Gauche Caviar

According to an article published in the French editorial Le Monde Diplomatique,

http://mondediplo.com/2007/04/02lebanon,

the UN's international tribunal to prosecute the killers of Rafik Hariri is illegal.

But the article is a bit of a reminder of the French left that hates anything American. There is good reason to hate many things American but some of these French have made it their darling obsession. And since the international tribunal is endorsed by the Americans and the French right, therefore there must be something cooked up.

I find it hard to believe that the UN's abundant lawyers and experts, many of whom aren't American or French, missed the point that the editors of this article are trying to make.

I find it even harder to believe that the murder of the prominent political figure Rafik Hariri, that happened while the Syrian army occupied Lebanon, should not be prosecuted by the UN. Can the Lebanese government effectively prosecute Syrian president Hafez Assad if it turns out he commanded the murder?

Yet one more thing hard to believe: the murder of Hariri has triggered a series of events that may unleash a civil war in Lebanon, thereby endangering the lives of millions of people. Such a civil war can spread to other areas in the Middle East. Isn't that a sufficient threat to humanity, justifying the involvement of the UN?

The events that followed the assassination were predictable to some extent and the UN acted quickly. For once, the UN is not leaving the state of affair deteriorate to a point of no return before it takes action.

About 20 more political figures were murdered in Lebanon since then (and many more before then). Many terrorist acts and threats against civilians, while the Lebanese people and government are watching helplessly. When should the UN get involved?

Syria occupied Lebanon for decades and nearly annexed the country. The Lebanese people widely believe that Syria is behind the murder of a myriad of Lebanese politicians and journalists. No Lebanese tribunal has ever managed to prosecute Syrian leaders. Without a UN tribunal, Lebanon will continue to be the hostage of its neighbor's mood.

The French left should stop eating caviar for a minute, forget their obsession with America, and take a new objective look at the situation in the Middle East. David, Jesus and Muhammad existed before America.