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Are the Fath al-Islam clashes linked to the establishment of the UN Tribunal? Yes 55.1% No 32.2% Not Sure 12.7% Total Votes: 118

Beware of Sarkozy's Cozy Relationships with the U.S. and Israel
By Yousef Salama, Contributing Writer

Toronto, Canada -With the looming departure of British Prime Minister Tony Blair, President Bush has not had to wait long to get a new playmate. With his victory last week, Nicolas Sarkozy will become the main man in Europe that both policymakers in Washington and Israel will look to for support on many policy issues. As such, this new dynamic should give those in Beirut something to think about between each whiff of the hubble bubble (argileh) and every sip of coffee.

Knowing just how critical Sarkozy’s influence will be on each of their futures, almost all the major political players in Lebanon and Syria rushed to the forefront stampeding over one another to congratulate Mr. Sarkozy. Hezbollah ‘welcomed the election results and called on the new leader to adopt a balanced approach’, Syrian president Bashar Assad ‘congratulated Sarkozy and hoped that the two countries would develop their relations’, and Saad Hariri ‘expressed confidence that historical ties will continue to develop’ during Sarkozy’s Presidency*.

Despite their congratulations and gestures of welcome, Hezbollah, Assad, and Hariri know quite well that Sarkozy will become an obstacle and errant in their political discourse. What they have done is attempt to start their relationships off on the right foot, while fully acknowledging that Sarkozy will not easily become a beloved friend.

Known in Netnaya as an adopted son, Sarkozy is the second Jewish president in France’s history*. He has openly and repeatedly claimed his ties to the Israeli state, calling himself an ally and avid supporter of Israel. Even in Jerusalem, Israeli Vice Premier Shimon Peres has called Sarkozy a ‘friend of Israel’*.

While he is loyal to Israel, he has become one of the harshest critics of Hezbollah. During Israeli’s 2006 invasion of Lebanon, Mr. Sarkozy shamelessly noted that Hezbollah was the "one aggressor," and asserted Israel's right "to defend itself.” He stated further "Hezbollah's behaviour put … into question … Lebanon ['s] right to be independent."* Sarkozy’s misguided sentiments towards Hezbollah and his utmost support for Israel has clearly broken away from French foreign policy and its National interests. Furthermore, his stance has also prevented him from joining the European Union chorus in calling on Israel for a total ceasefire; rather, he has continued to condemn Hezbollah for its actions and wholeheartedly spoke up in Israel’s quest for freedom and security.

Despite Hezbollah’s call for Sarkozy to play a more balanced role in the country, their calls will likely fall upon deaf ears in Paris; in fact, it is hard to even imagine that it will be heard outside the Middle East for that matter. Sarkozy has already demonstrated within his own immigration policy that he is taking a much tougher stance on the war on terrorism than any of his European counterparts, and his policy on security and defense are actually quite similar to the egomaniacs who currently reside in the White House. Sarkozy has sworn that he will fight terrorism head-on and without apology*, a tactic he must have learned from his close friends in Israel over the years as Interior Minister of France.

Sarkozy’s plans for Lebanon politically will raise eyebrows from Beirut, to Damascus, to Tehran. It appears Sarkozy is intent on changing his country’s role in Lebanon from one of a ‘mother and child’ to that of a moderator only concerned with two things - political autonomy and the disarmament of Hezbollah. This, however, is an agenda that will certainly create instability throughout the country. If Sarkozy intends on being involved in Lebanon’s internal politics, he will be barking up the wrong tree. His predecessor Jacques Chirac never earned any favors, especially from President Emile Lahoud who urged him to stop intervening in Lebanon’s political affairs and accused him to siding with the anti-Syrian March 14 alliance.  However, it should not come to anyone’s surprise that pro-American supporters like Saad Hariri and most of the parliamentary majority would like to see Sarkozy use the same type of hands-on approach that occurred during the Chirac era, as this will likely benefit their interests.

Sarkozy’s cozy friendship with Washington will be worth watching as well. For starters, Sarkozy is pro-American. During his trip to the United States as Interior Minister in April 2004, Sarkozy stated,”Some in France call me ‘Sarkozy the American’, I am proud of it…I share a lot of American values.”* Republican Senator Richard G. Lugar told CNN that ‘Sarkozy would be favorable to the US’ adding ‘clearly his views are more in line with ours.’* Even in his acceptance speech, Sarkozy made reference to his special friend across the Atlantic − ‘I want to tell them [US] that France will always be by their side when they need her.’ He also promised that the US can ‘count on our friendship.’*

With the exodus of British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Sarkozy‘s timing could not have been better; Sarkozy is Bush’s kind of guy. He is arrogant, tough-talking and brash, so expect a tight relationship between Sarkozy and Bush. With these two in power, we must never forget that ‘two wrong never make a right.’ As for Lebanon, the current situation will not be advantageous by any means.

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