Lebanon now led by Iran’s emissary
Dr. Edy Cohen/Israel Hayom/November 11/16
Iranian influence is continuing to bore its way into Lebanon. In effect, with his election as Lebanon’s president, Michel Aoun has joined a series of leaders who support Hezbollah and Iran. Now, Sunni Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri has been left alone in the campaign against Iranian and Hezbollah influence.
Many Lebanese were disappointed by Aoun’s first speech to the nation after his election.
Instead of speaking about the burning issues, Aoun chose to focus on freeing Lebanon from “Israeli occupation,” in an effort to please his masters in Tehran.
Aoun could not have been elected without Iran’s support. He would have done better to focus on the issue of electricity, which functions only a few hours each day in most parts of the country; or on the thousands of Lebanese imprisoned in Syria; or on the plight of thousands of former members of the South Lebanon Army, who are under investigation for no reason.
Instead of these issues, Aoun chose to bash Israel. A typical demagogic speech given by Arab leaders seeking to provoke the people with empty words. What occupation was Aoun talking about? After all, Israel withdrew from Lebanon in May 2005, to the international border along the Blue Line that is recognized by both countries.
When it comes to expectations for the future, we must get to know who Aoun really so as to analyze and predict which steps he will take. In his day, Aoun symbolized more than anything the Lebanese resistance against Syria. He served as transitional prime minister in 1988, holding on to the position until he was exiled to France in 1990, due to his defeat in the liberation war against the Syrians. He declared this war on Mar. 14, 1989, but his small army suffered a bad defeat, and Aoun was forced to abandon his palace in the dead of night on Oct. 13, 1990, for the French Embassy in Beirut, where he requested political asylum. This step led to widespread criticism from the Lebanese, who nicknamed him “the pajama general.”
Even now, many Lebanese do not see him as a man worthy of the presidency, after he abandoned his wife and daughters at the palace and left hundreds of his soldiers alone against the Syrian forces that took over. Nearly 100 soldiers were executed by the Syrians at the time and dozens more were taken prisoner. It would have been better if Aoun had mentioned those poor soldiers, whose fate is still unknown, in his speech.
Without Iranian help, Aoun would have only dreamed of serving as president, as he has done since the 1980s. Dozens of former Lebanese politicians now live in obscurity and no one hears about them. But Aoun chose to support Hezbollah in 2005 and to bet on the winning horse.
In the 1980s, he was among the opponents of Syria and of Iran’s presence in Lebanon, Aoun has since changed his stripes and has chosen to support both Syria and Iran. The proof of this is his past support for U.N. Resolution 1559 in 2004, which called for the dismantling of Hezbollah’s weaponry. However, he did not mention this in his speech, ignoring Hezbollah’s weapons store, which is a hot topic that concerns people of all backgrounds.
There is nothing left for us to do but wonder if he will again change his stripes and support the dismantling of Hezbollah’s weaponry.
**Edy Cohen is a research fellow at Bar-Ilan University.
