Blogger Michael Totten first came to Lebanon in 2005 shortly after March 14 and has followed the country closely in the years since. Totten represents a new breed of journalist, supporting himself both with old-school reportage and with his popular blog, which focuses on the region and Lebanon in particular.  NOW Lebanon caught up with him during a recent visit and talked to the blogger about how he got started, his thoughts on the country, what he’s doing here this time, and, of course, the infamous Hamra Street beat down of Christopher Hitchens, which Totten witnessed firsthand. 

Tell us about your blog, the background and how it got started?

Michael Totten: My background is actually not in journalism, but in literature. I studied English literature at university and what I wanted to do then was write novels… As I’ve gotten older, I’ve had less interest in writing novels, and actually less interest in reading literature… So I got into journalism, and I enjoy it… There was a very brief period where I wanted to do travel writing. Because I didn’t want to do literature and I didn’t want to write fiction, so I wanted to do travel writing and see the world. But it’s a very difficult way to make a living. But with journalism, you can make a living and there’s a bit of an overlap. They are both nonfiction, and I can see the world doing both. So I sort of edged over into journalism, and basically started here in Lebanon, in Beirut.

When was that?
 
Totten: In 2005. And I’ve done stories from other places, not just in the Middle East, but mostly in the region, and Lebanon is where I started and is my favorite place to work.

Why here?

Totten: Well there’s always a story here… plenty of conflict and intrigue and not just in Lebanon, but it’s a great place to observe the entire region because everyone’s here: the Syrians are here, the Iranians are here, the Saudis are here, the Americans are here, and occasionally the Israelis are. So it feels like the center of the region; it isn’t really, but it feels like it is. I can write what I want, I can go where I want, it’s a free country—

Free country?

Totten: Mostly, more or less, I wouldn’t want to work in Syria; you can’t do anything in Syria… Beirut’s also fun, more than anywhere else around here. So it’s a great place to be.

And how many times have been here?

Totten: In 2005-2006 I had an apartment here, and I’ve been back for stories four times since then.

How were you introduced to Lebanese politics?

Totten: I came here right after March 14, 2005, but I knew a bit about Lebanon before then, and I was always curious about it. A lot of people know it’s different than the rest of the Arab world. And so I thought that Lebanon would be a really interesting place to go, and I had read a couple books on the country,  so I didn’t start at zero, but that was the first time I came here, and I wanted to come immediately, like I’ve always wanted to come, and now is the time.

What other countries are you interested in?

Totten: Iran. I’ve never been but I think it would be very interesting. I know many people who’ve been there. And Iran has a face to the world… we all know what Iran’s face is and everyone I know says the reality of Iran underneath the state is much more interesting,  much more cosmopolitan than it appears under Ahmadinejad and all the crazy things he says... I don’t have a sense of how big the underground life in Iran is — is it 5%? I don’t know… I’ve met many Shia who support Hezbollah but don’t live the life…

How did you start your blog, and is it the only thing you do?

Totten: Well I have a blog, and I raise money from readers to pay for my travel expenses, but in order to make a living, I can’t just use my website. I also write for newspapers and magazines...  I’m a blogger and a real journalist…I’ve written for the Wall Street Journal a couple of times, and a couple of times I got lucky and I wrote for the New York Times…

Tell me about this trip to Lebanon?

Totten: Well it was really interesting and different than any other trip I’ve made here. All my other trips I paid for myself and stayed in cheap hotels. And I set up all my own appointments. But this time I got a business-class ticket, all my hotel fees are paid for, and I get better appointments made for me. Not to mention I got to meet the prime minister, Saad Hariri, Walid Jumblatt…everything has been taken care of.

So you went to the February 14 Hariri rally. What was your impression?

Totten: Well it was very similar to what I had seen before…pretty much exactly what I expected, though the number of people surprised me. I figured that the more time passed, the smaller the rallies would get, and this might have been the largest one I’ve been to… it makes me feel better about Lebanon when I see that many people because they are kind of hidden. 

So you’ve been following the Special Tribunal; what do you think will happen?

Totten: … I’m disappointed it’s taking so long, it’s ridiculous… I was hoping it would have moved more over the years. What kind of surprises me are two things: why [Syrian President Bashar] al-Assad is so afraid of it — I mean what’s going to happen, the regime is implicated in the tribunal therefore… what? The US is going to invade and destroy his government? No.  He’s going to be isolated in the Arab world? He already is. I just don’t see how exactly he expects things to be different than they already are, though he is now coming out a bit from isolation has a little but more international respectability because he’s manipulated people effectively, and maybe he’s worried he won’t be able to anymore.

Do you think the Syrians would let go of Lebanon at some point in favor of negotiations with Israel and America?

Totten: I don’t. Some in the states and Israel are very naive about these kinds of things. Well, they aren’t really naive about Assad so much as stupid. They have this theory that Assad isn’t so bad, or that  he’s better than the Muslim Brotherhood, and some would even rather they had the Syrians still in Lebanon because Hezbollah’s strong and there was a quiet border back then when they were here. I can understand this I suppose, but Hezbollah wouldn’t have been as strong if the Syrians hadn’t been here with logistics routes and weapons from Iran. The Israeli analysis doesn’t make any sense to me, and the American analysis is very naive I think. When Assad pretends to be reasonable they take him at his word, and the Europeans have been talking to Bashar for years. They think he’s reasonable, and they go there and are horrified. And along comes a new diplomat who thinks he can talk and [Assad will] be more reasonable, and now we have [US President] Barack Obama who is very reasonable and thinks he can reason with Bashar… Obama is going to learn, I think, that Bashar Assad is not like Barack Obama, and he’s not going to play ball.

Why do you think the Syrians care so much about staying in Lebanon?

Totten: There are lots of reasons, of course, but the Syrians don’t recognize Lebanon’s right to exist [like] the Palestinians don’t recognize Israel’s right to exist… but also dominating Lebanon gets money and resources to the Syrians, and at this point it’s a point of pride, because they got thrown out of Lebanon, and [President Assad] wants to dominate Lebanon as much as possible, just to save face. Syria wants this conflict with Israel to be ongoing, and it’s much easier to do if the Lebanese are the ones getting killed, not the Syrians.

So as an American journalist in the region, what is the best way to deal with Syria — sanctions, war?

Totten: No, not war. Sanctions – I don’t really like sanctions, as they punish the average citizen, so I would argue for sanctions only in the most extreme circumstances, which I don’t think this warrants. I think what the US should do with Assad is just basically tell him to go f--- himself, and don’t talk to him… It didn’t work before, but it didn’t make things worse. I don’t think there’s a solution to the problem, and when there’s no solution, don’t do anything; just wait. As far as trying to talk to Syria or make deals with them, they won’t work. Assad seems to think they’re good for him, and anything that’s good for Assad is worse for everyone else, so my advice to the Obama administration is: Don’t do anything. There are times when it may work in the future. Everything always changes in the Mideast, but right now I don’t think they’ll work. 

Would Assad’s regime open up to the West?

Totten: Who would lose in this scenario? Hezbollah would lose, Iran would lose, though less so. Everyone else would benefit, but the Syrians need to ally with Iran.

Why more than moderate Arab states?

Totten: Look at the three most powerful states in the Arab region, and they are not Arab — Iran, Turkey and Israel. Syria cannot have an alliance with Israel, could but won’t have one with Turkey. Syria needs one of these three powers to be their ally… and Turkey is not a reliable ally for anyone, and Syria knows that, and with Israel it’s impossible…What does Assad want? He wants power and influence, and he has a lot of both, so if it’s not broken why fix it… I could be wrong, of course, and it’s easy to be wrong in the Middle East so many variable and things always changing.

What do you think about the Israeli elections? What do they mean for Lebanon?

Totten: I’ll tell you what I hope happens. I hope that Hezbollah looks at Israel and sees [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu is a tough guy and won’t stand for it, and so doesn’t do anything along the borders… I mean they know this guy better than anyone…

Hezbollah now has reason to attack because they have to avenge assassinated Commander Imad Mugniyah, no?

Totten: Let’s look at a hypothetical situation. Let’s say Hezbollah decides to bomb the Israeli Embassy in London and kills 150 people. Netanyahu is going to come in and blow up this country… I used to be much more optimistic about the Middle East than I am now.  Americans are naturally optimistic people, and tend to assume that other parts of the world are more like America than they really are. When I first came here right after March 14 it was easy to be optimistic. It’s not America, but it’s more democratic or liberal than Syria, but at the same time, there are all these other problems. I understand the Israelis’ point of view about the subject: They want a peace deal with everyone and be left alone, but they’re not going to get this with Netanyahu. But they don’t think it’s possible anyway right now, and if it’s not, then they’d rather have a tough guy.

What about the coming Lebanese elections?

Totten: I think if Hezbollah wins, the problem is going to be much worse. If I were Lebanese I’d vote March 14. One, because they’re more liberal, but also from a national security standpoint, because if Hezbollah wins and [controls] the government and there’s war with Israel, Israel will be less restrained, and the entire country will be in danger.

So you think Lebanon should sign a peace treaty with Israel?

Totten: Yes, theoretically they should do it right now. I can understand why they don’t, because the regional situation makes it impossible to implement, even if all the March 14 forces were to agree on it, it still wouldn’t work because Hezbollah’s still here.

Were you there when Christopher Hitchens got attacked by the SSNP?

Totten: I was with him. I’m going to write about it as soon as I get home. So he wanted to by a new pair of shoes and he asked me where he could find some. So we walked to Hamra… and I told him about how in May,  Hezbollah invaded West Beirut and the SSNP came in and put up all these flags, and everyone was afraid of them… and I told him this and this should have been all he needed to know. 

He saw the infamous plastic SSNP sign by the old Wimpy’s, and he took out a pen and started writing “F-- the SSNP,” and I thought I should stop him and grab that pen out of his hand and not let him do it, but he was already in the process of doing it and did it, and by the time I realized I should stop him, it was too late… Three seconds later someone yells and comes across the street and grabs Christopher by the arm hard. He said, “Come with me,” and Christopher said, “No I won’t.” I said, “Christopher we need to get the hell out of here now,” and we tried to get in a cab, but this guy would not let go and got in the cab with us. I tried to push him out but we couldn’t. So we got out of the taxi and got in another one, and so did this guy. I thought about punching him because there were three of us and one of him — he’d lose, but I knew his friends were coming, so I didn’t hit him, but he was determined not to let go of Christopher. Maybe a minute after he called his friends, they were there, and I remember Christopher was punched and kicked on the ground. There were six, maybe eight of them, so I didn’t hit anyone, but I tried to get them away from him and one of them scratched my arm. I got a bruise. I didn’t even know if I was hit. Something that happened but I didn’t see: After Christopher got kicked a couple times, the leader of the SSNP guys there pulled the guy kicking Christopher away,  like the point was made; Hitchens was bleeding on the ground, it was over. So I helped him up, and we jumped in another taxi, and I told him to just go. We drove to the Phoenicia [Hotel] and smoked a cigarette because I wanted to make sure they weren’t following us. But nobody followed us and at the end of the day it wasn’t that big of a deal. It could have been much worse.