Aweek ago, Barack Obama stood at a Cairo University lectern and promised an enthusiastic Muslim audience a "new beginning" in relations. Within days, the US president was handed an unexpected gift from the Arab world. Fractious Lebanon delivered a victory in parliamentary elections to a Washington-friendly coalition rather than one led by the Shia Islamist Hizbollah.
After years of watching Iran flex its muscle in the Middle East - and the heavily armed, disciplined Hizbollah is Tehran's most valuable ally in the region - the US could rejoice at the success of its Lebanese allies.
