A Terrible, Terrible Idea

According to Aljazeera, one of the ideas that will be suggested by the Arab ministers meeting tomorrow is the sending of “Arab deterrence forces” to Lebanon.

The word that scared me most when I was a kid was “???” (deterrence force). 

Every time I got out to play soccer in a court next door, I had to pass by one of their outposts. They looked scary with their big guns, dusty outfits and smelly rooms, and I never quite understood why they had such a big picture of Hafez el Assad in black shades (always in black shades) on a big wall.

These were the Syrian forces that got out of Lebanon in 2005. We were told they were part of a larger Arab force that was meant to come over temporarily to implement the Taef agreement and stand as a buffer between the Lebanese warring sides. We all know the rest of the story. The “deterrence” became an occupation that took pleasure in extortion, torture and harassment. 

It has to be clear to the Arabs that any such force will be immediately looked at with suspicion and dread. We shouldn’t accept this.