Vice President Biden in Lebanon
22 May 2009 11:29 am by Taylor Marsh
Hezbollah isn’t happy. Joe Biden’s surprise visit is causing them indigestion. It’s the most senior U.S. official sent to Lebanon in 26 years, which comes too close to the June 7th election for Hezbollah’s comfort.
Biden said he had come to show U.S. support for Lebanon’s sovereignty, which “cannot and will not be traded away.”
“I do not come here to back any party,” he said after talks with President Michel Suleiman, but added that future U.S. aid to Lebanon would depend on the nature of the next government.
“The election of leaders committed to the rule of law and economic reform opens the door to lasting growth and prosperity,” Biden declared. “We will evaluate the shape of our assistance program based on the composition of the new government and the policies it advocates.”
It’s a perfect time to remind everyone of what’s going on at The Hague, with the investigation into Lebanon’s beloved leader Former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri’s assassination soon coming to a head. The results could have a real outcome in the region, as high level Syrians are reportedly going to be implicated, which would likely have a wide ranging impact on Israeli-Palestinian equilibrium deliberations, depending on how they are presented. (Thus all the caveats purposefully written into that last sentence.) Something to remember when we think of Lebanon and Syria, but stability in the region as a whole.
The last U.S. vice president to visit Lebanon was George H.W. Bush under President Ronald Reagan. He came in October 1983, days after a massive suicide truck bombing destroyed the U.S. Marine base at Beirut airport, killing more than 240 members of the U.S. military. – AP
There’s an old saying in the Middle East, compliments of Henry Kissinger. You can’t go to war in the region without Egypt; and you can’t have peace there without Syria.
