Soccer Dad

As persistent as they wanna be

If the UN has been persistent in pursuing the Goldstone Report, it hasn't been as scrupulous in a different matter. Michael Young complains about the U.N.'s betrayal in Beirut. Five years ago former Lebanese President Rafiq Hariri was killed.

Half a decade later, however, the Hariri case has made little progress toward justice. Lately, Syria has reasserted its power in Beirut after years of trying to destabilize a government dominated by its political foes. In December, Saad Hariri, Lebanon's prime minister and Rafik's son, met with Syria's president, Bashar al-Assad, acceding to the reconciliation between his own political sponsor, Saudi Arabia, and Damascus -- making Lebanon less likely to point the finger at Syria for the killing.

But the more significant problem actually lies within the United Nations investigation itself. While it has been upgraded to a special tribunal, sitting near The Hague, it has suffered from questionable leadership, lost key members and last year had to release suspects for lack of formal indictments.

Young concludes:

Any murder case takes time, but there's reason to believe that investigative incompetence or international political pressure, or a combination of both, has played a role in slowing down, and even rolling back, the search for Mr. Hariri's killers. Whichever it is, the United Nations has done little to ensure success. In our interview, Mr. Mehlis recalled that the United Nations secretary general, Kofi Annan, had warned him that "he did not want another trouble spot."

The impetus to identify Mr. Hariri's assassins is gone; not only has Lebanon sought rapprochement with Syria, but the Lebanese public's expectations, after years of an inconclusive inquiry, have hit rock bottom. Foreign governments fear the instability that might ensue if Mr. Bellemare issues indictments, so few will regret it if he doesn't. But the United Nations pushed for the Hariri investigation; its integrity is tied up with a plausible outcome. If that's impossible, there is no point insulting the victims by letting the charade continue. Better to send Mr. Bellemare home.

Now from where might that "international political pressure" originate? Two months ago, Barry Rubin offered a likely culprit.

On January 1, Lebanon will become a member of the UN Security Council, having been elected last October by the General Assembly for a two-year term. The Lebanese government now includes a majority of ministers who are nominees of either Hizballah or of President Michael Suleiman, a Syrian and thus Iranian client. Hizballah also has a veto over government decisions.

This means that Hizballah will have a say in resolutions condemning Israel, managing peace-keeping operations in Lebanon, dealing with sanctions against Iran, and so on.

It was bad enough that a Libyan official chairs the General Assembly while Sudan, Algeria, and Iran virtually run the Human Rights Commission.

Michael Young seemingly reverses cause and effect. He points to the rapproachment between Lebanon and Syria as a sign that the need to identify Hariri's killers is no longer strongly felt in Lebanon. Rather it is the rapproachment that is the very sign of why the investigatin has gone off track. Syria (and Iran) through its proxy Hezbollah has infiltrated the Lebanese government. It's not that Lebanon doesn't want justice served; it's that it doesn't dare. Syrian/Iranian pressure likely is also behind the sabotage of the Hariri investigation. In the meantime Haririr's son, Saad, prefers to pretend that Israel, not Syria is his true enemy. Maybe he really feels that way. But if he doesn't, he wouldn't dare say so.

UPDATE: On a related note MEMRI observes that there have been no anti-Syria allegations made this year on the occasion of the passing of the anniversary of Hariri's killing. But what's more pathetic, Sa'ad Hariri expressing his fealty to his father's killers

In his address, Al-Hariri praised the solidarity with Hizbullah in the face of Israel's threats, and promised to continue to advance Syria-Lebanon relations and reconciliation between them, stressing that national unity was the only way to protect Lebanon.

or Amin Gemayal pretending that Lebanon is independent?

Phalangist Party chairman Amin Al-Jemayel expressed support for reconciliation with Syria, but said that Syria had to understand once and for all that Lebanon is an independent and sovereign country.

Crossposted on Yourish.