Powerless US falls back on 'remote-control' diplomacy for Lebanon
WASHINGTON (AFP) — Unable to pressure Syria or Iran into halting Hezbollah's offensive in Lebanon against US-backed leader Fuad Siniora, the United States has opted for "remote-control" diplomacy using its allies.
Even if the White House on Friday publicly urged Iran and Syria to "stop their support of Hezbollah and its destabilizing effects on Lebanon," US officials conceded their appeals will have little impact.
"A lot of diplomacy is by remote control. We don't have as much influence as others with some of these States," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Friday telephoned her Saudi counterpart Prince Saud al-Faisal, her French opposite number Bernard Kouchner and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to discuss the crisis.
The calls focused on "what the international system could do to support this Lebanese government that is acting on behalf of its own people in the face of illegal acts by armed gangs" trying to destabilize Lebanon, McCormack said.
Rice also discussed the trouble in Lebanon with Amr Mussa, the secretary general of the Arab League, while he was visiting Washington on Thursday, McCormack said.
Saudi Arabia and Egypt -- fearing fallout from a conflict between an Iranian-backed Shiite opposition movement and a fellow Sunni-led Arab government -- called for an emergency Arab League meeting to try to end the fighting, an Arab diplomat said.
The Washington Post reported that the United States was pleased with the intervention of Russia and Turkey, which warned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that they would hold him responsible for Hezbollah's actions.
Since Israel's war against Hezbollah that ravaged Lebanon in 2006 -- a war that the secretary of state had supported -- Rice has not set foot back on Lebanese soil where her unpopularity undermined the Siniora government.
Publicly, the United States settled for repeating its "unswerving support" for Siniora.
In a statement issued Friday, Rice pledged that the United States would "stand by the Lebanese government and peaceful citizens of Lebanon through this crisis and provide the support they need to weather this storm."
McCormack said such support would be "political and diplomatic," ruling out any military aid for now.
Washington last year gave aid to the Lebanese army which defeated the Islamist movement Fatah al-Islam during battles at the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp in north Lebanon which left more than 400 dead, 168 of them soldiers.
"I would not underestimate in difficult times the power of simply demonstrating support, reiterating support for a government that is doing all the right things on behalf of the Lebanese people and is engaged in a very difficult struggle with these forces," McCormack said.
"I think it is important to hear from the US and the US government that support for the Lebanese people as well as the Siniora government," McCormack said.
"Clearly there are other states in the region that are friends with the Lebanese people and this government who will do everything that they can to ameliorate the situation," he added.
In order to avoid undermining Siniora's authority, McCormack refused to criticize the Lebanese army, which warned Thursday that escalating violence would threaten its unity and did not intervene to stop the fighting in Beirut.
"We have confidence in the judgment and the decision-making of the government as well as the army," McCormack said. "The army is acting in a professional manner. They are under the control of the government."
McCormack said Washington now had evidence that groups linked to Syria are "playing a much more active role in fanning the flames" in Lebanon, but a State Department official suggested there was little it could do to stop it.
"We're pretty sanctioned up on Syria at the moment. There are always options, but I'm not aware of anything else right now," the official said on condition of anonymity.
