Lebanese Sovereignty

The US is pushing for a resolution to stop Syria from interfering with Lebanon's constitution:

A senior State Department official said Washington hoped to table the resolution in the coming days, before Lebanon's Parliament is expected to vote on Cabinet's Syrian-orchestrated proposal to extend President Emile Lahoud's term by three years.

The official said it was unlikely the draft resolution would contain provisions that could lead to UN sanctions against Syria but would rather reaffirm the Security Council's longstanding position that Lebanon's sovereignty be respected.

[...]

An official with the French delegation to the Security Council told The Daily Star Tuesday afternoon that one of the points already written and agreed on by Washington and Paris was the disarmaments of all militias in Lebanon. He said he could not remember if the term used was "radical organizations" as mentioned in one of the local newspapers here. Another point was the restoration of Lebanese control over all Lebanese territories, he said.

[...]

Lebanese Foreign Minister Jean Obeid told reporters that relations between Lebanon and Syria "are resolved by the Lebanese and Syrians."

The minister said bilateral relations between the two neighboring states were "not an international affair."

He criticized France and the United States without naming them, saying: "Those states that are interfering now are unable to even give an advice to Israeli policies and other oppressive practices in the West Bank and Iraq."

[...]

Boucher said, however, it was not clear whether Obeid's protests were representative of the Lebanese people and all members of its government.

"Obviously, we want to consider the position of the Lebanese government, but we want to consider the position of the Lebanese take without undue outside influence and I don't think it's clear what that position is," he said.

He noted that there appeared to be considerable opposition to the amendment within Lebanon as well as criticism "of the kind of pressure that's being applied and the kind of decisions that are being made."

Jane at Armies of Liberation finds it shocking that France is a co-sponsor of the resolution, but since it has no real teeth, it is hard to see what risk France would be taking. It is interesting, though, that they are cooperating with the evil US on a Mid-East policy issue.

I am thinking this signals that Syria, rather than Iran, will be next in the crosshairs in the War on Terror. But nothing is particularly clear at the moment.