I Won’t Believe It Till I See It

The fact that the whole world is talking about an eventual Syrian embassy in Lebanon doesn’t make it any less of a fantasy.

The international news outlets are talking of this as a “mutual” breakthrough, as if Lebanon somehow sacrificed to accept having a Syrian embassy in Beirut.

All the Lebanese people ever wanted from Syria was a recognition, a concrete recognition, that Lebanon is a sovereign country like say, Jordan, Saudi Arabia or Turkey. But the problem all along was that both the Syrian government and the Syrian people believed in their heart of hearts that Lebanon was somehow stolen from them during French colonial rule, and that we somehow yearn to the embrace of our historic mother ship.

The Assads have always attempted a gradualist “redressing” of that “historic error”, but to placate intense Lebanese and international resistance, they have always paid lip service, like they’re doing now in Paris, to Lebanon’s independence and sovereignty. 

If they stick to their usual habit, they will eventually find some way of weaseling out of their commitments after the world turns its eyes away from the matter. This usually happens after the Syrians pocket the benefits of their empty promises. Remember, there is a good reason why the Germans are skeptical.

Of course, things could be different this time, but my hopes aren’t set too high. Mr. Sarkozy and the media can talk all they want about the Syrians opening an embassy in Lebanon, but as far as I’m concerned, I’ll only believe it if I see it with my own eyes.