BEYOND THE DROPZONE

A Call for UN Observers to North Lebanon

Posted by W. Thomas Smith Jr. on 1 October 2008 at 3:58 pm UTC

By W. Thomas Smith Jr.

In the wake of reports of Syrian troops massing on the northern border between Syria and Lebanon – within easy striking distance of the turbulent Lebanese city of Tripoli – as well as various confirmed/unconfirmed (depending upon one’s expectation of confirmation) reports of Syrian Army crossings into Lebanon since early September; the International Lebanese Committee for United Nations Security Council Resolution 1559 is calling for UN observers to deploy with the Lebanese Army to the border region.

“We call on the Lebanese President Michel Sleiman after his visit to the United Nations in New York to call on the secretary general of the United Nations to dispatch UN observers … ,â€� says Tom Harb, secretary general of ILC for UNSCR 1559, in a prepared statement.

Harb gives as his reasons: “The repetitive incidents since the summer of 2007 with terrorists infiltrated from the Syrian side of the borders, and the massing of Syrian troops along the Akkar district.�

He adds, “We oppose the idea of sending so-called Arab monitors to these borders between two members of the Arab League, precisely because the League doesn’t have a permanent security process to dispatch these kinds of forces. In addition, within the Arab League the political divisions are sharp and sending military elements to monitor terrorist infiltration will only enflame the situation.â€�

In a phone conversation this morning, Harb tells me: “Any Arab initiative outside the UN would be disastrous for Lebanon.�

Indeed, Harb is correct as there is the very real probability that any such initiative would favour the terrorists and Islamist extremists in the north just as we witnessed in the Arab-engineered Doha agreement, which granted the terrorist group Hezbollah all manner of political/military concessions after Hezbollah launched a series of bloody attacks against the Lebanese government and citizenry in May.

“Sleiman must work with the UN before the Syrians gain the upper hand,� says Harb.

Again, Harb is correct. But I’m not holding my breath when it comes to pro-Syria Sleiman, who became president as part of the Doha agreement.

As I’ve reported time-and-again, Sleiman – when he was commander-in-chief of the armed forces – attempted to justify the right of an armed Hezbollah to exist (in a personal conversation with me), and months later he refused to fight Hezbollah when the terrorist group and its allies were killing Lebanese civilians and generally trying to burn down the country.

Then there are Sleiman’s Syrian connections (as I reported on May 25): “First, Sleiman was appointed army commander when the Syrians’ had overt control over Lebanon (I say overt, because Syria certainly has a covert operational hand in Lebanon today). Second, Sleiman has reportedly trained with Syrian military forces in Syria. Third, Sleiman’s brother-in-law, Gebran Kuriyyeh, was press spokesman for the late Syrian President Hafez al-Assad (and a couple sources tell us Kuriyyeh is also a former press officer for Assad’s son, current Syrian Pres. Bashar Assad.).�

Read Harb’s complete statement in Arabic here.

— Visit W. Thomas Smith Jr. at uswriter.com.

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