Israel, Syria Must Withdraw

By Allan C. Brownfeld

Developments in Lebanon are tragic for all concerned. The internal conflict between Lebanese Christians and Muslims, and between political factions within each camp, has been exacerbated by outside interference—by the PLO, Israel, Syria, Iran, and now, Iraq.

The Lebanese people, both Christians and Muslims, are the victims as this once peaceful and democratic country is torn asunder. Our own government has done nothing and said little to alleviate the unfolding tragedy.

In 1982 and 1983, our intervention to get both Palestinians and Israelis out of Beirut was, in many respects, ill-advised. In the end, the US appeared to become a combatant in the Lebanese civil war. After the terrorist bomb that killed 241 American servicemen in Beirut, the Reagan administration withdrew from any role in the continuing devastation of Lebanon.

At the present time it is not the Israelis but the Syrians who are the major force for destabilization. The Reagan administration gave Syria, a client of the Soviet Union, a free hand in Lebanon. Cut off from aid received from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and other Gulf states because of President Hafez Al Assad's support for Iran in the Iran-Iraq war, Syria has subsidized its occupation of Lebanon by expanding the drug networks in the Bekaa valley. Farmers who once raised potatoes now tend poppy fields and labor in heroin processing plants.

If Gorbachev is interested in better relations with the West, he should use his influence to urge Assad to abandon Syria's role in Lebanon ... Bush should do the same with the Israelis.

Peace will not come to Lebanon until all foreign intervention—Syrian, Israeli, PLO, Iranian, and Iraqi—is excised. A test of Mikhail Gorbachev's more conciliatory foreign policy should be established in Lebanon. If Mr. Gorbachev is indeed interested in better relations with the West, he should use his influence to urge President Assad to abandon Syria's role in Lebanon and should also urge this course upon the governments of Iran and Iraq. The Bush administration should do the same with the Israelis.

The Lebanese constitution must be rewritten and a religious test for public office, as now exists, must be removed. Christians and Muslims should vote democratically to select a central government which would handle Lebanon's relations with other countries. The new constitution should create a federal system in which Christians and Muslims would be in charge of their own internal affairs in areas in which they are a majority, with provisions for the rights of minorities. Private armies should be eliminated.

Can any of this come about, or is it too late to save Lebanon? Hopefully, if the Bush administration plays a leading role and enlists the USSR and NATO to play a part, Lebanon can yet be saved. The good offices of the UN can be used to promote such reform, but unless the US and the USSR are deeply involved in urging such a course, the UN itself can hardly be effective.

There is no hope for Lebanon as long as foreign bases remain in that country. Any settlement must involve assurances to both Israel and Syria that Lebanon would not be used as a base for attacks upon them. In the end, the US can promote these goals but cannot ensure success unless the factions within Lebanon itself are prepared to compromise and accept half a loaf. It is, however, worth a maximum effort which Washington, thus far, has shown little inclination to undertake.

Allan C. Brownfeld is a nationally syndicated columnist and associate editor of the Lincoln Review and America's Future.