A dangerous new president in Lebanon (op-ed)

American Thinker

UANI Policy Director Jason Brodsky: "The ascendancy of Michel Aoun, a former Christian general who once served a disputed term as prime minister of Lebanon in the 1980s, to the Lebanese presidency marks a milestone in the country's long national electoral nightmare.  There have been over 40 failed attempts alone at selecting a successor to the previous president, Michel Suleiman, since he stepped down in May 2014. While Beirut may not be in the global headlines every day, regional trends indicate a potentially dangerous turn of events in Lebanon for three reasons: the new president's alliance with Hezb'allah, Lebanon's shared border with Israel, and the mainstreaming of Iran's political power in the neighborhood... Aoun as president represents the effective mainstreaming of Iran as a political kingmaker.  Not only will Aoun carry the Hezb'allah imprimatur, but Nabih Berri, the Shiite speaker of Lebanon's parliament, received the political party's endorsement to continue in his current position.  Despite Berri's initial opposition to Aoun and his own tensions with Hezb'allah in the past, these developments demonstrate the power that Iran – vis-à-vis its proxy Hezb'allah – wields in the internal political dynamics of yet another country in the Middle East.  With Saudi Arabia dramatically pulling out from Lebanon in April after cutting $3 billion in military aid and $1 billion in assistance to Lebanese security forces, the country has become yet another destination in an Iranian sphere of influence, comprising Baghdad, Damascus, Sanaa, and now Beirut."