SUNNIS IN LEBANON VOW TO NEVER SURRENDER TO HEZBOLLAH

Big talk. But I honestly don't think these guys have the guts to stand their ground.

Lebanon's Sunni Muslim leader Saad Al Hariri pledged yesterday there would be no political surrender to what he called a bid by Hizbollah and its Syrian and Iranian backers to impose their will on the nation by force.

"They simply are demanding that we surrender, they want Beirut to raise white flags... This is impossible," Hariri said.

"They will not be able to obtain Saad Al Hariri's signature ... on a deed to surrender to the Iranian and Syrian regimes," he said.

This "never surrender" talk comes on the heels of a stern warning to Iran from Saudi Arabia to stay out of Lebanon. All this huffin' and puffin' means little in light of the fact that the Saudi and Lebanese armies couldn't stop a food fight at a high school cafeteria, much less pose any reason for terrorists to pause.

IRAQIS WANT McCAIN VICTORY

TIME reporter Bobby Ghosh wrote the following about his recent trip to Baghdad:

"For Sunnis, al-Sadr's continued clout is a warning and a provocation. In the district of Adhamiyah, a Sahwa fighter named Mahmoud (like his Mahdi Army counterpart, he gave only his first name) tells me there can be no reconciliation between the sects "as long as Muqtada is alive." Then he makes a grim prediction: "Right now, the Americans want us to fight against al-Qaeda, and that's fine. But we know the real fight will be in the future, with the Mahdi Army. We are getting ready for it." Fattah, in Sadr City, is preparing for the same fight. "The Americans protect the [Sahwa] for the moment, but we know who they are; we have lists," he says. "When the time comes, we will know what to do with them."

The Baghdadis caught between these extremes know that the only thing standing in the way of another sectarian conflagration is the U.S. military. This may explain why every Iraqi who offers me a view on American politics seems to be praying for a McCain victory. A 100-year American military presence, of which McCain once spoke, may seem a bit much; I suspect most Iraqis would be happy with five."

Iraqis back McCain

The McCain folks have not commented on any plans to conduct a "get out the vote" campaign in Baghdad.