The Not-So-Phantom Menace

For such a tiny country, Lebanon sure has been in the news a lot lately.

In February of 2005, Rafiq al-Hariri, the former Prime Minister of Lebanon, and a major opponent of the Syrian influence in Lebanon was assassinated. No one is sure who is responsible for the killing, however many suspect that Syria was involved in Hariri’s death.

This past summer, Lebanon was in the headlines as Hezbollah’s attacks on Israel provoked large-scale retaliation that crippled the country’s infrastructure. The country is still struggling to recover, and the government is in a precarious position, having been proven incapable of controlling Hezbollah.

And a few weeks ago, on Novermber 21^st, Pierre Gemayel, a Christian Cabinet Minister who, like Hariri, opposed Syria’s 20-year presence in Lebanon was killed. Again, no one knows who was behind the killing.

This weekend, Hezbollah finally took advantage of the precarious situation in Lebanon. Thousands of pro-Syrian, pro-Hezbollah protestors took to the streets of Beirut calling for the resignation of Premier Fouad Siniora. Siniora says that he has no intention of acceding to their demands—after all, he has been lawfully elected and he is supported by a majority in the Lebanese Parliament.

Foreign leaders have been voicing their support of Siniora, commending him for his refusal to back down and instructing him to stay strong. Still, I can’t help wishing that they would back up their words with a Security Council resolution. At this point, the Lebanese government needs to push Hezbollah out of the south—the group is too great a threat to the tenuous peace that has lasted since the end of the 15 year civil war in 1990.

The last thing I want is to see Lebanon turn into another Afghanistan or Iraq where a “coalition” enters the country to hunt down and kill the terrorists without regard for civilian casualties. But a show of force is what is needed. It is common knowledge that Hezbollah receives funding from both Syria and Iran. While it puts some of those funds to good use and provides schools and hospitals for the Shi’ite population, the fact remains that it refuses to help Christians or Sunnis.

Hezbollah will only respond to a show of force. Now that it has made its agenda for Lebanon clear (a coup to remove the current government), the world should work with the Lebanese government to protect all Lebanese citizens from this menace.