[whataretheysaying] Mary Madigan: An easily deterrable enemy

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Posted by Mary Madigan:
An easily deterrable enemy
http://whataretheysaying.powerblogs.com/posts/1197043898.shtml


   In NOW Lebanon, Lee Smith wrote:

     [1]No deal: The US and Syria arenât making up. But will Lebanon
     ever believe it?

     Hariri and the rest seem now to have given in. As March 14 figures
     were picked off one by one, their Washington ally, the worldâs lone
     superpower, did nothing to check the violence. Walid Jumblatt came
     to town a few weeks after Hariri and half-jokingly remarked that
     the way to break the two-and-a-half-year siege of Lebanon would be
     to send car bombs to Damascus. It was not a bad idea given that
     Israel bombed what has been described as a Syrian nuclear site, and
     for all of Damascusâs bluster, they dare not confront Israel except
     through terrorist proxies. In other words, this is an easily
     deterrable enemy.

     But the United States did nothing about Bashar al-Assad, except
     complain about Syrian interference in Lebanon â American bluster
     that served only to illuminate Washingtonâs unwillingness to back
     up its semi-tough talk with action. So, between recent events and
     the history of US-Lebanon relations in the 1990s, when President
     George H.W. Bush handed Lebanon off to Hafez al-Assad, it is easy
     to see how, from the Lebanese perspective, the impending invitation
     of Syria to Annapolis was the last straw. March 14 read this as a
     preface to an American deal with Damascus. But it is not.

     As Riceâs ludicrous comparisons between Mahmoud Abbas and Martin
     Luther King, Jr. indicate, she wants to etch her name in history
     and this is way she sees most likely â finally, peace achieved in
     the Middle East thanks to her heroic, transformational diplomacy.
     But standard diplomacy means that you must grasp fully the concerns
     of your allies, which in the case of Lebanon, Rice failed
     miserably. She thus signaled to March 14 where she believes
     Americaâs real priorities lie â not with protecting a fledgling
     democracy in Beirut from the terrorist state next door, but in
     trying to reward a society that too often breeds terrorism within
     its own borders. So, she invited Syria.

   One [2]commenter said:

     Profoundly written..thorough...and superb... this entirely explains
     why I am a Aounist......and the same reason why March 14 has seen
     the knife in their collective backs. America always lets her allies
     down..also gives mixed signals, which is why we have the problems
     we do in Iran, Iraq, Lebanon etc. From propping up dictators in
     Panama ..to doing the same in Pakistan.... it is little wonder a
     majority of Christians in Lebanon have flocked to Aoun as their
     leader.. As pathetic as his alliance with the Hezbo's is...what
     other choice do they have? Disarm Hizbo? Let those who want them
     disarmed..do the disarming. Christians already tried the civil war
     route...and have lost almost everything. Christian marginalization
     will continue unabetted....especially now with the impending
     election of this bafoon named Sulieman. If you are gonna give us a
     Syrian lacky...give us Aoun...at least he knows the backstabbing
     hardball politics of the world.

   Despite this, our Secretary of State still wants to 'talk' to the
   Syrians.

   ..and didn't we all [3]just see this coming...?

     BEIRUT (AFP) â A top Lebanese army officer and his bodyguard were
     killed on Wednesday in a powerful car bomb that further
     destabilised the country as it grapples with a presidential vacuum.

     A military spokesman told AFP that Brigadier General Francois
     El-Hajj, head of army operations, and his bodyguard were killed in
     the blast as their car drove through the suburb of Baabda, where
     the presidential palace and several embassies are located.

   Our government 'denounced' the killing. Can you imagine what the US
   would be like if our response to mob violence was to 'denounce' them,
   followed by an effort to renew 'friendship'? The gangsters would be in
   charge.

   As they are in the Middle East.

References

   1. http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=22175
   2. http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=22175
   3. http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5g3m6swZF24n1EFhBo0Zs7iBl83Ew