Lebanese President declares State of Emergency; Gives Army Control (Update: Elections Postponed)
[Guest post by DRJ]
Hours before he was scheduled to leave office, pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud of Lebanon has declared a state of emergency:
“BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) – Lebanese President Emile Lahoud declares a state of emergency and orders the army to take control, less than four hours before his terms ends.”
In August, President Bush warned Syria and Hezbollah of severe consequences if they attempted to interfere with Lebanon’s democratically elected government:
“President Bush said Thursday that the United States would freeze the property and assets of anyone trying to undermine Lebanon’s democratically elected government — a move intended as a sharp warning to Syria and its ally Hezbollah.
The announcement, in an executive order and an accompanying letter to Congress, reflects heightened concern in Washington that Syria is trying to reassert control over Lebanon. It comes a little more than a month after the administration announced that it was enacting a travel ban, barring “those who have contributed to the breakdown of the rule of law in Lebanon,” possibly including leading Syrian intelligence officials, from entering the United States.
Taken together, the steps are an effort to ratchet up pressure on Syria at a time when the administration contends that it is helping to fuel the insurgency in Iraq, as well as creating instability in Lebanon. Mr. Bush’s order deems interference in Lebanon’s government to be an “extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States,” and declares it a “national emergency.”
Administration officials say they are especially concerned that the fragile democratic government in Lebanon, headed by Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, could splinter if the Lebanese president, Émile Lahoud, who has close ties to Syria, tries to establish an alternate government. That concern has grown in recent months, said an administration official involved in formulating the executive order.”
Syria views a flourishing democratic government in Lebanon as a grave threat, and this demonstrates Assad and Hezbollah will act to keep that from happening. The question now is “What will Syria and the US do?”
Update 11/23/2007 @ 1:00 PM PST: This IHT report has more information:
“The speaker of the Lebanese Parliament on Friday postponed until Nov. 30 the vote to elect a new president, prolonging Lebanon’s two-months old political crisis and leaving the country in limbo and a vacuum at the top level of government.
The current president, the pro-Syrian head of state, Emile Lahoud, leaves office at midnight Friday. At midnight, when the current president’s term expires, the cabinet of the prime minister will now assume full constitutional authority in a caretaker capacity.”
The Lebanese President is selected by Parliament and not by popular vote. Officials from all sides are described as living insulated lives, cut off from their constituents for security and political reasons. The resulting vacuum takes a large toll on the Lebanese people’s involvement in government:
“With almost no public debate over the bargaining to find a consensus candidate for president, politicians worry that they may have difficulty explaining the choice to the Lebanese public. “At the end we might have to face an unsatisfying deal in order to avoid a vacuum,” said Mohammed Kabbani, a member of Parliament from the governing majority.
Kabbani said the political class had been locked in a process he described as “bargaining in a closed room with an armed group backed by a bigger neighboring state,” meaning Syria.”
— DRJ
A one-sentence AP bulletin does not explain the crisis as competently as a dozen or so online background pieces.
Lebanon’s government nullified the Lahoud declaration as unconstitutional, which admittedly does not resolve the impasse. Less is not more in understanding all this. Apparently, Lahoud cannot call a state of emergency without the backing of the government – which he does not recognize.
And as we discovered this past week, all rulers who suspend their country’s constitution are not warned by the U.S. about “severe consequences.”
steve (9c1187) — 11/23/2007 @ 12:21 pmSteve,
First, Lahoud’s ties to Syria suggest his declaration was made with Syrian backing. Don’t you find that curious?
Second, you raise a good comparison between the recent state of emergency declared by Pakistan’s Musharraf and Lebanon’s Lahoud. That’s why I’m interested in the US and Syrian response.
DRJ (973069) — 11/23/2007 @ 12:37 pmSyria as messed over Lebanon for decades. I’ve long thought we had good reason to knock off the Assad dynasty in Syria. Who knows? We may find the missing Iraqi WMD in the Bekaa valley.
Lebanon was once the Rivera of the Middle East before the Muslims ruined it.
PCD (b7be44) — 11/23/2007 @ 1:48 pmhttp://cedarseed.livejournal.com/467681.html
M just pointed out something I’ve been noticing without registering: that foreign journalists are presenting the current situation in Lebanon as if we were on the verge of Armageddon. *Both looking around searching for signs of impending war* Uh, what? Maybe we’re just thick…
Anyway, the issue here is whether the situation will unblock and release its stranglehold on the economy, or if this is going to drag on indefinitely. I’m meeting a remarkable number of people who are returning to Lebanon, however, so the end of the world is probably not around the corner yet.
And a slightly earlier entry, headlined “Trapped!”, turns out to refer to the fact that she was temporarily stranded inside the route of a marathon.
If you are interested, explore the archives for the summer of 2006, for some details of living in Beirut during the height of the “War between the Straits”. She is an artist, mainly interested in producing comic books and book illustrations, definitely anti-Syrian and anti-Hezbollah (but of course, not exactly pleased with Israel), fairly secular in orientation. (I have yet to figure out which religious community her family belongs to–Sunni, I think, but she’s never said anything specific, and her education was decidely secular in orientation.)
kishnevi (2dbd61) — 11/23/2007 @ 5:58 pmTHE WORLD AS CONTROLED BY THE UN
krazy kagu (1f0194) — 11/24/2007 @ 7:24 amSyria and Iran vs. The US and Saudi Arabia (of 9-11 fame).
Here’s a good primer on the Lebanese government.
Here’s something by The Economist’s Max Rodenbeck in theNYRB.
As always: read and learn.
blah (fb88b3) — 11/24/2007 @ 10:00 amAre you AF?
Patterico (2586cd) — 11/24/2007 @ 10:33 amI reset my browser a few months ago and among other things it wiped the auto-fill: “AF” stopped popping up in the name box so I typed in something else.
blah (fb88b3) — 11/24/2007 @ 10:40 amThat’s my only excuse.
I prefer for people to keep a consistent identity. Although your style is pretty identifiable: female, angry, profane, arrogant (“you don’t care . . . nobody here reads . . .” etc.).
Patterico (2586cd) — 11/24/2007 @ 10:42 amPatterico – I was guessing male, but with no balls.
daleyrocks (906622) — 11/24/2007 @ 11:36 amI prefer not having to put up with insults, but then I respond in kind (while upping the ante it’s true) only to get lectures on my vulgarity. “female, angry, profane, arrogant” Women bother you I guess.
blah (fb88b3) — 11/24/2007 @ 5:49 pmI’ve posted links to arguments made by people knowledgeable in whatever field you’re discussing. That’s how it started out at least; and then it devolved. Again: don’t blame me.
Your method is attack, and your peanut gallery is as vulgar as I’ve come across, so don’t expect me to behave like a Christian. And if you’re going to cut me off every time I call you on your bullshit, you might as well make it permanent. In the meantime there are some links on Lebanon above that you can read.
Meanwhile, AF/blah, your method is to make a driveby post with a link to an article which only vaguely relates to the discussion but for which you make vague claims that it elucidates your brilliant but nonexistant assertions.
Got old long ago.
SPQR (26be8b) — 11/24/2007 @ 5:52 pmOh No! blah’s a martyr again.
daleyrocks (906622) — 11/24/2007 @ 9:28 pmWell, she should strap on a martyr’s belt and feel the joy.
Another Drew (8018ee) — 11/24/2007 @ 10:00 pmThe sons of the Prophet are hardy and bold,
And quite unaccustomed to fear,
but of all the most reckless of life or of limb
was
Abdullah Bulbul AmirAF/blah.When they wanted a man to encourage the van
Or harass a foe from the rear,
Storm fort or redoubt, they had only to shout
For
Abdullah Bulbul AmirAF/blah.This son of the desert in battle aroused
nk (09a321) — 11/24/2007 @ 10:19 pmCould spit twenty men on his spear.
A terrible creature when sober or soused
Was
Abdullah Bulbul AmirAF/blah.Blah – “I prefer not having to put up with insults” – Several easy solutions to your problem. Improve the quality of your commenting – probably the most difficult based on what I’ve seen to date. Good quality comments backed by non-hack sources are less likely to be met with derison. This blog is pretty mild on the derison front compared to many.
Alternatively, unless there is some electromagnetic or other force compelling you to comment here, if you are unhappy, perhaps you could seek out other venues to bless with your venom, anger, bile, profanity, lack of originalitity, and narrow worldview. There are rumored to be many blogs on the intertubes and surely you can find one that will fit your needs. I suggest searching on the left for the personality fit. I observe more derangement over there.
No need to keep feeling like a victim here. Seize the day.
Be Happy!
daleyrocks (906622) — 11/24/2007 @ 11:28 pm