Obama Has A Gerald Ford Moment

"There is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe, and there never will be under a Ford Administration...Each of these countries [Yugoslavia, Rumania and Poland] is independent, autonomous; it has its own territorial integrity.
Gerald Ford, during 1976 Presidential debate

That was then; now let's take a look at a speech Obama made yesterday, claiming that Lebanon is now free of foreign influence:

U.S. President Barack Obama, in a markedly personal statement, said Monday he was committed to keeping Lebanon free of "terrorism" as tensions and fears of violence rose sharply in Beirut.

Obama marked Lebanon's Independence Day by firmly backing a special tribunal into the murder of former premier Rafik Hariri, amid media reports the probe will directly link Hizbullah to the 2005 killing.

"I am committed to doing everything I can to support Lebanon and ensure it remains free from foreign interference, terrorism, and war," Obama said in the written statement.

If Obama thinks that Lebanon is free of Iranian influence, he is making a mistake on a par with Gerald Ford's mistake about Poland.


Journalist Hussain Abdul-Hussain writes on how Hezbollah was brought to Lebanon by Iran:

This story of how Hezbollah came to be is quite different from the account given by most scholars and observers.

It was the end of the summer, and we were due to fly back home. But my dad was required to join the Iraqi army, and in order to avoid conscription my family decided to stay in Baalbek, where we lived for the next five years.

In 1982, seven years after the start of the civil war, the Lebanese government was too weak and fragmented to stand in Hezbollah's way. After taking over the barracks, Hezbollah occupied the House of Public Teachers, another state-owned building, and turned it into the Imam Khomeini Hospital. Around that time, Hezbollah and the Revolutionary Guards had occupied a 19th-century building, the Khawwam Hotel, and turned it into their headquarters. Most walls around the city were painted with murals of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini along with quotes from him promising the destruction of Israel and the end of America, or urging martyrdom.

Lee Smith also notes how Hezbollah in Lebanon is a product of Iran:

Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution energized Shiites throughout the Muslim world, an epochal event that [Shiite Cleric Sayyid Mohammed Hussein] Fadlallah welcomed. The revolution's most successful export was Hezbollah—the Party of God—an Arab Shiite organization created by Iranian Revolutionary Guard troops in the Bekaa Valley.

Michael Young writes in the Daily Star, Hezbollah represents Iranian, not Lebanese, interests:

Hizbullah, at least its leadership and security cadre, is an extension of Iran. The party is there primarily to defend and advance Iranian regional interests, even if Tehran has anchored Hizbullah, or allowed it to anchor itself, in the Lebanese Shiite condition. That means that Hizbullah will never defy Iranian directives when it comes to matters as fundamental as the United States or Israel

How can anyone who has any knowledge of the situation in Lebanon say that Lebanon is free from foreign interference--and I haven't even touched on Syria.

One more reason to conclude that we will get no closer to Middle East peace during Obama's watch.

Technorati Tag: Obama and Lebanon and Hezbollah.