Boy, I'm sorry that didn't happen, given the way Christians have been persecuted in Lebanon.
The free Lebanese opposition is speaking out more visibly and forcefully than ever before. It must be encouraged, incubated and protected.
Christian Maronite Cardinal Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir visited the United States earlier this month, speaking out boldly in defense of oppressed Christians who are being tortured and murdered under Syria's watch.
He sought meetings with President Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell but was strangely rebuffed on the recommendation of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut and other diplomatic advisers in Washington.
Why? That is a shame. That is an embarrassment. That is a disgrace.
Cardinal Sfeir is, indeed, the most visible and outspoken critic of the Syrian presence in his homeland, but his agenda is hardly radical or controversial. He simply calls for Syria to:
fulfill the terms of the Taif Agreement in 1989, requiring Syria to leave Lebanon;
live up to U.N. Security Council Resolution 520;
halt its abuse of human rights in Lebanon;
stop its support of terrorist groups;
restore Lebanon to its structure of self-government by allowing freedom of worship and free elections;
aid the people of south Lebanon who face grave economic dislocation under Syrian occupation.
This man is a hero. He should have been welcomed into Washington with a red carpet and a ticker-tape parade. Instead, he was turned away, because the Washington political establishment didn't want to alienate Damascus.
The time for appeasement is over. Free people the world over should recognize by now that such policies never achieve the desired results. Syria's illegal occupation of Lebanon needs to be moved center stage in the international debate.
Here's my simple agenda for Washington; President Bush should:
openly call for an end to Syrian occupation of Lebanon;
immediately end all aid to Damascus and its satellite regime in Beirut;
use all of its diplomatic powers to keep this issue alive and make the removal of Syrian forces from Lebanon the centerpiece of Middle East policies.
srd.yahoo.com*http://www.wlo-usa.org |
