U.S. Meddling in Lebanon Escalates Tensions : Analyst

PRESS TV
10/24/2012

The United States is not in a position to determine whether Lebanon needs to have “a new government” as any such interference will only result in an escalation of tensions in the country, a political analyst says.

“For the United States to say we need a new government, a new coalition, is actually interfering in the politics of Lebanon and I think it is better for them to step aside and let the Lebanese sort their own business away from international interference,” said Beirut-based political commentator Kamel Wazne in an interview with Press TV on Tuesday.

Wazne added that the US government should “leave the Lebanese to take care of their own business” as their involvement in Syria by arming the country’s opposition has worsened the situation there.

He went on to say that Washington has not helped Syria by supporting “terrorism” in the Arab country and by allowing al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups to supply weapons to insurgents in Syria, and it will definitely not help Lebanon either.

The analyst stressed that it is vital for Lebanon to retain its stability amid fears of spillover from the Syrian crisis, adding that any US meddling would only lead to the aggravation of tensions in the Middle Eastern country.

“I confirm the importance of the country’s stability, yet any interference by any major power in the region will actually escalate the tension and would not lead to the calm that we need now in Lebanon,” Wazne said.

Earlier in the day, US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in Washington that the Lebanese need to elect leaders who will be able to deal with what she calls the threat of a spillover from the Syrian crisis.

“The export of instability from Syria threatens the security of Lebanon now more than ever, and it’s really up to the Lebanese people to choose a government that is going to counter this threat,” she stated.

On October 19, a car bomb explosion in Beirut’s eastern Ashrafiya district killed at least eight people and injured scores of others. The intelligence chief of Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces, General Wissam al-Hassan, was also among those killed in the blast.

VG/DB/MHB/AS

2012-10-25 23:00:14

Source: http://www.freepeoples5thestate.com/2012/10/us-meddling-in-lebanon-escalates.html