Israel Matzav: Hariri plays to the Democrats

Hariri plays to the Democrats

In an apparent effort to appeal to Democrats in Congress, Lebanese Prime Minister Sa'ad Hariri compared allegations of Syria shipping scud rockets to Hezbullah, to allegations of Saddam Hussein's Iraq having weapons of mass destruction during the lead-up to the 2003 US invasion of Iraq.

Hariri compared the charges with US allegations that Saddam Hussein was developing weapons of mass destruction, which were the main rationale behind the US-led war in Iraq but turned out to be false.

"The media suddenly started reporting that there are Scud missiles in Lebanon. Do you know what a Scud missile means? I believe it is as big as this room," Hariri said late Monday in Italy. His comments were communicated by Lebanese media Tuesday. "Threats that Lebanon now has huge missiles are similar to what they used to say about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq," he added. "These are weapons that they did not find and they are still searching for."

"They are trying to repeat the same scenario with Lebanon," the prime minister said.

I don't believe it was Israel that made the claim that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction seven years ago. But Hariri is doing a great job of serving his Syrian masters, isn't he? I can't wait to see him cry like his predecessor when his country gets blasted back into the 8th century thanks to Hezbullah's weapons.

But the comparison with Iraq in 2003 has to resonate with the Democrats who opposed the Iraq war, and especially with Barack Obama.

What could go wrong?

Israel Matzav: Hariri plays to the Democrats