A New Face in My Portfolio

On May 16, 2007 Nicolas Sarkozy became the 6th president of the French Fifth Republic. The guy seems pretty reasonable to me… Just last week he sent his foreign minister Kouchner on his first trip out of France directly to Lebanon. The visit was said to reaffirm "French solidarity with Lebanon and its people…". Kouchner also delivered a letter from Sarkozy expressing support for Lebanon and for quick establishment of the international tribunal where Hariri's assassins will be tried. Furthermore France is determined that "stability reign in South Lebanon", and that the presidential elections "should work on fortifying Lebanon's sovereignty and pave the way toward reforms in constitutional and administrative institutions". Now that’s the kind of things I like to hear from a new French government.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has also made a few remarks that put him in my good books. He condemned the terrorist attacks last week (which is something I'd expect any Secretary General to do) and he appealed to the Lebanese people to unite in confronting the challenges facing our country. That might not be such a revolutionary remark, but there's something in the way he expresses his support that makes his words seem very sincere. Calling on the Lebanese to unite in the face of threats to their stability and security certainly gives him the right to enter this post.

In yet another controversial speech last Friday we had the pleasure of hearing Nasrallah's first comments regarding the situation in Nahr el-Bared camp, we were reminded Siniora is a puppet of the U.S. and received a warning that Lebanon is risking getting dragged into America's war against Al-Qaeda. I know we should be cautious about the aid we get, and Lebanon is in need of a range of important things and not just arms, but if anyone is responsible for setting up and training fighters who interfere with our goals of reform, stability and prosperity there are other people to point a finger at before the U.S.