Kissinger's Levantine Dilemma: The Ford Administration and the Syrian Occupation of Lebanon

Abstract

In 1976 Syria intervened militarily in the Lebanese Civil War in support of the Lebanese Right and against its traditional allies, the Leftist-Palestinian alliance. Scholars have debated what role the United States, and particularly President Gerald Ford and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, played in Syria’s actions. Some scholars argue the U.S. government lured Syria into Lebanon; others argue the Syrian intervention was proposed by Syrian President Hafez al-Asad to the United States. Recently declassified documents support the latter, and demonstrate that the U.S. government initially opposed Syria’s proposal for fear that it would trigger a war with Israel. The Ford administration ultimately supported the Syrian occupation of Lebanon, however, because it sought to marginalize the PLO and the militias of Leftist leader Kamal Jumblatt, which challenged America’s perceived Cold War interests. This approach accomplished short-term U.S. policy goals, but it did not tend toward solving the region’s long-term problems.