Walid Phares, himself a Lebanese, explains what is going on in Lebanon and how it relates to the global Islamist movement in this very revealing interview on the NRO website.

Tony Blair paints the big picture in such a way as to, I think, ensure that his speeches will be remembered as Churchill's speeches from the 1930s are remembered. Both this link and the above are courtesy of The Belmont Club, a site I highly recommend you visit regularly.

On a different subject, check out this analysis of the electoral picture as we progress through the dog days of August. It appears that the wave is building for the Democrats. They still have time to blow it, of course. But, right now, it appears as if they are riding a wave that could lead them to take over Congress in January.

Perhaps a Democratic takeover would not be such a bad thing. Sometimes, an orderly retreat to more defensible lines is the best strategy to win a war. I will have more thoughts on that in a future post.