Lebanon: Back to a National Unity Government?

King ‘Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and Bashar al-Asad of Syria have called for the Lebanese to create a National Unity Government. Of course Sa‘d al-Hariri spent most of the summer trying to do just that, only to give up and threaten to form a more narrow government; but as I noted in my link last night called "The Modern History of Lebanon in One Headline", the Lebanese political parties were all eagerly awaiting finding out what their opinion is from the meeting between the Saudi King and Syrian President. As David Mack noted in a comment to that post, the Lebanese players have always been quick to seek outside patrons for their parties, then blame outside interference when things go wrong. Now we see the spectacle of Hariri (whose patron is King ‘Abdullah) and the Lebanese opposition (whose patron is Asad) waiting for their marching orders from the summit of their patrons. If I sound cynical, it's because I've seen it all too many times. I think most Lebanese citizens deserve better leadership than they have inherited.