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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, FEBRUARY 17, 1984
officials in Lebanon alternately counseled moderation and
toughness....
-- The U.S. misjudged political forces in the region. In Iran,
it failed to appreciate the appeal of Ayatollah Ruhollah
Khomeini's Islamic fundamentalism: in Lebanon, it consistently
has misread Syria's intentions--assuming, for instance, that
Damascus wouldn't block the May 17 agreement for Israel to leave
Lebanon. Later, Washington waffled on its policy toward Syria,
talking of conciliation one day and threatening military action
the next.
The Syrians, like Ayatollah Khomeini, eventually
concluded the U.S.�� paper tiger....
The Iran parallel isn't lost on some Lebanese politicians.
"Lebanon's little shah is on the verge of collapse," proclaimed
Lebanon's Shiite Moslem leader Nabih Berri on Monday, as his
militia swept through Beirut, capturing most of the western half
of the city. Even pro-American Lebanese Christians criticize the
Reagan administration's mistakes in Lebanon. "U.S. policy in
Lebanon was never on time or at the level the situation
required," said Fadi Hayek, the spokesman of the Phalangist
mi
1:
tia, in a telephone interview from Beirut yesterday.
He
stressed:
"The Marine deployment came without a clear U.S.
policy, and that has continued until now."
The administration's blunders with Syria will probably have the
most lasting consequences, partly because of Syria's alliance
with the Soviet Union. Political officials at the White House
and State Department made a series of overly optimistic
assessments about the Syrians, often against the advice of
professional intelligence officers within the U.S. government.
� U.S. lost its best chance to� Syrian troops out of Lebanon
in � fall � 1982, when Syria was still reeling from the
Israeli invasion.
By letting Israel drag its feet in troop
withdrawal negotiations, the U.S. gave Syria time to restock its
arsenal with Soviet weapons. By the spring of 1983, when the
U.S. turned to Syria to negotiate a similar troop withdrawal, the
Syrians were strong and intrasigent.
Administration officials
admit they erred by allowing the Syrians to block execution of
the May 17 agreement with Israel by refusing to withdraw their
own troops....
The administrat�on � for all its bluster toward Syria, also failed
to make a convincing demonstration that it would use military
force to punish Damascus. A Lebanese official notes that despite
administration statements blaming Syria for allowing the bomb
attacks last year against the U.S. Embassy and the Marine head
quarters in Beirut, the U.S. never retaliated. Says this offi
cial:
"g
you don't have the will to use� gun, don't carry�
It's dangerous.
The lesson for the U.S. is that it is awkward for� superpower to
confront a regicmalpo'wer like Syria. Alfred Mady, a leader of