Hezb'allah and its allies force the collapse of Lebanon's year-old unity government when its 11 ministers resigned en masse while Lebanese PM Saad Hariri was out of the country, meeting with President Obama.

The reason for the walkout is fairly simple. The U.N.-backed tribunal investigating the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, Saad's father is scheduled to deliver its findings and will almost certainly indict high ranking members of Hezb'allah for the murder..and Hariri thus far had refused to follow Hezb'allah's diktat that he disavow the tribunal.

There's also been speculation that a number of high ranking Syrians will be implicated, including members of Syrian dictator Basher Assad's family.

Hezb'allah, which is controlled by Iran and Syria, has denounced the tribunal as an "Israeli project" and urged the Western-backed prime minister to formally reject any findings by the tribunal even before it announced any indictments. In the end, this was simply an Iranian decision.

Since he has refused so far, they simply pulled off what amounts to a coup.

There's not really much to stop them. A pro-Hezb'allah ex-General, Michel Suleiman is installed in the presidency, Hezb'allah not only is intertwined with the army but maintains its own armed militia,and the helpful Syrian forces are close at hand if necessary.

Hariri has very little muscle to contend with them.

A number of US vessels have been deployed to the Sixth Fleet in the eastern Mediterranean. including the USS Enterprise and its strike group with 6,000 sailors and marines aboard and 80 fighter-bombers. Already deployed there is the USS Bainbridge missile destroyer.

But its very difficult for me to imagine Obama putting US forces in on the ground in Lebanon against Hezb'allah and the Lebanese Army, especially if Syria moves its forces inside the Lebanese border.

After all, what Hezb'allah did was totally legal by Lebanese standards.They resigned from the government in order to force new 'elections'. Hariri can't even form a caretaker government under Lebanese law unless the pro-Hezb'allah president Suleiman gives his OK.

Even if he does, Hariri is going to have to find people to serve in it -- not an easy task given the situation.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said today that Hezb'allah's move to topple Lebanon's government "will not work."

"We view what happened today as a transparent effort by those forces inside Lebanon, as well as interests outside Lebanon, to subvert justice and undermine Lebanon's stability and progress," Clinton told a news conference.

"Trying to bring the government down as a way to undermine the Special Tribunal (for Lebanon) is an abdication of responsibility, but it also will not work."

Well, we'll see.

From Iran and Syria's viewpoint, this is not only about stopping the tribunal but establishing their colonization of Lebanon. I don't see them backing down, especially when they have a clear advantage on the ground.

This, by the way is what happens when you allow terrorist groups with their own armies to participate in government on the grounds that they have a 'separate political wing that's legitimate.'

I trust that the foreign policy establishment types who constantly mouth this kind of idiocy may have learned something, but I doubt it.