Gemayel's Catch 22

Typical of all the self-defeating, contradictory and, well—just not very smart—U.S. policy moves in Lebanon was the following episode:

After President Gemayel, at U.S. urging, gathered all the Lebanese factions in Geneva for a conference of "national reconciliation," the conferees finally agreed on one substantive issue: that a revision, if not an abrogation, of the May 17 withdrawal agreement was a necessary element for reconciliation. President Gemayel was authorized to go to Washington and ask for it.

When he got there and did so, President Reagan told him that any revision of this agreement was out of the question. So what advice did he give Mr. Gemayel? Among other things, he said he should go home and try to work out agreements with Lebanon's opposition leaders on power-sharing and other measures required to achieve a political unification of the country.

If there is anyone out there who understands this, please drop us a line.