US support deadly for Gemayel
"The minute you are counted on or backed by the Americans, kiss it goodbye, you will never win."
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This article originally appeared in the IHT but was inaccessible on its web site online. Wonder why?-JB
US support deadly for Gemayel
August 11, 2007 International Herald Tribune
Political analysts believe that Lebanon's former president Amin Gemayel's support by the US administration helped doom him.
Political spin masters in Lebanon have been trying in recent days to explain the results of a pivotal special election last Sunday, which saw a relative unknown from the opposition narrowly beat Gemayel, the International Herald Tribune wrote in a political commentary on Thursday.
There has been talk of the Christian vote and the Armenian vote, of history and betrayal. One explanation, however, that all agree on proved crucial in this race: Gemayel's support by the White House and the implied agendas behind such support, seem to have inflicted a narrow but heavy defeat on Gemayel.
Turki al- Rasheed, a Saudi reformer who watched Sunday's elections closely, said "The minute you are counted on or backed by the Americans, kiss it goodbye, you will never win."
The paradox of American policy in the Middle East - promoting democracy on the assumption it will bring countries closer to the West - is that almost everywhere there are free elections, the American-backed side tends to lose.In part, regional analysts say, candidates are tainted by the baggage of American foreign policy - from support for Tel-Aviv to the violence in Iraq.
But more important, US support is often applied to one faction instead of institutions, causing further division rather than bringing about stability.
"Last Sunday we saw that even if you are a former president running for a seat in parliament, in a small area where everybody knows you, you can't make it with American support," Rasheed said.
Alain Aoun, a political adviser to the opposition Free Patriotic Movement led by his uncle, General Michel Aoun, said, "We call on the US to learn from this experience; they should not take part in any internal conflict or take sides, they should support all Lebanese."
"The Americans think that supporting democracy should create positive reactions," said Nicola Nassif, a columnist for the left-leaning Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar. ,b>"No one can be against democracy, sovereignty, independence and freedom. But not if it upsets the internal power balance, not if it empowers one party against the other, especially in a country where supporting one group can lead to violence and even civil wars."
The problem is not necessarily the support itself, Nassif said, but that it invariably skews conflicts, worsening rather than easing sectarian and ethnic tensions.
"When the US interferes in favor of one party, their interference leads to an explosion," Nassif said. "The US openly says it supports the Siniora government; but it should say we support the Lebanese government."
