{"id":8196,"date":"2011-01-26T10:51:57","date_gmt":"2011-01-26T15:51:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/?p=8196"},"modified":"2011-01-26T11:56:39","modified_gmt":"2011-01-26T16:56:39","slug":"us-loses-lebanon-worries-about-losing-egypt-tunisians-ask-feltman-to-go-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/us-loses-lebanon-worries-about-losing-egypt-tunisians-ask-feltman-to-go-home\/","title":{"rendered":"US Loses Lebanon, Worries about Losing Egypt; Tunisians Ask Feltman to Go Home"},"content":{"rendered":"

What is happening to the US?<\/p>\n

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Tunisians objecting to Feltman's efforts in Tunisia<\/p><\/div>\n

Arab News, one of Saudi Arabia’s leading papers which has been in circulation for 35 years, published this surprising opinion piece in favor of Lebanon’s new government. It recommends scuttling the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, Washington’s brainchild. By arguing that Rafiq Hariri would not support or continence “further bloodshed in his name,” it recommends a halt to further demonization of the Lebanese party, Hizbullah and using Lebanon as a battleground for regional influence.<\/p>\n

It demonstrates significant disagreement within the Kingdom over the wisdom of marching behind America’s drumbeat.
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\nLebanon should reject Hariri tribunal<\/a>
\nBy LINDA HEARD | ARAB NEWS
\nPublished: Jan 18, 2011<\/p>\n

“… Disunity is Lebanon\u2019s greatest Achilles heel, which is now being exacerbated by the UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon, which is bent on opening-up old wounds with the potential to thrust the country into civil war.<\/p>\n

There is no doubt that Lebanon\u2019s former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was a great man, who worked hard to rebuild his nation and bring his people together. His reconstruction of Downtown Beirut is a testament to that. His killing in 2005 was a terrible crime ..but allowing a foreign court to regurgitate that tragedy six years with potentially devastating consequences serves no purpose at all for Lebanon\u2019s stability and economic future.<\/p>\n

It does, however, benefit the US and Israel which are ready to cheer on the demonization of their enemy Hezbollah, which is the only entity blocking those powers from total domination over Israel\u2019s tiny neighbor and giving them pause for thought to pursue their ambitions to bomb Iran\u2019s nuclear sites.<\/p>\n

Lebanon\u2019s so-called unity government wasn\u2019t perfect but it was largely workable. It fell apart when outgoing Prime Minister Saad Hariri (now caretaker prime minister) visited the US President Barack Obama. He subsequently confirmed his support for the tribunal\u2019s findings and upcoming indictments against members of Hezbollah….<\/p>\n

While it\u2019s understandable that Saad Hariri is keen to bring his father\u2019s murderers to justice, but he should not do so at the expense of peace. Whatever a foreign court comes up with will not bring his father back but may lead to further bloodshed in his name….<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Hezbollah Ally Mikati to Head New Lebanon Government<\/a>
\nJanuary 25, 2011, Businessweek
\nBy Massoud A. Derhally<\/p>\n

Jan. 25 (Bloomberg) — Lebanese President Michel Suleiman asked Najib Mikati, candidate of the Hezbollah movement and its allies, to form a government as supporters of rival parties took to the streets in protest. Mikati won the backing today of 68 lawmakers to 60 for caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri after Suleiman canvassed their views in two days of talks.<\/p>\n

….The U.S. \u201cshould be realistic and pragmatic\u201d about Hezbollah\u2019s role in a new government, said Rami G. Khouri…..<\/p>\n

\u201cUltimately the question is: Will Mikati be able to bridge the differences between Saudi Arabia and Syria, the two traditional power brokers in the country?\u201d said Josh Landis, director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma in Norman. \u201cIf there is no agreement between Syria and Saudi Arabia then there will be more trouble in Lebanon.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Mikati is worth $2.5 billion, according to Forbes magazine.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Michael Young<\/strong>, “Lebanon\u2019s False Choice Between Stability and Justice<\/a>” (via Elliott Abrams<\/a>)<\/p>\n

…..Hezbollah, egged on by Tehran, will fight to ensure that any new Lebanese government distances itself from the special tribunal. But if the tribunal can prove its accusations, Hezbollah may be caught in a vise. If the party resorts to intimidation to stifle dissent and condemnation after the accusations come out, it could plant the seeds of its own destruction. Browbeating its domestic partners will only further isolate Hezbollah and rally other Lebanese communities against it. A Hezbollah leader lording over Lebanon will represent an invitation for an attack by Israel, which might see an opening to cripple the party if it is isolated. And this time, the Israelis have repeatedly warned that a war would be far worse than in 2006 and Shiite suffering much greater. Even among Shiites, patience with a militant organization that offers only perpetual conflict may wear thin, especially at a time when the community yearns for stability to consolidate its newfound political and economic standing in Lebanon….<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Mona Eltahawi<\/a> in the WashPost, concerned about Hillary Clinton’s statements supporting Husni Mubarak against the Egptian demonstrators, takes Washington to task for propping up the Mubarak regime.<\/div>\n
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“Unlike Tunisia, Egypt is a major U.S. ally. When Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said<\/a> on Tuesday that the Obama administration’s “assessment is that the Egyptian government is stable and is looking for ways to respond to the legitimate needs and interests of the Egyptian people,” she showed once again how out of touch she is with popular anger at Mubarak. She also alerted Egyptians that Washington was as concerned about the protests and the potential “Egypt effect” as Mubarak must be.<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Washington is rapidly losing friends in the region<\/strong>. As I have been arguing for some time, the US is pursuing bad policies which will only lead to its increasing isolation in the region. Turkey has turned away from Washington for its full throated support of Israel and ill-advised destruction of the Iraq state. Starving Iranians is unpopular and counterproductive. It is hard to understand why the US would designate Iran its most important enemy and foreign policy issue when Iran hardly threatens the US. Supporting Israeli dispossession of Palestinians is sure to lose the US friends and fuel further terrorism. Demonizing Hizbullah and Syria and pursuing economic warfare against them, rather than supporting international law on the Golan issue is wrong. See Cobban’s\u00a0Arab world waking from 40-year sleep?<\/a> for more on this.<\/div>\n
Anti Mubarak Statements in NYTimes<\/a>:<\/div>\n
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..the administration has worked with pro-democracy groups to advocate for freer media and assembly. It has pushed for outside monitors to scrutinize elections in Jordan and Egypt. And it has encouraged social networks like Twitter<\/a> and Facebook<\/a> to spread the word about pro-democracy movements \u2014 the very networks that helped spread word of demonstrations in Tunisia and Egypt. \u201cIn giving us guidance as we develop our policies in the region, the president was adamant that we take stock of the brittleness and hidden risks of the status quo,\u201d said Samantha Power<\/a>, a senior director at the National Security Council who handles human rights issues.<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
State of the Union: <\/strong>These are the Middle East quotes from the State of the Union address by President Obama<\/div>\n
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