09/17/2024 - 16:34 PM
On the Occasion of International Democracy Day
Ambassador Dr. Hisham Hamdan
On the Occasion of International Democracy Day
America: In You, the Conflict Exists, and You are Both the Adversary and the Judge
Last week, I was surprised by the spread of questions on a Facebook page aimed at stirring public opinion toward certain directions. It seems that the publisher or financier of these questions is the AIPAC organization. These questions are intended to strengthen Israeli arguments in its destructive war in the occupied Palestinian territories and Lebanon.
I paused at questions about the U.S. Constitution and the American flag. Is America still the dream it once was? America was, and still is, the dream that stirs the emotions of every free person, especially in third-world countries. There is a need to distinguish between U.S. policies around the world and the principles laid out in the U.S. Constitution, whether related to the principles that should guide both foreign and domestic policies.
Yes, there is a significant gap between those principles and the U.S. foreign policies. However, domestically, one cannot ignore the greatness of those principles and how they have elevated the United States to its current leadership position in the world.
The greatest aspect of the U.S. Constitution is its establishment of public freedoms. A resident in America, whether an American citizen or not, enjoys freedoms not experienced by any other citizen in the world, including Europe, until the end of World War II. Wilson’s principles laid the groundwork for liberation from colonialism after World War I, and Roosevelt's and Truman’s principles completed the international relations system through the United Nations Charter after World War II.
On International Democracy Day, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrote: “We celebrate democracy as the most powerful tool for unleashing human potential and delivering results for people everywhere.” He reaffirmed his country’s commitment to support free and fair elections, to fight corruption, to protect human rights, and to promote inclusive governance.
As a Lebanese citizen residing in America, I wrote a letter to the Secretary of State in response to his comment, asking whether he views Lebanon’s electoral system as truly reflecting a democratic model as America understands democracy. What kind of democracy exists in a system that traps citizens’ choices within sectarian and religious frameworks? Where is democracy in a country not governed by the state but by armed political and religious militias? Where is democracy in a country where its parties and authorities have plundered the savings of its people?.
Where is democracy when the Lebanese citizens are dying as victims of ongoing wars on their land, driven by external forces over issues that have no legal connection to them? Beirut’s port was destroyed, and justice was not allowed to prevail. Where is America, which will support free and fair elections, fight corruption, and protect human rights, in the grim reality of Lebanon?
I am absolutely certain that the Secretary of State does not control America's decisions in the world. The deep state is stronger than the visible state. What governs the deep state are the intelligence agencies. Yahya Abu Zakaria published on his blog what former U.S. intelligence officer, Andre Tully, from the American Intelligence Planning Division, said: that they “used to select the filthiest individuals and make them rulers in the Arab and Islamic world, because a corrupt ruler will never build a civilization, never establish a state, and never create a great people.”
America: In You the Conflict Exists, and You are Both the Adversary and the Judge
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