A New Role for Hezbollah?

The NYT reports:

WASHINGTON, March 9 - After years of campaigning against Hezbollah, the radical Shiite Muslim party in Lebanon, as a terrorist pariah, the Bush administration is grudgingly going along with efforts by France and the United Nations to steer the party into the Lebanese political mainstream, administration officials say.

The NYT's characterization of the administration's position as "grudgingly going along with" France and the UN is somewhat inaccurate. Enticing armed groups to disarm and to move into the mainstream of the political process has always been a key element of Bush's strategy for transforming the Middle East.

I doubt that Bush cares much who gets the credit for policies or what the NYT says. He's results oriented and is quite willing to make any deals that are necessary to achieve his goals, even if it offends the Israelis or some elements of the Republican party. He will hold firm on Syrian withdrawal and on holding free elections, but will be quite open to granting concessions to Hezbollah.