US, Israel Threaten Lebanon As Arabs Prepare To Visit Beirut

Once again, Lebanon found itself in the middle of the storm…

Nothing is new. The current stage is difficult and sensitive. Lebanon didn’t enter it as usual from the gate of an Israeli war or an internal sedition, but from the gate of the international tribunal, the latest Israeli scheme.

It’s the tribunal believed by a Lebanese main bloc to be nothing but an Israeli project, a logic rejected by another bloc insisting that the tribunal constitutes a “red line” and therefore it’s forbidden to doubt its credibility.

It’s the tribunal that awakened the Israelis from their long and deep sleep and made them remember the language of “threats” they used to be expert in before their humiliating defeat in July 2006 in Lebanon.

Armed with the tribunal’s “hopes” to achieve the “unachieved” Israeli goals of disarming and dismantling Hezbollah, Israel threatened Lebanon and the US backed its “self-defense right” amid a suspicious international silence.

The newest Israeli threat was launched by Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak who warned that the next time violence breaks out, Israel would strike directly at the Lebanese government, which he said is allowing Hezbollah to rearm. “If Hezbollah fires a rocket into Tel Aviv, we will not run after each Hezbollah terrorist or launcher,” Barak told The Washington Post. “We will see it as legitimate to hit any target that belongs to the Lebanese state, not just to Hezbollah,” he claimed.

Barak’s threats got a direct approval from the United States. In this context, US State Department spokesman Philip Crowley expressed his administration’s full support for the Israeli threats and said that every country has a right to defense itself.

However, the Arabs won’t remain silent. They actually decided to act and expressed their “concern” for the current situation.

Thus, Beirut started preparations to receive Syrian President Bachar Assad and Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz who would arrive in the Lebanese capital after visiting Egypt and Syria, in a tour in which the Lebanese files would be a priority according to Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit who simply joined the political internal club, confirming himself a side in Lebanon by claiming that the May 7 events should not be repeated.

Notes/Sources:

The above article was written by Hussein Assi; entitled: “US, Israel Threaten Lebanon as Arabs Prepare to Visit Beirut”