A new statement issued today by US Ambassador to Lebanon Maura Connelly condemned the current Lebanese government, insisting that the cabinet of Prime Minister Najib Mikati reflected not the will of the Lebanese voters, but of the Syrian and Iranian governments.
Mikati formed the current cabinet earlier this month amid threats from the US to revoke all aid to the country. Mikati’s faction took the place of a pro-US faction which lost a no-confidence vote earlier this year.
Ironically while Mikati’s faction includes Hezbollah, which is close with Syria and Iran, the biggest impact on the most recent national election was from the US, when Vice President Joe Biden rushed to the nation at the last minute to campaign for the Hariri bloc, warning Lebanese voters that choosing the Hezbollah-dominated faction would mean severe punishment.
The Hariri government’s US endorsement didn’t actually net it much support, however, as US officials repeatedly condemned the government and revoked much of their aid throughout the second half of 2010.
That's odd. I thought the American government reflected the will of the regime in Israel! So if the American administration really holds the Lebanese government to be unrepresentative, surely it is only a mirror image of itself? My bet is that the Lebanese government is probably far more democratic and representative than the AIPAC regime in Washington.
Once again the FedGov denounces democracy when the results aren't to its liking.
What nauseating arrogance by the US. Since when does an ambassador to a country have the right or authority to decide who is or is not a legitimate government?
The Lebanese government shoudl demand a retraction or ask the idiot to leave.
WOW – and in the American Congress and in the American White House, we do NOT have anyone who represents the American people – they do a good job of representing the interests of Israel but are TRAITORS to America.
The government of Gaza does represent the will of the people and they have been bombed and placed in a concentration camp for voting the wrong way. I think it is a joke when the US representative makes a statement on voting. The biggest danger to Lebanon is an attack by the IDF which is armed by the USA.
And we wonder why the whole world hates our asses. You don't go into someone else's house and tell them how to live. Just like the shit we were asking India to do, basically telling them to get into a fight with the Chinese. To quote John Kay of Steppenwolf "we don't know how to mind our own business, cause the whole world's got to be just like us…" and he wrote that in 1969.
Ambassador Connelly states that the current government of Lebanon does not reflect the "will of the Lebanese voters." Really? Where did she get her data? The current government is the first one in years that is not pro-US or pro-Israel. So, Ambassador Connelly should be honest and state that the current government of Lebanon does not reflect the will of the US/Israeli governments.
Louis Farshee
Beaverton, OR
USA