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Skeptic Ian Williams questions an earlier president.

Why Lebanon ?...

by Ian Williams 

Ian Williams is a journalist and U.N. Correspondent for The Nation and a weekly columnist for www.MaximsNews.com   Order his new book from Amazon.com, Deserter: George Bush's War on Military Families, Veterans, and His Past.   See his Bio.  See his columns listed below.   IanWilliams@MaximsNews.com 

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          UNITED NATIONS -- 9 September 2004 / www.MaximsNews.com /   Why Lebanon ?

So Iraq is falling apart, half of Africa is in chaos, the Caucasus is in flames, and the war drums can be heard booming across the Straits of Taiwan.

So let’s pass a weird resolution about Lebanon in the Security Council and leave the dandruff drifting in the wind, as all across the world people scratch their heads and ask, “What the hell is going on here?”

One fears the worst. Has some Maronite millionaire exiled from Lebanon offered to finance a new round of Swift Boat Veteran ads?

Pushed by a surprising duo, France and the USA, Resolution 1559 barely scraped through the Security Council and when it did, the text was as allusive as a Japanese haiku, to be interpreted by the parties in whatever way they chose, although one official Syrian reaction, that its call for the withdrawal of foreign troops referred to the Israel troops at the Sheba’a Farms may be taking it a bit far.

The resolution called for the removal of “all remaining foreign forces” from Lebanon, “the disbanding and disarmament of all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias,” and expressed its support for “the extension of the control of the Government of Lebanon over all Lebanese territory,” and “a free and fair electoral process in Lebanon's upcoming presidential election conducted according to Lebanese constitutional rules.”

The resolution was passed by the bare minimum of nine votes, in the gums of the opposition of six members who abstained, even though two of them, Russia or China , could have vetoed it.

What they did do beforehand was to strip out any specifics, such as any mention of Syria or Hezbollah by name or even a specific reference to the event they were trying to avert – the extension of Lebanese President Emile Lahoud’s term of office for a further three months.

In fact, if Syrian diplomacy were not an oxymoron, Damascus could have scuppered the resolution, but they did not even call a meeting of the Arab group to discuss it, so it was left to the Russians and Chinese to half-heartedly steal the Americans’ usual phrase and propose a more “balanced” resolution which would have condemned, for example, Israel ’s occupation of the Golan Heights, the West Bank, and Gaza .

If the Arab group had used its influence with the Non-Aligned it may well have succeeded in adding that language – which would have put the USA , if not the French, in an embarrassing spot.

The resolution and the events leading up to it merited the eponymous description of the region, truly and deeply Levantine. It noted the “determination of Lebanon to ensure the withdrawal of all non-Lebanese forces from Lebanon ,” which begs a lot of questions.

Who, in this context, is Lebanon ?

The Lebanese government, whose Foreign Minister Mohamed Issa denounced the resolution as interference in its internal affairs?

The Lebanese parliament, which promptly defied it by passing the constitutional change extending Lahoud’s term?

Or the Maronites, who originally invited the Syrians some thirty years ago to control the Palestinians? Or the bunch of Chalabi-like exiles in Washington and Paris hoping to return and take over?  

The unusual partnership of the US and France was enough to make people sit up, not least since they played it very close to their respective chests until the last moment.  

At least one motive from the French side was clearly to reach closure over their recent bad-tempered moments of Gallo-American relations. But while, for example, the Americans regard Hezbollah as terrorists, the French do not.  

On the French side, some Arab commentators suggest that the resolution was a backdoor attempt by Prime Minister Rafik Hariri to dissuade the Syrians from going ahead with their plans.  

As a longtime friend and major contributor to Jacques Chirac’s election campaigns, a discrete call to Paris from him could certainly produce such results without him confronting Damascus directly.

The lofty call from French Ambassador de la Sabliere that “by refraining from acting, the Council would have sanctioned interference in the internal affairs of another State,” would have come a little more convincingly from a government that did not have garrisons all over Africa , and had been known occasionally to whisper strong advice in Francophone ears there.

And in Paris , as in Washington , there is a strong Maronite inclined lobby, although to be fair, there people of all faiths in Lebanon who would like to see the Syrians go.

But ambiguous and ambivalent as it is, indeed because of that ambivalence, the resolution could be the beginning of a slippery slide to consequences unintended by the French at least.

The US , currently occupying Iraq , and paying for the Israeli occupation of the Golan Heights, West Bank and Gaza , is, shall we say, a very belated convert to the idea of national sovereignty for anyone but itself.

The resolution does not invoke Chapter VII of the Charter, which, as any Israeli or American diplomat would have told you if it were Israel being warned in this way, means that it is non-binding.

However, the US churns out double standards as fast as it mints dimes nowadays, and it is perfectly capable of acting on a non-binding resolution against Syria while ignoring volumes of binding resolutions against its allies.

The resolution calls for reports back from the U.N. Secretary-General in thirty days. 

He could report back that Lebanese democracy is somewhat compromised, based on a census over half century old, with a binding but non-constitutional settlement which assumes that Maronites are a majority, and should have the presidency, and the Sunnis, the next most numerous should have the premiership.

He could recommend a new census, which would almost certainly reveal that the Shi’a are the majority. 

That would give Hezbollah the Presidency, which may not be what the Americans, the French or their Maronite friends really want.

On the other hand, the country that gave the world the hanging chad and the electoral college may not be too concerned about the more mathematically precise forms of democracy, so the S-G may be wise to avoid these more recondite fields.

In fact, he will have no option but to report that the Lebanese parliament ignored 1559,  that Hezbollah are still there, and so are the Syrians.

So the French may well have inadvertently helped their new chums in Washington set off on a road to Damascus , under cover of combating terrorism and implementing U.N. resolutions.

The usual suspects in Washington probably already have their speeches and op-eds prepared about the U.N.’s helplessness in the face of defiance by an undemocratic, terrorist supporting Arab enemy of Israel and ally of Iran .

Happily these will coincide with the closing stages of a vicious American election campaign in which the so-called “War on Terror” is top of the agenda.

Of course, whoever is making the decisions in Syria will have to bear a lot of the blame for their obtuseness and lack of finesse, cracking whips instead of pulling strings in Lebanon . But one cannot help wondering, what were the French thinking?  

Will the Foreign Legion be landing on the beaches in Beirut alongside the Marines as a new Coalition forces Lebanon to be democratic and independent whether it likes it or not? And whacks Damascus , strictly collaterally of course?

     Email Ian Williams:  IanWilliams@MaximsNews.com

  Just Released: 

Deserter: George Bush's War on Military Families, Veterans, and His Past  

by Ian Williams

Order Now from Amazon.com       http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1560256273/wwwmaximsnewc-20/103-2632401-6943852?creative=125577&camp=2321&link_code=as1

Ian Williams' Weekly Columns in MaximsNews.com

Why Lebanon ?...  9 September 2004

Ian Williams Welcomes Republicans to New York...  29 August 2004

What kind of Veteran?  Calley-type or Kerry-type?  25 August 2004

Chavez Beating about the Bush...  18 August 2004

The War Records of Bush and Kerry...  12 August 2004

Where is Osama Bin Laden?  6 August 2004

Sudan, To Intervene – or not to Intervene?  27 July 2004

Mr. Sharon, Tear Down This Wall!  16 July 2004

William Safire – Warped, on Speed, or Just Running Mad Again?  13 July 2004

Bosnian U.N. Defender Locked Up  7 July 2004

The U.N., the U.S. & the I.C.C.  30 June 2004

The New York Times, William Safire and the United Nations  23 June 2004

Hastily Contrived, Verbose, and Fudged: Security Council Resolution 1546  16 June 2004

Is the U.S. Clever Enough to Rule the World?  9 June 2004

Humor the Beast: the U.S. and the ICC  2 June 2004

Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?  20 May 2004

The Solution to the Iraqi Knot  12 May 2004     

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