The Syrians in Lebanon

Humphrey dropped into our office the other day, as he so often does, to query us on the Middle East. We hadn't seen him since just before Christmas.

Q Well, I hope you're satisfied

A And Happy New Year to you, too, Humphrey. I take it you didn't make any resolution to polish up your etiquette during 1984...

Q Uh, well, I did, but you know, it's now the end of January, and

A So what do you hope I'm satisfied about?

Q You always said the Administration should stop ignoring Syria. Well, now it's not ignoring it anymore. What more do you want?

A Quite a lot, Humph. I never thought it was enough just to stop ignoring the existence of the Syrians. We should also take seriously what they say.

Q What? For goshsakes, you make it sound as though they're right!

A When it comes to the situation in Lebanon, I think their position makes more sense than ours does.

Q So you mean it was all right for them to kill all those people in Hama

A C'mon, Humph, of course I don't. And I think lots of other things they've done are reprehensible, too. But what does Hama have to do with

Q And I guess you think we should listen to the kind of people who think it's fun to eat snakes

A Huh? Hey, what does that have to do with

Q Didn't you hear about that film that some people got hold of which showed Syrian girls biting the heads off live snakes and then roasting them over a fire, while Syrian officials stood around and clapped? What does that tell you about the Syrians?

Q Well?

A It tells me something about you, Humph—but I'd prefer not to tell you what. Sure, I remember the film. But your impression of it is all wrong.

Q Nuts. It's not just me. Lotsa big columnists wrote about it and said it shows how barbarian the Syrians are

A I know. You got it from the columnists, and the columnists got it all wrong. You see, they didn't seem to realize—and I am now giving them the benefit of the doubt—that the girls in the film were having "survival" training at a wilderness school, and were demonstrating their newly acquired skills. If you were lost in the desert and starving, wouldn't you want to know how to kill a snake so you could have the food you need to keep you alive? Snakes are one of the few sources of food available in the desert, and

Q Yuk. Well, okay, you win. So what makes you think the Syrians have the right idea in Lebanon?

A I think they're basing their policy on a principle which our Administration should support rather than reject—since it is in conformity with traditional American values.

The Syrians are saying that Israel invaded Lebanon and should not be rewarded for having done so. In their view, the Israelis did get a reward when the U.S. encouraged Israel and Lebanon to sign the so-called "withdrawal agreement" of last May 17. The agreement not only allows Israeli soldiers to participate in policing south Lebanon after Israel's "withdrawal" has taken place, but even more important, it provides for eventual "normalization" of diplomatic and economic relations between the two states. In other words, Israel has been allowed to enter Lebanon with armed force and then blackmail it into signing what amounts to a peace treaty.

Q Blackmail?

A Well, Israel said in effect: sign this kind of agreement or we won't withdraw our troops. What would you call it?

Q But isn't Lebanon a legitimate sovereign government which can sign what it wants?

A How sovereign are you when you are under occupation? And although it may be, technically, a legal government—elected by legal procedures—legitimacy is something else. Few people believe that a Gemayel—coming from a family with a long-time anti-Syrian and pro-Israeli bias—would ever have been elected president if the Israelis had not been there as occupiers. And it is pretty obvious, from all that has been happening in Lebanon since, that the president does not have widespread support in the country.

Q But doesn't Syria want to annex at least part of Lebanon?

A People keep saying that, but as you know, Syria was invited in legally in 1976, and came—which is something you may not know—with American endorsement and over Soviet objections. It's been in the country for eight years, and hasn't annexed anything yet. There is no evidence that it intends to. What it wants is to have a Lebanon next door that is not a threat—which does not have Israeli troops on its soil and is not run by a hostile, anti-Syrian government. This is how things were for most of the 30 years before civil war broke out in 1975, and the Syrians seemed satisfied with the arrangement.

Q But the Syrians never had an embassy in Beirut, which means they don't consider Lebanon an independent country

A People keep saying that, too, and it's a crock. If the Syrians don't consider Lebanon independent, why do they accept Lebanon as a member of the Arab League? Why do they allow Lebanese to enter the country bearing Lebanese identity cards? Why do Syria's leaders make official visits and stand while the Lebanese anthem is played? The point is, the two countries do have a close, historic relationship, their two capitals are only 50 miles apart, and Syria wanted to symbolize this closeness by having a less formal relationship than the standard one. Think of this: Americans go to Mexico without passports, but this doesn't mean the two countries don't regard each other as independent.

Q Hmmm. But why has Syrian policy in Lebanon been so unclear?

A I think it's our own policy towards the Syrians that has been unclear—it seems to keep flipflopping. The Syrians have been pretty consistent. They keep reiterating that the Israelis should withdraw from Lebanon without pre-conditions—which would mean abrogating the May 17 agreement—that the Israelis should go before the Syrians do—because they are the invaders—and that Syria will then withdraw its troops completely and without conditions.

Q So why is the Administration against this?

A Lots of reasons, but I only have time to tell you two. First, it thinks that because the Soviets have built up Syria's ability to defend itself against possible Israeli air attacks, a Soviet-Syrian axis exists which could be planning to take over Lebanon. Secondly, It knows that Israel would get very angry if Washington acted on the assumption that proposals by Syria, of all countries, are actually reasonable. Israel cannot be allowed to get that annoyed during an election year.

We'll discuss some of the Administration's hang-ups in more detail the next time I see you, Humph. Unless, of course, you'd like to join me for lunch. I'm going to cook up some snake meat, and

Q I'm going, I'm going!