Preventing another Munich: Why the US Should not Talk to Syria, Iran

Whatever happens, Hizbullah will emerge victorious. To whom will Hizbullah dedicate this victory? Will it dedicate the victory to the Lebanese state, to the honoring of international resolutions, to the Taif Agreement? Or will it dedicate it to the Syrian regime, the Syrian-Iranian axis, in which case we will become scorched earth, annexed to Syria and Iran? Each of these countries wants, with this abduction, to negotiate with America over the remains of the Lebanese homeland.MEMRI

Lebanese Druze MP, Walid Jumblatt


The Bush administration has been attacked a lot recently over the fact that the US is not talking to Syria over the Israel-Hezbollah Conflict. Holding dialogue is very important in international diplomacy and is very useful thing to do with your enemies. In the context of this war, the Bush administration is doing the right thing. There are two main reasons. Firstly the United States does not negotiate with terrorists and secondly, we do ot want to undermine the anti-Syrian Lebanese government. The US policy in Lebanon is to support the anti-Syrian government.

If the US negotiates with state sponsors of terrorism like Syria and Iran, it would cause obstacles on the war on terror. Negotiating with Syria will give the impression that state sponsored terrorism is a useful diplomatic tool. By going to Damascus, US will give the Syrians the illusion that they are winning the conflict and that they can extract concessions. They will conclude that capturing Israelis is an effective way to obtain some of their demands and will provoke similar crises in the future.

Secondly, by speaking with Hezbollah’s sponsors, the West will undermine the already weak anti-Syrian government in Beirut. An agreement between the US and the Assad regime could resemble the Munich Agreement of 1938, the Lebanese government would most likely not be on the negotiating table when the US acquiesces to Syria’s designs on Lebanese sovereignty, restoring Syrian rule to Lebanon. The US has sold out Lebanon once before back in 1990, when the US wanted Syrian support against Iraq in the first Gulf War. Lebanese nationalists probably have not forgotten
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