Middle East
Bush Postures On The
Brave Streets Of Beirut
By Ahmed Amr
From
AxisofLogic.com
March 7, 2005
- As usual, George Bush is pushing his luck. Posturing as the liberator of
Lebanon, he seems intent on implementing his neo-con inspired vision to
impose regime change in Damascus.
Successive American administrations
have demonstrated zero interest the sovereignty of Lebanon. It should
never be forgotten that America comes to the Lebanese table with a sordid
history that Bush and his merry band of Likudniks would rather ignore. It
was Henry Kissinger who laid the red carpet for Syria's intervention in
1976. And it was the United States that gave the Israelis a green light to
invade Lebanon in 1978 and 1982. It is also worth noting that Israel's
brutal eighteen-year occupation of the south was paid for with American
tax dollars. So, Washington's sudden concern with Lebanon's territorial
integrity should be taken with a grain of salt coming from an
administration that continues to libel the Lebanese resistance as the
enterprise of 'terrorists'.
To dodge his unenviable record in Iraq,
Bush will hitch a ride on any bandwagon to escape the Mess on Potamia.
Americans loved the Iraqi elections but - thanks to developments in
Lebanon
- they are now distracted from paying attention to the results - which
remain uncertain and unattractive.
For the callous, it must be
entertaining to watch American media barkers howl about a democratic
Intifada breaking out in the Middle East as a direct result of the
invasion of Iraq. Indeed, it would all be very comical if the whole messy
affair was not so bloody and the policy makers and pundits were not so
delusional.
But the killing fields in Iraq have
nothing to do with the recent peaceful demonstrations in
Lebanon.
The spontaneous popular uprising in Beirut was fueled by the assassination
of Rafiq al-Hariri - not in response to George's rhetoric or his 'shock
and awe' performance in Baghdad. Crediting Bush with the 'cedar
revolution' is as valid as blaming him for the Tsunami in Asia.
If American journalists had a clue,
they would pay attention to what the Lebanese are demanding - a rapid
withdrawal of the Syrian military forces and Syrian intelligence
operatives and a transparent investigation to determine who was
responsible for murdering Rafiq El Hariri. Period. None of them are
rallying around Bush's agenda to disarm the Lebanese resistance. Hezbollah
continues to be as popular in Lebanon as the French resistance was in the
streets of Paris.
George Bush should hire a translator
and have him explain what Rafiq El Hariri's sister has been saying on Al
Mustaqbal - a satellite channel owned by the late Prime Minister. Bahia
Hariri, a member of the Lebanese parliament, has a clear message that has
been echoed by virtually every Lebanese faction. The consensus in Lebanon
is that Syrian forces must be withdrawn by a date certain - but in
dignity. Even the opposition insists that Syrian-Lebanese relations will
improve when Lebanese sovereignty is no longer compromised. The primary
concern of all factions is implementing the Taif agreement - not in bowing
to American dictates to disarm the Lebanese resistance. Before his death,
Hariri spared no effort to resist the neo-con campaign to criminalize
Hezbollah and other factions who participated in the struggle to liberate
Lebanon from Israeli occupation.
Under the cover of UN resolution 1559,
both Washington and Tel Aviv are also demanding that Lebanon be forced to
absorb Palestinian refugees. Those who mourn Rafiq El Hariri have not
forgotten his adamant refusal to accept this naked assault on the
Palestinian right of return.
To be fair, one can't blame George for
grasping at straws. Fifteen hundred American soldiers and tens of
thousands of Iraqis are already dead because of his warped neo-con
fantasies. No WMDs have been found and Bush has a nasty insurgency on his
hands. Bin Laden is still on the loose and anti-American sentiment is on
the rise. Oil prices are sky high and the dollar is on skid row. Iraqi
elections were held without Sunni participation but Washington is still
trying to manipulate the disturbing results. The neo-con faithful are
depending on a poison pill called Ahmed Chalabi to derail the ascension of
clerics to the Iraqi throne. For all these 'achievements', The American
taxpayer is stuck with a 200 billion dollar bill - all of it borrowed
money.
Bush and his willing enablers are also
taking credit for the 'Prague spring' in the Kingdom of oil and in Egypt.
Saudi Arabia is holding a few municipal elections - for half the people
(no females allowed) and half the seats (the rest are appointed by the
Saudi nobility). As for Egypt, Mubarak has made a 'revolutionary' proposal
to amend the constitution to allow for multi-candidate presidential
elections instead of referendums. It is still a proposal. It doesn't
include term limits - insuring that Mubarak gets a fifth term in office.
The Government controls most of the media outlets and has already launched
an unofficial campaign on behalf of their favorite son. Draconian
emergency laws dating back to 1981 are still in effect - which means any
potential challenger will have to communicate with his constituency using
hand signals. Three out of four Egyptians have never bothered to vote and
it is not clear whether they will be allowed to register for the next
election. And potential candidates will still need government approval
before they run. As for Ayman Nour, who decided to prematurely declare his
candidacy - he is still behind bars in Cairo.
So much for the 'democratic Intifada'
in the Middle East - which is the
'new new reason' for the invasion of
Iraq. Is it not incredible that George
Bush recognizes that free and fair Lebanese elections can not be conducted
under Syrian occupation while insisting that Iraqi elections were just
dandy under the barrel of American guns? While pushing for an immediate
withdrawl of Syrian forces from Lebanon, Bush refuses to schedule an
American retreat from Iraq.
For thirty-eight years, Israel has
conducted a violent campaign of creeping annexation and ethnic cleansing
in the West Bank and
Gaza. Two generations of Palestinians have
endured the brutality and humiliation of the American financed Israeli
iron fist. Yet, Bush's proclaimed love of liberty always seems to run out
of steam at the Israeli border and near the oil plantations of the Gulf.
The Bush administration's sudden
determination to implement United Nations resolutions is also a rare
treat. Since 1967, the United
States has sabotaged all UN
resolutions calling for an end to the Israeli occupation of Arab land -
including the Syrian Golan Heights. In fact, America has paid virtually
every dime related to the cost of the Israeli occupation and the building
of illegal Jewish settlements. Every American administration dating back
to Johnson has supported the vicious repression of the Palestinians. Even
Jimmy Carter refused to extend his passion for human rights to the West
Bank and Gaza.
Securing cheap oil and fulfilling
Israeli territorial ambitions remain the twin pillars of American foreign
policy in the Middle East. Every thinking Arab including the Lebanese
understand this basic reality. The only thing that has changed since 9/11
is the derogatory anti-Arab racism has become so pervasive in America's
popular culture. This new element allows this administration to construct
gulags in Abu Ghraib and Guantanmo and to erase towns like Falujah from
the face of the map. War crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan are not issues
that concern CNN's pundits or the simpletons who imbibe their noxious brew
as gospel truth. Millions of Americans continue to get their news from
Rupert Murdoch - a racist pornographer and a favorite of the Bush
administration.
'Bush The Liberator' might fool most
Americans all of the time - but in the Middle East,
he continues to be denigrated as a venomous villain. At best, they take
him for an ignorant fool. At worst, they see him as a dangerous messianic
outsider who is slavish to the whims of Ariel Sharon. True enough, the
vast majority of people in the
Middle East would like nothing more than to retire their autocratic
governors. But they aren't holding their breath for a savior to come
galloping out of the White House.
The heroic multitudes that took to the
streets of Beirut after the vicious murder of Rafiq El Hariri are an
inspiration to all those who yearn for democracy in the Middle East.
But George Bush's invasion of Iraq
has nothing to do with this marvelous and spontaneous Lebanese uprising.
The neo-con media operatives need to abandon the quixotic search for a
'new new reason' to justify the invasion of Iraq. At the very minimum,
they should stop looking for justifications on the brave streets of
Beirut.
Mar 8,
2005
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