Not only Israel and the US, but also Egypt and Saudi Arabia have hoped for the political demise of this friend of every radical regional cause – from Hamas and Iran to the anti-Western forces in Lebanon – that they oppose. But Assad managed to emerge from Syria’s forced withdrawal from Lebanon in 2005 to become the broker without whom a Lebanese government could not be created and a president could not be elected.
“邪恶轴心”的另一成员、支持真主党的叙利亚总统巴沙尔·阿萨德也干得不错，谢谢。不单单是以色列和美国，还有埃及和沙特阿拉伯，都曾希望他们反对的这个许多区域激进运动——从哈马斯、伊朗，到黎巴嫩的反西方势力——的伙伴的政治死亡。但是，阿萨德已经从2005年叙利亚被迫从黎巴嫩撤离的挫折中成功走了出来，并且成为一个没有他就无法建立黎巴嫩政府、无法选举黎巴嫩总统的中间人。