".. a bit of flagrant propaganda for the Israelis, ..and a bit of propaganda for the Hizbollah, which are both waiting for next spring's war ..."

Fisk, between two bottles and some pain killers:

"... He will speak at the great sports stadium in Beirut tonight, and all of the Lebanese capital are asking the same question: will Sayed Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Hizbollah – which drove the Israelis out of Lebanon in 2006 – dare to risk his life beside Mr Ahmadinejad? ...

Probably, he will turn up himself. Nasrallah has been giving speeches for months as if he is the president of Lebanon. He has already announced the Iranian President's tour d'horizon of Lebanon. No, Mr Ahmadinejad will not throw stones over the Lebanese border into Israel. Yes, Mr Ahmadinejad will be visiting the mass grave of the 106 Lebanese (most of them Shia) civilians killed by Israeli shellfire at a UN base at Qana in southern Lebanon in 1996 – and more children killed by the Israelis in the village in 2006 – and he will speak in the village of Bint Jbeil where the Hizbollah destroyed so many Israeli tanks in 2006 (after Bint Jbeil was destroyed by the Israelis following the Hizbollah's capture of two Israeli soldiers after crossing the border – thank you, Mr Ahmadinejad).

All in all, then, it's a bit of propaganda, flagrant for the Israelis – who are waiting for next spring's war with the Hizbollah – and a bit of propaganda for the Hizbollah, which is also waiting for next spring's war with the Israelis. And as a reminder to the Lebanese, that Iran decides the future of Lebanon. Israel too, of course. And America – which will remain largely silent when the President of Iran arrives in Beirut today to celebrate the Lebanese "democracy" of which the Bush administration spoke so highly in 2005.

The US embassy has been doing its ritual work: telling American citizens to stay off the streets of Lebanon's cities. Watch this space, then in April or May of 2011...."