Greater Middle East Programme

For a change just a link to an interesting article (in German language) in Telepolis about the origin of the Greater Middle East Programme. Worth reading!

Syria, Lebanon and the United States

On 28 February the pro-Syrian government of Lebanon has resigned due to the pressure by constant protests against the Syrian military presence in Lebanon and its dominating influence on Lebanese foreign and security policy. Some comments saw the resignation as a tactical move by the Syrian regime, aimed at reducing internal and external pressure following the assassination of former prime minister and then leading figure of the opposition Rafik Hariri on 14 February 2005. The future of Lebanon ist not decided, since both anti and pro-Syrian protesters took to the streets - the latter yesterday mounting to hundreds of thousands rallied by the Hezbollah. But what is the background of Syrian military presence in Lebanon?

Syria intervened in 1976 in the Lebanese civil war that had started one year earlier, initially supporting the Christian-Maronite side, but also fighting for their own agenda. Syrian troops were involved in the war almost constantly up to its end in 1990. Israel supported the Phalange (or Kataeb Party), also a Christian-Maronite force and became more and more involved in the conflict, culminating in the 1982 invasion. Other actors in the conflict included the PLO, the Shiite Hezbollah, the Lebanese Druze forces and various other militias. Western powers also intervened, but their efforts to end the war were doomed after the ill-fated U.S.-led intervention of 1983, where in suicide attacks by the Hezbollah 241 U.S. and 58 French soldiers were killed on April 18, 1983 by huge bomb blasts. The Soviet Union in turn provided arms and military personnel disguised as "advisers" to Syria.

By 1989 Syria had become the strongest actor in the civil war. Together with its allied militias it had managed to subdue almost all other factions. Peace negotiations took place in October 1989 in Ta'if, Saudi-Arabia. The meeting was attended by most of the surviving parliamentarians (the last elections were held in 1972) and supported by the United States. The result was the Ta'if Agreement which was endorsed by all participants save four muslim parliamentarians.

The Agreement, which was called "The Charta of National Reconciliation" inter alia stated:

Considering that the objective of the State of Lebanon is to spread its authority over all the Lebanese territories through its own forces, represented primarily by the internal security forces, and in view of the fraternal relations binding Syria to Lebanon, the Syrian forces shall thankfully assist the forces of the legitimate Lebanese government to spread the authority of the State of Lebanon within a set period of no more than 2 years, beginning with ratification of the national accord charter, election of the president of the republic, formation of the national accord cabinet, and approval of the political reforms constitutionally. At the end of this period, the two governments - the Syrian Government and the Lebanese National Accord Government - shall decide to redeploy the Syrian forces in Al-Biq'a area from Dahr al-Baydar to the Hammana-al-Mudayrij-'Ayn Darah line, and if necessary, at other points to be determined by a joint Lebanese-Syrian military committee. An agreement shall also be concluded by the two governments to determine the strength and duration of the presence of Syrian forces in the above-mentioned area and to define these forces' relationship with the Lebanese state authorities where the forces exist.

Thus the agreement sanctioned the stationing of Syrian troops in Lebanon, although providing for a strengthening of the Lebanese Government and leaving room for interpretation concerning an eventual withdrawal. It was signed on 22 October and ratified on 4 November 1989. However, the Ta'if Agreement was rejected by Michel Aoun, a powerful Christian-Maronite leader who opposed the stationing of Syrian troops and who had successfully continued to fight against the Syrian troops in 1989 and 1990. He was, inter alia, supported by Saddam Hussein. When Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990 and Syria chose to side with the coalition forming against him, Syrian interests where now boosted and it was able to defeat Michel Aouns forces and drive him into exile in Paris. Some comments claim that Syria could only achieve success in its 1990 campaign because of U.S. support for its policy in Lebanon.

Official U.S. documents do not deny that the Syrian military campaign against Michel Aoun was politically backed by the U.S. - he is marked as "rebel general ... who had defied efforts at reconciliation with the legitimate Government of Lebanon". The Goverment of Lebanon at that time was strongly supported by Syria.

After the end of the civil war, the signing of a treaty of friendship between Syria and Lebanon and Israel's withdrawal from south Lebanon, all conditions for the redeployment of Syrian troops as called for in the Ta'if Agreement seem to be met. The U.S. even read the Ta'if Agreement as eventually stipulating for a complete withdrawal of Syrian troops and therefore strongly backed a UN Security Council Resolution 1559 (2004) which calls for a complete withdrawal of all foreign troops from Lebanon.

Michel Aoun is still campaigning for a Syrian withdrawal and has announced that he intends to return to Lebanon. That his cause now gets U.S. support - realpolitik or irony of history?