USCFL - Wake up America and stop listening to the "Arabists" of the US State Department and Council on Foreign Relations

America has defeated the Taliban. This achievement, while important, is still quite minor in the overall scheme of things when we consider the long term goals for the Middle East.

For nine years and under the Clinton administration, the United States played a role of facilitator of negotiations between Israel and the Arab countries.

Unfortunately, nobody was forced to make any hard decisions. Whether or not Syria withdrew from Lebanon was said to be between Lebanon and Syria. And while Clinton had publicly condemned Netanyahu, he was not able to force him to make concessions.

Over the last two months, we have seen the Bush administration play also with various ideas without being however decisive with any.

First it demanded that Syria disarm the Hezbollah; however when Syria refused, the Bush administration did not bother pursuing the issue. For two reasons, one it wanted Syria to co-operate with sanctions against Baghdad and two it wanted Arab support for the war against Afghanistan.

The key point that President Bush and his key advisors along with other previous administrations don't seem to get is that Syria's token support for the American war against the Taliban is not going to bring any tangible strategic reward for the United States, and neither does it or should it give the Untied States of America an excuse to turn a blind eye to Syria's occupation of Lebanon.

Syria should also not be permitted to use the Palestinian issue to distract us from its occupation of Lebanon. Neither should America listen to Lebanese puppet officials. As was recently said on a Lebanese website " Lahoud is waiting for global peace to break out before asking Syria to leave". Perhaps another way of looking at this is "We will restore a free and democratic Lebanon with or without Syria's permission".

There is a whole group of Arabists in the US State Department and the Council of Foreign Relations who are and have always been concerned at the Arab reaction to a tougher stand. However, there comes a time when Lebanon has to be looked at as a Lebanese issue. The Arab world and particular Syria should not be permitted to use the Arab card to maintain their occupation of Lebanon. Any mandate that Syria has from the Arab League to control Lebanon must be declared invalid. A bunch of undemocratically elected despots should not be permitted by the United States of America to use the Arab card to destroy the notion of a free, independent and sovereign Lebanon.

It is clear that a free, independent and sovereign Lebanon will undoubtedly have many benefits for the Middle East.

First, a genuine democracy will not only create prosperity for the Lebanese people and preserve Lebanon's proud heritage, but will also bring a whole new wave of democracy to a region which badly needs it.

A free Lebanon would also be beneficial for the Palestinians because Lebanon may be able to convince Israel to make concessions, because the Lebanese are seemingly the one cultural group in the Middle East capable of doing a deal with Israel to get Palestinians out of Lebanon without seeing the concessions as a sign of weakness but as a sign of goodwill between the two sides; which could build up significant trust.

Third, a free Lebanon will see Lebanon's Shiite community live in a prosperous state which, with time, will only have a positive impact on the Iranians. This may seem a stretch of the imagination; but a free Lebanon and a free Iran would create an absolutely explosive Middle East. Then America would have a reliable bunch of allies in the region, in a free Lebanon, Israel, Jordan and Iran.

The result will be that Saudi Arabia and Syria will become increasingly isolated in the Middle East. As their influence diminishes, the chances for peace will increase and the more secure the new independent free Lebanon will become. A new free Iraq will replace Saudi Arabia as America's oil buddy, therefore diminishing the House of Saud's influence. Syria will then be forced to embrace radical change or face international isolation.

But for any of this to happen, the United States of America must be willing to take the lead. This means making tough decisions that will be unpopular with the despots in the Middle East. If its means raising the issue of Saudi Arabian treatment of Christians, foreigners and women's rights in the House of Saud, then be it. If it means having to place economic and political sanctions against Syria, then be it. What America needs is a foreign policy that respects the needs of the people of the Middle East not one that merely echoes the desires of the selfish despots.

Having said that, and to all the "Arabists" of the US State Department and the Council on Foreign Relations who have been shaping US foreign policy for the last 55 years, do us a favor and resign from your respective positions with dignity. You have created more harm to the Middle East people than all of the Arab dictators combined since you provided them with cover, protection and intelligence instead of dismantling their power structure. Enough is enough.

Bottom Line: We need a plural, free and democratic Lebanon and we need it yesterday. For everyday that we allow Syria to occupy Lebanon, we waste a day of development in the Middle East. Europe will not do this, Israel cannot do this and China will not. Only America and the Lebanese communities can free their country, and the only way this can happen is if the United States of America changes its foreign policy to one of moral standards. Only when America makes the tough decisions will the Middle East change.

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Article:	Wake up America and stop listening to the "Arabists" of the US State Department and Council on Foreign Relations
Author:	Klee Gluckman
Date:	January 2002