed by the United States and the West against a coalition led by the pro-Iranian and pro-Syrian Hezbollah and its ally, Christian leader Michel Aoun. Sunni Muslims overwhelmingly support the former, Shiites the latter — and Christians are divided between them.

That makes Christians the swing vote, so campaigning has been heavy. Pro-Western factions are playing on Christians' fears of Shiite domination, warning that Hezbollah could spread Iranian-style Islamic conservatism in the Mideast's most liberal country and draw Lebanon into another war with Israel, as many here feel it did in 2006.

There is no Lebanon.

Posted by Orrin Judd at June 2, 2009 7:54 AM