Hmm, so first we have Bush:

Our goal, and our mission, is to help Lebanese citizens and Lebanese businesses not only recover, but to flourish, because we believe strongly in the concept of a democracy in Lebanon. Right from the beginning of the crisis I had stated that our objective is to help the Siniora government -- the Siniora government, which is a democratically elected government.

Second, Nasrallah at a recent rally (via Tom):

Nasrallah said disarming Hizbullah "under this government ... means leaving Lebanon exposed before Israel to kill and detain and bomb whoever they want, and clearly we will not accept that."

"When we build a strong and just state that is capable of protecting the nation and the citizens, we will easily find an honorable solution to the resistance issue and its arms," he added.

"Tears don't protect anyone," Nasrallah said in a barbed reference to Siniora, who openly wept several times when describing the destruction of Lebanon during the war.

Nasrallah talks a good game and is only too happy to point out the obvious bumbling and backtracking of his detractors. Bush on the other hand, has the icky task of convincing people that this massive fuckup was really just a cunning plan to strengthen Lebanon's central government.

Actually, that line of thinking may fly with the domestic audience.

Of course it will fly with Americans, they know fuck all about anything.

Can't they just, uh...airdrop the green from airplanes like confetti? hitting civilians would be a good thing then.

I don't think they want to drop green confetti over Lebanon so much as open up financing for the private sector to "stand up" and participate in the reconstruction. If the Bushies' track record is anything to go by, most of the funds will go to American companies to help them get a foothold in Lebanese reconstruction. Those who are knowledgeable about this, please comment.

Leb land construction is not going to be interesting to most American companies, so you can lay aside the tiresome lefty drivel in that respect.

The real issue is delivery. They won't be competitive with Hezbullah.

SP: there's not a whole lot of formal/legal barriers to entry for the Leb market anyway - the problems are at an informal/social level, so "opening the market" isn't much likely to be an issue.