US envoy arrives as Scrooge


By Franklin Lamb
Asia Times
Dec 23, 2009


Surely we should all have known better. It was just too good to last. It seemed to some Americans in Lebanon that nearly all the Lebanese and their political leaders were ready to try to more or less work together for the good of the country. Many even seemed to be getting excited about Christmas. Several of the diverse sects' zaims (leaders) were seen on TV enjoying attending public lightings of Christmas trees, praising the new unity government and humming their favorite holiday tunes during family visits to places like crowded Beirut and city malls.

New Prime Minister Saad Hariri admitted that he relished presiding over the ceremony for the lighting of the "national" Christmas tree in downtown Beirut this week and was inspired by fond memories of his student days at Georgetown University, when he liked to walk over behind the White House and watch the US president pull the switch and see the huge tree light up to a chorus of "ohs" and "ahs" from kids and their relatives.

The ceremony here was almost the same, and it seemed to this outsider that the Lebanese have way more relatives than Americans do or at least they get together more often. Given all the electricity problems Lebanon's population has to endure, with daily power black outs ranging from three hours per day in the more posh Hamra district to more than 12 hours of daily cuts in some areas like the Palestinian refugee camps and sometimes no power at all for days up north in Tripoli, Akkar and over east in the Bekaa Valley, some gathered at the huge tree waiting for Hariri to pull the switch, joked that it would be a real miracle if all those trails of tangled wires actually worked.

Just as one Saudi student was overheard explaining to his English girlfriend that even in Wahhabist Saudi Arabia, it is OK to wish Western visitors "Merry Christmas", the giant tree lit up brilliantly as Hariri pulled the switch and he and the crowd beamed with childlike delight.

The "peace on earth, goodwill towards humans" spirit also seemed to permeate politics. By a historic vote of 122 to 1, the new "unity" parliament voted its confidence in the new "unity" government. The question of Hezbollah's arms was generally believed to have finally been put to rest with Article 6 of the cabinet's policy declaration, which accepted them as necessary and legitimate.

Meanwhile, nimble minds discussed various formulae to unite the National Lebanese Resistance's military prowess with the Lebanese army in order for Lebanon to finally have a real defense force able to end 60 years of Israeli attacks. Signs of unity, pride and hope were popping up all over.

President Michel Suleiman returned from candid talks with US President Barack Obama where he reportedly gave his hosts a realistic assessment of Lebanon's politics, and explained that Hezbollah was an equal partner in Lebanon's government and should be engaged by Washington. Lebanon's problems, he told his hosts, included the continuing Israeli occupation of Lebanese territory, and its daily violations of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 as well as serial threats of attack.

The Lebanese president also informed Obama, US National Security Advisor James Jones and the US Middle East envoy, George Mitchell, that UNSCR 1559, regarding decommissioning militia arms, was now fulfilled as far as Lebanon was concerned. He implied that it should be scrapped.

Suleiman is too smart to believe that any US administration will give Lebanon weapons that will deter Israeli attacks but he asked for some nonetheless and Washington agreed to meet with Lebanese Defense Minister Elias Murr next year to talk more about the subject. Congressional sources reported that Suleiman was shown a lot of respect and appreciation for the positions he took and the Obama administration gave its full support for Lebanon's national dialogue achievements.

Regarding Hezbollah possessing weapons, one US Senate Foreign Relations Committee source reported that several congressional analysts she has spoken to agree with the recent statement of member of parliament Mohammad Raad that "Hezbollah agrees that the state must take the responsibility for defending its people but when the state is incapable, it is the duty of every Lebanese to help build a strong and just state that can equip its army to face up to Israeli violations". Regarding Suleiman's visit to Washington, Raad stressed that "everything the president said in Washington should have been said".

Things seemed to be going quite well for Lebanon this Christmas season. However, no sooner had the tree lighting crowd dispersed than the atmosphere literally changed and the following days brought sustained heavy rains and flooding with many Lebanese stuck in homes and cars with heavy thunder and lightning. Some are blaming the foul weather on global warming.

Others ascribe it to the return of Jeffrey Feltman, the assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs, who last month announced from Washington that US officials are staying away from Lebanon lest they be blamed for trying to interfere in Lebanon's internal affairs by choosing its new government.

It did appear that the scowling Feltman appeared to ride in on the dark clouds, via the airwaves, to frighten little children with his patented threats of old. As though he had never been absent from Lebanon, Feltman tried his best to stir up the now quiet Lebanese political pot. First, he announced on al-Jazeera TV on December 16 that "Hezbollah endangers the Lebanese people and does not comply with international resolutions and exerts its power in areas where the government has no control".

Critics quickly countered by asking Feltman about the more than 60 UN resolutions that Israel has ignored, more than half with US diplomatic cover, including UNSCR 1701. Concerning Hezbollah “exerting power in areas where the government has no controlâ€