Lebanon supports Obama’s Afghanistan strategy

Saeed Dhaher
For Al-Shorfa.com
2009-12-10

President Michel Suleiman (L) and Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri (R) at Lebanon's 66th Independence Day parade, Beirut, Nov. 22, 2009. (Reuters)

U.S. President Barack Obama’s new strategy for Afghanistan will be among the topics of discussion for Lebanese President Michel Suleiman, who will visit Washington on Dec. 14 to meet the American head of state.

On the Lebanese street, while some citizens remain unaware of it, others have expressed support for Obama’s approach to fighting violent extremism in Afghanistan represented by the Al-Qaeda organisation.

Elias al-Haddad, a Lebanese citizen, believes that the Lebanese president cannot afford to be unsupportive of the war of terrorism. When Suleiman was the commander of the army, he gave orders to destroy the infrastructure of the Fatah Al-Islam organisation that is linked to Al-Qaeda, and was present in the Al-Barid River Camp for Palestinian Refugees.

Journalist Raghida Dergham stated that “while it will not be easy for the American president to market his war in Afghanistan…if extremist forces win in Afghanistan, they will not stop at the borders of Afghanistan. Instead, this would enable and encourage extremists to strike throughout the world, including Russia, China, and particularly the U.S. on the domestic level.”

Citizen Hisham al-Saegh said, “Currently, the direct threat of violent extremism does not come from the Taliban as much as it comes from Iran. Iran has become the largest benefactor and weapons supplier of fundamentalist movements, including Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis.” He opined that “Iran is planning to drown the U.S. in the swamp of Afghanistan. This is particularly likely if we follow Hezbollah’s campaign against the American president. Its media arm has already portrayed him as a war president, although he won the Nobel Prize this year and was elected by Americans to end the war.”

Political analyst Rafeeq Khouri believes that “Lebanon cannot be uninvolved in the strategic game in Afghanistan, despite the fact that it is far away geographically.” He described Obama’s position as a difficult one. “His new Afghanistan strategy faces political problems domestically and military wartime obstacles externally.”

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