Clinton Visits Lebanon on Mideast Tour

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton came to Beirut this past weekend to voice American support for the pro-Western March 14 coalition of Sunni and Christian leaders in the upcoming election. She delivered a letter to President Sleiman from President Obama declaring that the United States would not “sell out” Lebanon in any deal made in the Middle East.

“There is nothing that we would do in any way that would undermine Lebanon’s sovereignty,” Clinton said. “I want to assure any Lebanese citizen that the United States will never make any deal with Syria that sells out Lebanon and the Lebanese people. You have been through too much and it is only right that you are given a chance to make your own decisions,” Clinton said.

The trip was part of a tour including stops in Kuwait and Iraq, where those counties also received reassurances of US support. Lately, the US has been trying to strengthen dialogue with Iran and Syria, two countries linked closely to the Obama administration’s goals in the Middle East.

Iran holds influence over the region’s Shia population. It is seen a a key player in the Middle East  and is widely credited for helping to rein in the Shia insurgency in Iraq. But many Arab states, the vast majority of which are Sunni led, are nervous about growing Persian influence.  So Clinton’s presence was meant as reassurance to those governments that they would not be sacrificed at the expense of some other deal.

This is also true in the case of Syria, which is used by  Iran to smuggle weapons to  its proxy,  Hizballah. Syria was expelled from Lebanon in 2005, and would love to see a return to influence there. A deal with Syria and US-ally Israel some fear could involve Lebanon.

With six weeks to go before the elections, the climate, at least in Beirut, seems relatively calm. Before departing, Clinton laid a wreath at the tomb of Rafik Hariri,  the pro-Western Sunni former Prime Minister who was assassinated in  2005. This could have been a gesture to Syria signaling that the US has not forgotten about Hariri’s murder.

Another gesture was to Druze leader Walid Jumblatt. Jumblatt had been useful to the US in the past for his vocal criticism of Syrian influence in Lebanon, but he put his foot in his mouth recently when he was overheard belittling March 14 military strength in the face of Hizballah last May when the two groups clashed and Sunni security forces were quickly disarmed by Hizballah. Jumblatt had been popular with the Bush administration, but his remarks have seem to put him out of favor with the Obama administration.

After Clinton had departed, Hizballah quickly downplayed the visit saying that American “interference in the past was never positive.” It was not made clear what the Obama administration’s plan would be in the face of a Hizballah win in June. Clinton only referred to her support for the  “moderates”.

The Obama team was cautioned recently by former Bush official David Welch against over reacting in the event of a Hizballah victory, perhaps referring to the Bush reaction after Hamas ‘s success  in the Palestinian election, which was to boycott the result. “The US should deal with whatever government the Lebanese people vote for” he said.