In continuation of the US intervention and siege policy in Lebanon, Washington portrayed a pessimistic image of the upcoming period Lebanese destiny.
Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, Barbara Leaf, said the Lebanese will have to bear more pain before their country sees a new government.
She criticized Lebanon for not sealing a $3 billion loan deal with the International Monetary Fund, saying that Lebanon’s gas exploration is years’ worth of work and that there is no money in Lebanon’s banks, making the loan a necessity. Meanwhile, she failed to mention that the IMF loan was to come into effect only if Lebanon met certain conditions, which Lebanon rejects.
“Things will have to get worse before the public pressure mounts in such a way” that parliament selects a new president, Leaf said at an event hosted by the Wilson Center in Washington DC.
Leaf, Washington’s top Middle East diplomat, said “I can see scenarios where there is disintegration…where there is just an unraveling.”
She made her comments at the time Lebanon is left with a presidential vacuum after former President Michel Aoun’s term ended last Monday. The country grapples with a tough economic crisis, which was to a great extent caused by U.S. sanctions on Lebanon.
Leaf noted that Lebanon’s collapse will enhance reconstruction of the nation free of Hezbollah, adding that Lebanese security forces may lose control of the situation in the country.
Source: Al-Manar English Website
