Ahmadinejad in Lebanon

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit to Lebanon, long awaited/feared depending on one's faction, is under way. Coming at a moment when a confrontation between Hizbullah and the government over the Special Trbunal for Lebanon is looming, it's clearly a great propaganda ploy for Hizbullah.

Rami Khouri in The Daily Star offers an insightful analysis. Hizbullah's Al-Manar is bubbling over the visit, leading practically every regional category (including "Zionist Entity") with the visit. Lebanese bloggers, on the other hand, have been fairly witty about the whole thing; Beirut Spring shows an AP photo and comments "We have our priorities right in this country":

(Via The Arabist)

Seriously, though, this is a serious power move, a signal that Hizbullah does not stand alone, confirming that this is a tough and dangerous time for he fragile stability of the Lebanese system, still, as Michael Hudson labeled it decades ago, a Precarious Republic.