Condoleezza Rice Goes to Lebanon
I do not know how the US could handle the situation in Lebanon any better. Rice has flown to Beirut in support of the fledgling government and has been encouraging Syria to stop supporting Hezbollah through the influence of moderate Muslim states like Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made an unannounced visit to Beirut on Monday in a show of support for that country’s weakened democracy, which is struggling to contain the fighting between the Hezbollah militia and Israel.
Rice planned to meet with Lebanese Prime Minister Faud Saniora, other leaders of his government and members of parliament about the surge in fighting along the southern border in the last two weeks.
Her visit is intended to make a show of support and concern for both the Saniora government and the Lebanese people, administration officials said. She also plans to talk with Lebanese leaders about how the central government can gain control of the entire country.
And that is the real problem; the government of Lebanon is too weak to exert control over their entire country allowing terrorist groups like Hezbollah to operate as a quasi-autonomous government in the southern region. Exploiting this weakness, Hezbollah, until recently, has attacked Israel with impunity.
With the IDF attacking into Lebanon to go after the terrorists, Condoleezza Rice is reluctant to call a halt to hostilities. After all, for the last couple of years the US and Great Britain have been the only countries to really go after the terrorists. So Rice has to play a balancing act of allowing Israel to proceed as long as they do not undermine the pro-west government of Lebanon.
At the same time the Bush administration is working to detach Syria from its ally Iran. I am not sure if this is more of a move to separate and conquer or if its main purpose is to further isolate Iran. Either way, we have some of the more moderate Muslim countries helping us out.
Egypt and Saudi Arabia are working to entice Syria to end support for Hezbollah, a move that is central to resolving the conflict in Lebanon and unhitching Damascus from its alliance with Iran, the Shiite Muslim guerrillas’ other main backer.
Arab diplomats in Cairo said the United States had signaled a willingness to re-engage Syria through Washington’s encouragement of the Egyptians and Saudis to lean on Damascus to stop backing Hezbollah.
With Jordan, Egypt, and Israel all confirming the existence of Iranian troops in southern Lebanon, it seems likely Washington is trying to isolate the Islamic regime, probably saving them to deal with later.
The bodies of Iranian Revolutionary Guard soldiers who were killed by the Israeli army in Lebanon have been transported to Syria and flown to Tehran, senior Lebanese political sources told WorldNetDaily.
The information was confirmed by Israeli and Egyptian security officials. It follows scores of reports the past few days Iranian soldiers have been aiding Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon in their attacks against Israel, including help with the firing of rockets into Israeli population centers. (snip)
Jordanian officials told WND they are “100 percent sure” Iranian Revolutionary Guard unit soldiers have fired rockets into Israel. They also said the Syrian army has provided Hezbollah with intelligence information on the locations of strategic Israeli targets to aid in Hezbollah rocket fire.
Any evidence of foreign interference by Iran and Syria should be displayed for all to see. Syria could possibly come clean by ending their relationship with Iran. As the smaller partner, President Bashar al-Assad can claim he sent help to Hezbollah at the request of Iran. Iran on the other hand is a different matter. The ruling mullahs believe they are supposed to export the Islamic Revolution. Until the people of Iran rise up against the autocracy, not much will change. The country will continue to support Hezbollah and other terrorist groups until a regime change occurs.
By sending Sec. Rice to Lebanon now, President Bush can exploit this window of opportunity to show the US wants peace in the region while giving Israel enough time to wipe out as many of the terrorists as they can. Furthermore the trip can demonstrate to the Lebanese government that we still support them. Either way, I see this trip as a win-win for the US.
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