Taking Sides in Lebanon’s Election

Taking Sides in Lebanon’s Election

When Vice President Joe Biden visited Lebanon last week in the run-up to its parliamentary election, he said ”I do not come here to back any particular party or any particular person.” But he also commented, in light of a possible victory for Hezbollah’s coalition, that the Obama Administration would “evaluate the shape of our assistance programs based on the shape of the new government.” John P. Hannah, Dick Cheney’s former national security advisor, says the administration should be even more vocal in supporting the governing March 14 coalition and extend a White House invitation to the coalition leader, Saad Hariri. ”As in much of the world, President Obama is extremely popular in Lebanon. Were he to act boldly to demonstrate America’s unequivocal preference for March 14th, it could be decisive in moving key constituencies off the fence and against Hezbollah.”


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