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By Jason Ditz / Antiwar.com
In comments in an interview with The National, US Ambassador to Turkey and special envoy to Syria Tom Barrack warned that Lebanon faces an “existential” crisis if they don’t give in to US demands to fully disarm Hezbollah and all other armed factions by November.
“You have Israel on one side, you have Iran on the other, and now you have Syria manifesting itself,” Barrack insisted, adding that if Lebanon doesn’t give in to the demands both Israel and Syria are liable to just carve up the area as Bilad al-Sham, or Greater Syria.
“If Lebanon doesn’t hurry up and get in line, everyone around them will,” Barrack cautioned. The US recently issued demands or Lebanon to disarm everyone, though last week Lebanon responded after Hezbollah made it clear they would not disarm simply because of US demands.
While Barrack presented himself as “unbelievably satisfied” at the time, which was less than a week ago, his current comments suggest he is anything but, and rejecting the US demands seem to have escalated into full-scale threats to wipe Lebanon off the map by way of US allies.
Last weekend, it was further being reported that Israel and Syria were in talks regarding their own ongoing tensions, which center on Israeli occupations of parts of southwest Syria. The talks were said to include proposals to give Syria substantial parts of northern Lebanon, including the major city of Tripoli, in return for letting Israel nominally retain the Golan Heights.
It has also been reported Syria’s Islamist government has issued an ultimatum to Lebanon, threatening them over Syrian prisoners being held in Lebanese prisons. Syria denied this was the case, however, saying they have no intention to take “escalatory measures” against Lebanon over the prisoners.
That may not be that reassuring, however, with the caveat of it not being about the prisoners. With Syria eagerly cozying up the US of late, Barrack’s comments suggest the Syrian government may be being incentivized to take over part of Lebanon to impose the monopoly over arms that was the center of US demands.
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Jason Ditz
Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.