The Shameless Pro-American

In a region where associating yourself with the Americans can be political suicide, Saad Hariri is proudly swimming against the tide. Is this wisdom or folly?

Nothing to be ashamed of..

Have you been wondering why the American Ambassador, Mr. Jeffrey Feltman, has been so keen on stressing the fact that America is not supporting any name for the Lebanese presidency?

Apparently, that policy came at the heels of the New York Times article by Hassan Fattah, in which he attributed Amine Gemayel’s loss in the Metn by-elections to American support:

There is one explanation [to Amine Gemayel’s loss], however, that has become common wisdom in the region: Mr. Gemayel’s doom seems to have been sealed by his support from the Bush administration and the implied agendas behind its backing.

Mr. Fattah then made this sweeping conclusion that appears to have found some ears in the State Department:

The paradox of American policy in the Middle East [..] is that almost everywhere there are free elections, the American-backed side tends to lose.

Lebanon’s voters in the Metn district, in other words, appeared to have joined the Palestinians, who voted for Hamas; the Iraqis, who voted for a government sympathetic to Iran; and the Egyptians, who have voted in growing numbers in recent elections for the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood

Of course, the article is utter rubbish (I mean come on, Bekfayya and Gaza?, has Mr. Fattah even been to Metn?) but that doesn’t mean that some general truth of it couldn’t exist in one particular Lebanese demographic: The Sunnis.

Before the Hariri assassination, the Lebanese Sunnis were part of the regional “America and Israel are the enemies” mass. It took the shock of the assassination of a very charismatic leader to provoke the collective jolt against those Arabist sound bites and join the independence and freedom movement supported by the West, which of course includes the United States.

Some people, the Syrians and Hezbollah included, are betting that such a shift in alignment was emotional and temporary and that the Sunnis will eventually join the Aljazeera crowd and restore their anti-American reflexes. 

But watching Mr. Saad Hariri -the leader of the largest Sunni party in Lebanon-, one not only sees a politician who doesn’t mind being associated with the Americans, one sees someone who actively promotes and takes pride in his alliance with Uncle Sam. A recent Fox-news interview with Mr. Hariri in which he attacked the Syrian regime was the No 1 news item in his media (Fox News!). When Mr. Hariri goes to Washington to shake Bush’s hand next Thursday, you can be sure that the picture will be proudly displayed on his newspaper’s front page.

The young and inexperienced Mr. Hariri could be naive (being a neocon in a post-neocon era). But perhaps he is on to something.. Perhaps in this hearts and minds war, it’s better to have clarity on who your friends are to embolden your supporters into permanently joining the American-pride express. Perhaps a hesitant, wishy washy position could have slowly slided them back to their old ways.

It is a risky position for Mr. Hariri, but it is a refreshing change from the hypocrisy of the Middle Eastern ways, don’t you think?