Condoleezza Rice: No Compromise On Lebanon
The American Secretary of State just announced that there shouldn’t be any compromises on the principles of Sovereignty and independence when selecting the next President. Is she right?
(Cartoon from The Guardian newspaper)
The statement should make many kiss-and-makeup advocates in Lebanon nervous. The principle of “compromise” has been making headways in the Lebanese mainstream and is acceptable to a large percentage of the population and the media. Even the Maronite patriarch reportedly said that he will only accept a compromise candidate.
“Compromise” is seductive in Lebanon because many people would gladly pay a piece of, say, the International Tribunal, as the price for stability and the resumption of normality, with the country’s economic situation leaving many uneasy.
Ms. Rice effectively joins the ranks of the March 14 “hawks” like Mr. Jumblat who argue that one can never have security at the expense of justice, and that one shouldn’t sell out one’s revolution, especially if it was based on the principles of sovereignty and freedom.
Lebanese “realists” on the other hand argue that compromise is not such a bad idea, as they accept that Syria still controls some levers of power in Lebanon and remains capable of wreaking havoc, and that it would be unwise to provoke her by choosing a hostile president (although both March 14 candidates hardly pose any threat to Syria).
It is too easy for the opposition to blast Ms. Rice as standing in the way of a collective Lebanese Hug. But one should remember that most of what she said is correct. For example, President Lahhoud and the opposition keep reminding us that they want to roll back the decisions Seniora’s (”illegitmate”) government has taken. Ms. Rice is not committing balsphemy when she says that the next President “needs to be committed to resolutions that Lebanon has signed on to”.
**update**
As expected, Syria has blasted Rice’s comments and accused her of “blatantly interfering in Lebanese affairs“
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Hello, my name is Mustapha and I blog in The Beirut Spring about Lebanese society and politics. I started in February 2005 after the killing of P.M. Rafik Hariri.
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Enough compromises, especially with people(not sure of the term) that never respected them!
(Hey Mustapha, miss you dude!)
There will never be a collective Lebanese hug. This is impossible. Evern if it happens, it will be a lie.
What common ground do we have with Hezbo? or with Syria’s traitors in Lebanon? These guys wants the full power back to Syria. How can you compromise with that? How can compromise with a party that will tell you either you select our side 100% (Tawafouki!!!!) or war?
The only president that can take us out of our current crisis, is a president that will have the right to ask the question about Hezbo weapons and plans in Lebanon. Other than that, we will get a morphine shot.
We have to ask ourselves the question, do we need a solution or not?
On the other hand, that is uncalled for, to have a majority in the parliament that is not allowed to choose????
LebanesePatriot
From the article:
“between Michel Aoun, a pro-Syrian former president who is the opposition standard-bearer in November 12 presidential elections, and Hariri’s son Saad.”
Heheheh yea sure let’s all keep drinking the kool-aid.
May I correct :
“Michel Aoun, a pro-Syrian former president -previously appointed by Syria-, who is the opposition standard-bearer in November 12 presidential elections, and whose supporters keep calling for the return of the syrians”
If we repeat that long enough maybe we’ll believe it too and it’ll become even easier to dismiss those crazy pro Syrian FPMers :-)
Ralf,
Miss you pesky guys myself :)
Lebanese Patriot,
I think you have a point, there is very little we agree on. But I think we also have a duty to find more common grounds, since we have to accept that both sides have the ability to make this country utterly unlivable, which defeats the purpose of the entire political process don’t you think?
Tac,
I saw that too :) . To the Aounists, that’s just a conspiracy to discredit Mr. Aoun! talk about denial..
[...] The maverick in this international field is America. Mr. Zalmay Khalilzad, the American Ambassador in the United Nations said yesterday that there was nothing wrong with choosing a president using a simple majority. The American Secretary of State had said that she was against a compromise in this issue. Is the American position justified? [...]