[The following article appeared in the September 16-22 issue of Rouge, weekly newspaper of the Revolutionary Communist League (LCR), French section of the Fourth International. The translation is by Intercontinental Press.]
Has François Mitterrand decided to follow Margaret Thatcher's example in the Malvinas? One fears he has. In fact, never since the war in Algeria have there been more French troops committed outside our borders. Following on the heels of Chad, where 3,000 paratroopers are taking part in Operation "Manta," units are involved in Lebanon in a process that might very well lead them to direct military engagement.
Two thousand troops are participating alongside American and Italian contingents in the international interposition force that was set up in Lebanon following the Sabra and Shatila massacres in September 1982. Today they find themselves in the midst of a civil war pitting the army and reactionary Christian forces against the Lebanese left. And inevita-
bly they are feeling the repercussions. Since last month nine French soldiers have been killed and many others wounded.
Regarding this toll, Foreign Minister Claude
Cheysson barked out: "We did not go to Beirut to make war, but we cannot allow anyone to take potshots at our soldiers, who are defending the peace."
Defense Minister Charles Hernu then reiterated this noint with a martial tone: "The French ated this point with a martial tone: "The French airforce will destroy the batteries that are pounding the French headquarters, unless the firing ceases immediately."
To give credence to these strong words, three Super-Étendard planes from the aircraft carrier Foch — one of the biggest in our fleet — made warning flights over the Shuf mountains, which is the fiefdom of the Druse and progressive forces.
Is this verbal saber-rattling? Are these maneuvers whose aim is to prevent Paris from losing face? Indeed. Because, confronted with the same problems, the American marines went into battle against the left, several of whose positions were then reduced to silence by an intensive artillery barrage. Ronald Reagan has just sent an additional amphibious force to the shores of Beirut, carrying two thousand men whose aim is to back the Lebanese reactionaries in their fight.
A 'legitimate government"
By intervening openly in the conflict, in fact Washington is simply carrying out the real mandate of the multinational force. From its inception the official objective of this force was to reestablish peace and allow the Lebanese state to rebuild itself and restore its authority over the country.
At that time François Mitterrand stated on television: "Without wasting any time, the
Lebanese armed forces must be able to effectively assure the security of the civilian population of Beirut and its environs and bring the country back under the exclusive authority of the legitimate government."
Such comments admirably sum up all the ambiguity of this international mission. The legitimacy of Lebanese head of state Amin Gemayel - a man from the fascist-like Phalange party, which was implicated in the slaughter in Sabra and Shatila — was imposed by Israeli bayonets, despite the hostility of part of the population. This was made easier by the weakened state of the left organizations following the setback suffered by the Palestinian resistance in Beirut.
Israeli Premier Menachem Begin and the Western capitals supported and brought to power the Lebanese far right, whose only aspiration was to take revenge on its adversaries. The foreign expeditionary corps was supposed to guarantee the success of this attempt to set up a strong state capable of reestablishing imperialist order in a "hot" region. This attempt has just run aground, leading to a civil war that is sharper than ever.
Now that the fiction of "Lebanese national unity" has blown up, the French government can no longer argue the peaceful aims of the interposition force. Only one choice now remains: either withdraw the troops now committed in Lebanon or intervene directly in the fighting — which would involve helping to crush the Lebanese left. The foreign ministry's declarations as well as the arrangements now being made by the minister of defense lead one to think that the choice has already been made. Invoking 'Syrian interference'
In order to justify a policy that leads our rulers to back the ultrareactionary forces, a policy that runs against their previous commitments, they once again invoke the existence of some foreign interference in Lebanon. This same argument has already served as a pretext for the Chadian expedition.
This time it is Syria —accused by the media of being in Moscow's service — that is supposed to be manipulating Walid Jumblatt's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP). The minister of foreign relations made it known that he had lodged an "energetic protest" with Damascus.
But in terms of interference, the new leaders of this country have nothing to learn from or be envious of their predecessors. Socialist Party first secretary Lionel Jospin just delivered a real tongue-lashing by telephone to Walid Jumblatt, leader of the Progressive Socialist Party. We should recall that the PSP, like the French SP, is affiliated to the Socialist International.
"I told him," Jospin explained on September 11, "that the path of reason was the path of reconciliation, the path of dialogue, particularly with the legal president Mr. Amin Gemayel." Here we have the head of the number one workers party in France trying to dictate the behavior of the communities in Lebanon. This violates the most elementary internationalist solidarity and the right of peoples to control their own destiny.
With each passing day "socialist" France is resolutely getting more deeply involved in the endless machinery of wars and colonial expeditions. Defense of the interests of the imperialist powers and the big multinational firms is now coming to center stage.
This policy will very quickly turn out to be quite costly. Millions go up in smoke with each naval show of force, with each demonstration by our fighter planes. The workers will inevitably be the ones to pay, through some new tax and a deepening of the austerity policy.
The majority [Socialist and Communist parties] as such will get no political benefit from these adventures, as has just been clearly shown by the local election in Dreux [where a rightist slate took control of the municipal government after running an anti-immigrant campaign]. On the contrary, the right will pocket the dividends, finding new excuses for their demagogic speeches.