Barrack urges Lebanon to seize 'opportunity' and 'historic moment'
U.S. envoy Tom Barrack on Saturday called on Lebanese leaders to seize what he called a "historic moment" to achieve reforms and the disarmament of armed groups, days before his second visit to the country to receive Lebanon's response to a U.S.-proposed paper.
"Lebanon's hope awakens!!! The opportunity is now. This is a historic moment to supersede the strained confessionalism of the past and finally fulfill Lebanon's true promise of the hope of 'One country, one people, one army,'" Barrack said in a post on the X platform.
"As @POTUS (U.S. President Donald Trump) has consistently shared with the world, 'Lebanon is a great place, with great people. Let's make Lebanon Great again,'" Barrack, who is of Lebanese origins, added.
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US envoy's cautious tone reflects Lebanon's mixed response to US proposal—The details
Report by Yazbek Wehbe, English adaptation by Akram Chehayeb The soft tone in U.S. envoy Tom Barrack's remarks stemmed from what he had heard from the Lebanese president and an initial reading of Lebanon's official response to the U.S. proposal. The U.S. Embassy in Beirut had already begun reviewing the response and forwarded it to the State Department and the National Security Council in Washington, even before Barrack presented it to U.S. President Donald Trump. The Lebanese response calls for a cessation of hostilities, a discussion on ensuring that weapons remain exclusively in the hands of the state, the gradual disarmament of armed groups, an end to the armed presence of all factions across Lebanon, and support for the army, including extending its authority throughout the country. Lebanon's top three leaders have approved the Lebanese paper, but Hezbollah, which was informed about it, has yet to give its final approval or rejection. However, some of the party's concerns and viewpoints were communicated by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri to the U.S. envoy, including demands for guarantees backed by Washington, a commitment that Israel will not violate the agreement, and assurances to halt raids and assassinations and to withdraw from the areas it occupied last year. Sources further confirmed that Hezbollah did not give a pledge or agreement to hand over its weapons, nor did it reject it outright, and left the matter for an internal Lebanese discussion so as not to appear to have submitted to external dictates and pressures, whether Israeli or American, while stressing that it does not want war but will remain ready for defense in the event of escalation. The sources added that the party would have preferred to postpone the Lebanese response to the U.S. paper. However, the commitment of Lebanon's leaders and the government to respond by a specific date prevented this from happening. Even Speaker Berri informed those close to him that he does not prefer to bear the consequences of any agreement alone, as had happened in the cessation of hostilities agreement at the end of last November. The sources believe that Hezbollah is trying to gain time to secure the most significant percentage of guarantees about its future, hence the importance of what Barrack announced on Monday regarding the future political role of Hezbollah. The U.S. envoy, after receiving a briefing from General Rodolph Haykal on the army's missions in the south and the role it plays, also met with Samir Geagea, head of the Lebanese Forces Party, who said that collecting all illegal weapons, whether Palestinian or Lebanese, paves the way for the establishment of a "real state" in Lebanon. The U.S. envoy is expected to return to Beirut by the end of July. By then, Lebanese officials should have prepared a roadmap detailing when to start handing over weapons, implement reforms, and resolve border disputes with Syria.
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Lebanon at a crossroads: Tom Barrack on the US paper, Hezbollah, and the future of unity — here is the full interview
In an exclusive and candid conversation, U.S. envoy Tom Barrack sits down with Ricardo Karam to discuss his mission in Lebanon, the weight of expectations, and the possibilities for breakthrough in a deeply divided country. Speaking from a place of personal connection and diplomatic urgency, Barrack opens up about his Lebanese roots, the influence of Donald Trump, and the hope of redefining Lebanon's future. Here is the transcript of the interview: RICARDO KARAM: Tom Barrack, thank you for being with us. You are the man of the hour. Everyone is talking about you. It's a heavy responsibility, the one you have. Are you worried about disappointing the people who are putting high hopes in you or disappointing yourself? TOM BARRACK: All of the above. Number one, thank you for having me. It's, it's a return to destiny, having started our professional life at another time together. So I'm, I'm honored. I'm terrified by disappointing the top three constituencies that I have to serve, for sure, the people of Lebanon. We've talked about it before, my DNA is from here. Whatever tiny modicum of success I've been able to achieve in life is a result of the beauty of American freedom and this Levantine destiny and dynasty that all of you have. But the reason I'm here is really the brilliance and the courage of one man, which is Donald Trump. I would never venture into disappointing the people here, of thinking that there's some solution to a problem that has existed for 60 or 70 years that nobody's been able to find their way through this matrix, if it weren't for him. So an amazing series of events happened in the world that allow us maybe to take these threads of complexity from this very difficult zip code, of which Lebanon has always been the bright shining star and saying, let's weave it into a new tapestry. And he from the top, and Secretary, Rubio, has said, let's give it a shot. And in the meantime, the rest of the Middle East is realigning around us. So yes, I don't want to disappoint anybody, and I also don't want to distract anybody with expectations that are not meaningful. And the expectation for Lebanon is simple, it's time to give it up for everybody, redefine a new posture. Everybody's tired of war, everybody's tired of discontent. If we have 19 different religions and, 19 different communities and 19 different confessionals. There's one thing that's above that, and that's being Lebanese. And if President Trump can help navigate through this system to provide a reliable, understandable network with all the difficulty of everybody around us, I will be very happy and proud just to have, in some small way contributed to that process. So I don't want to disappoint anybody, but I also want to deal with reality. RICARDO KARAM: Inshallah, I think let's take off this discussion. Let's talk first about the Lebanese response to your document, your paper. You received a seven-page document officially handed to you by President Joseph Aoun in the presence of Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and Speaker of the House Nabih Berri, yet without any formal cabinet session, you called the moment spectacular, and you praised the efforts of the Lebanese side. However, we did not comment on the actual content. Why is that, and how close or how far this reply from the U.S. expected or was really asking for? TOM BARRACK: So great questions. Let me just tell you what my attitude is, which is very un-Lebanese. I don't negotiate an agreement in the press. I know that this is abnormal in Lebanon, that everybody wants to lead with some point of view through the press. To me, that's the "death knell." And out of respect to the counterparties that we're dealing with, I would never do that. So this criticism of who are you dealing with? I'm dealing with the President of the country, the Prime Minister of the country and the Speaker of the House. Do I think that I'm dealing in a final agreement that shouldn't be authorized by the Minister of Councilors? Of course not. But it's impossible for me, as an individual, or with great sponsorship that we have. We have an amazing ambassador here, Lisa Johnson, and a great team that's been dealing with this forever. But to compromise the hope of actually getting to an agreement that will then be presented in the proper way through the system, and me leading with any indication of what it is, I would never do that. So there's no reason for me to comment on things that have nothing to do with the public at this point because we have nothing to present to the public until we have an idea, a thought, a response to what it is that the country wants to do. So I'm just being respectful to the system. RICARDO KARAM: You've met with the top Lebanese politicians and leaders. Are they truly engage or were they were buying time? TOM BARRACK: both. Look the Lebanese. The Lebanese political culture is deny, detour and deflect. This is the way that it's been for 60 years, and this is the task we have in front of us. It has to change. My feeling with all three of them is they're being candid, they're being honest, they're being forthright. And when I said, the delivery of the response was incredible. To get a response that, by the way, wasn't leaked. So whatever these 15 points were suggestions that, of course, the community interprets of America is coming in and making demands. We're making no demands. We've only said one thing, if you want us to help you, we're here to usher, we're here to help. We're here to protect to the extent that we can. But we're not going to intervene in regime change. We're not going to intervene in politics. And if you don't want us, no problem, we'll go home. That's it. There's no threats, there's no dictates, there's only take advantage of the moment. Look around you. The region is changing. Everything is changing. If you don't want to change, if the people don't want to change, just tell us, and we'll not interfere. RICARDO KARAM: Talking about time. You're buying time, as you said; some say this whole process might take until next May, the electoral deadline or the electoral mandate. You believe we can remain as such till the upcoming elections in Lebanon. TOM BARRACK: So let me give you my personal opinion. Absolutely not. Let me give you the official opinion. Nobody is going to stick around doing this until next May I have a boss who has amazing courage, amazing focus, who came out globally. I don't think there's ever been a president since Dwight Eisenhower, who came out with such ferocity for Lebanon. On his own, he has the courage, he has the dedication, he has the ability. What he doesn't have is patience. So if Lebanon wants to just keep kicking this can down the road, they can keep kicking the can down the road, but we're not going to be here in May having this discussion. RICARDO KARAM: A few weeks ago, we were hearing urgently, "carrots and sticks," disarmament deadlines. Now we're hearing no timeline. Hezbollah as a political party, and a call for patience. Something's changed. What is it? TOM BARRACK: Not really. So let me, let me, let me take those apart. Hezbollah is a foreign terrorist organization in the world's view, except maybe for France. And here, I think Hezbollah is a political party here, I think they have 13 ministers or so. It's a political party. It's also a terrorist party. RICARDO KARAM: Thirteen members of parliament. TOM BARRACK: Yes. So the concept of saying, "How do you solve a Hezbollah problem?" Is a Lebanese problem. It's not a world problem. We've already, from a political point of view, said, look, it's a terrorist organization. They mess with us anywhere, just as the President has established on a military basis, they're going to have a problem with us. They don't want to have a problem with us. How does that get solved within Lebanon is another issue. Patience, timelines. The press is making that up. I never said anything about what our request was in a timeline or what the response was in a timeline. I said it's not up to us. It's up to the Lebanese people. What I can tell you is the disarmament of Hezbollah has always been a simple fact that the President and the Secretary of State have always been very clear about: One nation, one people, one army. That's simple, not just Hezbollah, Palestinians, armed militias for you, if that's the case, if that's what this political body chooses, then we will usher, will help, will influence, and will be that intermediary with all of the potential combatants or adversaries who are on your borders, thinking, when is Israel? When is Iran? Syria is just coming up. As Syria goes, Lebanon goes, as Lebanon goes, Syria goes. So nothing's changed. We just are not amplifying what the response is or what our request was, until we get to a place where we say we have an understanding, at least with the senior leadership of the country, who's now going to take it to their council of ministers, and we'll see where we go, but that's up to them if they want to negotiate that in public, fine. RICARDO KARAM: So your mission is still the same. It hasn't changed. TOM BARRACK: Zero. It's even but can I tell you something, after going to the south, it's more emphatic. I was personally so upset and seeing these Lebanese boys and girls so committed, LAF, so committed. There's no There's no fluff, there's no corruption, there's no dismay. They're committed, they're dedicated, they're focused, they're sacrificing their lives for peanuts. And this fact that we can't have a real dialogue between Hezbollah, between Israel, between any of the militant factions, between the Palestinians, is ridiculous. It's time to end it all, and if we can be of some influence in ending it, we will. If we're becoming an interference, we'll leave. Nothing has changed. We've become even more focused. But the time frame is shortening. The world is changing around us, and this opportunity that we have with all of the neighborhood is going to vanish. So, some people take advantage of it. Syria is taking advantage of it. Lebanon, decide what you want to do, take advantage of it, or stay in this fall. It's that simple. It breaks my heart. That's the truth. RICARDO KARAM: You were in the south this morning, and this trip meant a lot to you; as you've told me before, you proceeded with this interview; part of your plan involves Gulf funding, mainly from Saudi Arabia and Qatar, to rebuild that south. Has any of that funding been secured? TOM BARRACK: In a formal way? No, but let me, let me share what happened. Before we wandered into saying, how do we redefine any of this? We knew we had valued Gulf allies that we needed to consult with, and we did. And by the way, they're all in love with Lebanon. More importantly, they're in love with Lebanese. They've been frustrated over the years with the regimes. So they feel that all of their funding in the past, every time that there's been a monetary component, that it's failed as a result of all the things that we know, corruption, process, bureaucracy, everybody can blame each other, and they're worn out. That being said coming with a new palate in which we say we're going to have new borders and boundaries. We need you because we need to commit to redevelopment. We need to commit to rebuilding. We need both sides. We need the Lebanese to come back to their homes. We need the Israelis to come back to their homes in the south. And we need to give the south some hope. Forget about the Hezbollah. Let's just talk about Shias. What? What are we doing? What? What? What is going to replenish? I saw these destroyed homes, one after another, after another, after another, which are private property. Where are they? What are they doing? What's the aspiration for? What are they getting from Beirut? Zero, the Gulf is saying, Yes, we're committed, but committed on the same basis that we are come to a real agreement, real timelines, real deadlines, real disarmament, real disarmament. How that gets done is another question, and it doesn't have to be aggressively. RICARDO KARAM: Sheik Naim Qassem said Hezbollah will never give up its arms. The Lebanese government remained silent following those remarks, not any official word from the president, the prime minister, or the cabinet. What did that say to you? TOM BARRACK: Typical Lebanese negotiation. We go to the bazaar. It's the same thing. It's a negotiation until everybody is ready to really make a deal. Of course, they'll both take the extent of whatever the opposite positions are. We have to create a time frame. When I say we, the Lebanese, have to choose to create a time we will help on those boundaries and borders, but the time frame is really.. this is an opportunity. If anybody doesn't see what's happening around us, they're mistaken. We're here, as I've said before, we're just here to usher the speed of that opportunity. But we're not going to influence it. We can't. How are we can influence a political decision here. RICARDO KARAM: So the threat of war is real. TOM BARRACK: Which threat of war? The threat we're at? The threat of war is always real. But I don't know the threat of war between whom? Who's the combatant? You have so many combatants I can't figure out which is the combatant? RICARDO KARAM: Between Israel and Lebanon. TOM BARRACK: Between Israel and Lebanon. You have a cessation of hostility agreement. You have the Taif Agreement. I'm just giving you an example. I start with the armistice agreement. in 1948 there's no good. 1967 Kamal Nasser comes. You have another agreement. No good. You have another agreement. In 74, you then go to the Taif Agreement, which is exactly the same time, it's exactly now, no one lived up to it. It just evaporated. So I keep on saying I'm not smart enough to figure this out. I'm just a messenger. I'm a simple messenger trying to intervene on an event, not diplomacy, the ambassador's diplomat. I'm an event driven executor of the President saying: Go see if you can force everybody to actually agree to something that they will live up to. This time we have a cessation of hostility agreement. We still do, but there's hostilities everywhere. So lessons learned is not whether there's going to be a war. It's how do you prevent a war? And everybody needs hope, everybody needs expectations, everybody needs a path. Everybody needs some form of understanding. That's all we're trying to do. RICARDO KARAM: Tom, you put people at ease. And sitting with the politicians, with Lebanese leaders, talking to them, discussing, I know I'm not going to go into the core of those discussions, but till now, people from different fractions, they believe in you and they trust you're going to reach a solution to Lebanon, however, however, and your answers today, you always come back and mentioning the Lebanese political class and as if what they say publicly is definitely not what is being said behind the scenes, you work closely with Lebanese politicians. You trust the current political class to implement the plan or the vision you're proposing? TOM BARRACK: So trust happens hour by hour, soul by soul, day by day. RICARDO KARAM: Trust is built. TOM BARRACK: So yeah, so I can't answer that question. I'm encouraged by what their reaction has been. I'm also smart enough to understand that they're playing backgammon and I'm playing chess. So my playing chess comes from another source. America is straightforward. It's direct. I have a boss who's not confused. There's no other angles. There's no other agenda. They have to decide what really is their dedication and commitment. We're giving them an opportunity to do that one by one, and I'm not dancing around the issue, by the way, I'm impressed with all of them. They're smart, they're bright. I think that they're ethical. I think they want to do the right thing for the Lebanese. Everybody's scared to death. Nobody wants a civil war. Nobody wants to push too hard. You have a community system, a confessional system, which takes unanimity of which you have all of the dialogues taking place, and that's a process. It's not an event. So we're just giving deference to the process, even though we're trying to create an event, right? The event we're trying to create is, is great if everybody wants to sit down under the auspices of what looks like to be an American led operation, by the way. LAF, I was so impressed with the entire operation, with the dedicated focus of what's there, that this process that we have in place of us bolstering what seems to be the accepted, neutral medium that everybody accepts, which is LAF, to me, is a major accomplishment for it. What they've done in the south has been heroic. They deserve so much credit for what's happened. We're talking about that agreement, the cessation of hostility agreement not being fruitful well, because people thought there were violations on all sides. But in actuality, what's happened south of the Litani? They should build statues for these people. It's that's tremendous. We now just have to create that bridge between all those components and say, Now, what? What's day two, what's the hope? Where do we go? What happens? What's happening with the economy, what's happening with the bank Resolution Act, what's happening with the gap act, what happened with the Secrecy Act, what's happened with the independence of Judiciary Act, how are you going to make money? Who's going to bring money back into this place if there's no security? RICARDO KARAM: Tom, is your plan a peace initiative, a pressure campaign, or both? TOM BARRACK: You're a wicked. RICARDO KARAM: Am I? TOM BARRACK: Look a peace campaign? No way. I don't know what peace means. How long and peace has a time frame, a stand down agreement for everybody. What happens if, right now, we went back and said, Hey, time out. Everybody take 90 days, but really 90 days. Everybody stand still. Let people go back to their homes. Everybody has another option of saying, Is there trust? Is there confidence? Can it work? After 90 days, If it doesn't work, you can go back to the old program. There's nothing to stop it, but we have to have a major step forward. And this, this, this moment of saying, everybody's looking for more hope, at a time where the world has reorganized. So if you look at Syria, which started way, way behind Lebanon in terms of prominence and credibility and belief, what we went through in the Assad regime was something horrible and amazing, and against all odds, in December, you have an entity that was viewed as a guerrilla warfare group that had done a good job in Idlib now takes over in Syria. By the way, they've been trustworthy. They've been thoughtful, they've been considered. They have a lot of their own issues, and the world has come to help them, the world, not just America. Why? Because they don't have a history of disappointment. Just your first question is, really the answer, is, I don't want to disappoint anybody, so I'm only delivering the things that my boss can deliver, or that America is willing to do. All of the politicians involved have also got to do the same thing. There's a risk involved. The risk is personal. The risk is to whoever their own constituency is. But that's it. Otherwise, the opportunity is going to go by us. The world is going to keep spinning, and the Middle East is going to keep spinning, and we're going to miss this opportunity where everybody is a little off base and looking for a peaceful solution. In my opinion. RICARDO KARAM: You said in Syria, they don't have a history of disappointment, but they have other kinds of history, other types of history, which are more frightening and more worrying, and still, they're helped by the international community, because there is a decision, and when there is a decision, there is a will, and this is what's happening. And the way we see things being implemented in Syria, with this velocity and with this rhythm is really remarkable. And because you've decided at the end of the day to create a new Syria. We're still at the beginning. Anyhow, I have a lot of questions about Syria in a while. I have still a few more topics I'd have to discuss. TOM BARRACK: I'll just say one thing. We didn't decide anything. Regime change for America has never worked. We've had five regime changes in the last 20 years. All of them have been non fruitful. We're not in the regime change business. This President is not in the nation building, and we had nothing to do with that in Syria. We had nothing to do with the Assad regime. Everybody should point to Putin, who is under pressure, and thank him for whisking Assad away at the moment. And who took advantage of that moment is Al-Sharaa. RICARDO KARAM: He was well prepared and well trained. TOM BARRACK: America had no no dog in this race, zero. so you have Turkey, you have Saudi Arabia, Qatar, you have Jordan, you have Iraq, you have Israel. Everybody looking for space, not America. So what did we do? We did the same thing we're offering here. We said we'll take sanctions off to give you a chance. We had sanctions on the old regime. You have a have a history that a lot of people don't like. The history is the same as America's birth George Washington started in the War of Independence with two horrible war of Concord, war of Lexington, before the Declaration of Independence, it was then 12 years until he became president, and he fought lots of battles in the meantime. So to allow that process to go forward is really what the world is offering Lebanon as saying: Put the past aside. Put it aside. Let's not talk about the armistice agreement or the 67 agreement, or the Blue Line, or the red line, or the green line, or the violation of all the agreements. Decide what you want to do. We'll help you get there. Put all this aside. If you don't want to do that, there's other things going in the world. RICARDO KARAM: Tom, I think a couple of weeks ago, you mentioned the word Sykes-Picot, and definitely that has triggered a lot, I would say, a polemic, and a lot of comments back and forth. You know, reading analyst, journalists' tweets, it was interesting. Are we witnessing the end of the Sykes-Picot order, and is America open to redefining borders, or are we merely withdrawing zones of influence? TOM BARRACK: Yes, that's that's a great question. So Sykes-Picot was born out of a Western necessity and greed, right? And this is just a fact, the British have given away Palestine to three different people at three different times. This is how it all starts. And none of these were nation states at the time. So Bilad al-Sham, what was Lebanon? Was Lebanon in existence at the time? No, was Syria actually Syria at the time? No, all of these lines got created around tribes. So we're in the dilemma of, is it individual first, then family, then tribe, then religion, then country. What's the cadence? What do people in this part of the world view themselves as first? So I can't answer the question, but I can. I can tell you people first look and say, It's me, my family, my tribe. So the lines that are drawn around all these we're arguing over hectares, the Blue Line to the red line, it's three kilometers. Sometimes it's five kilometers. Are those lines going to change? Are people's minds going to change around those lines and say we need a new way to look at each other at life? Can there ever be a melding without war? I don't know, but all I know is we need to take baby steps at chipping away at these issues and problems, because what has happened hasn't worked. We've taken Lebanon, one of the most beautiful countries, the North Star of the entire Middle East since the time of the Phoenicians, and we've become irrelevant. In the meantime, Dubai, which had nothing but a great leader and desert, has taken everything that Lebanon was and replaced it on the sea in Dubai, in a manner that's unbelievable, starting from zero. So I just keep saying, as a Lebanese-American, come on, everybody. Get with it. If you want Lebanon to be Lebanon. You need to be Lebanese. Whatever the constituency is, its fine. You all lived together for 1000s of years easily. Let's do it again. And whatever we need on help on the edges to convince some of the neighbors that that's the case. You've seen that the President is willing to do it. RICARDO KARAM: What do you think we mostly need? We need a strong leader. This is what we lack, do we have an issue of leadership. TOM BARRACK: My feeling is you have that you have the leadership. What has to happen is everybody has to be willing to take a risk. And in so much Civil War, every family has been touched with hostility, with death, with injuries. It's hard, it's just hard to trust a system, especially when the financial system is collapsed. And nobody's rushing to the financial system, so nobody's rushing to say Hezbollah and the Palestinians should give up their arms. Nobody's rushing to say, by the way, the elitist, the shareholders and the banks are going to take the hit, or the depositors are going to take the hit, or the central bank is going to take you have over $100 billion of debt. What happens to it? So nobody's listening to the IMF, nobody's listening to the World Bank. We have a ghost economy. Forget about just what happens with the constituencies. So again, it's everybody needs to stop arguing for the sake of arguing, and not confuse efforts with results. The way I would look at it is, is the way my boss looks at it. He doesn't want me to come back and say, You know what? I had the most amazing time. I had the most amazing hostess. I had the most incredible journalists that I spent time with. I saw the most amazing Lebanese who have the generosity of spirit like you've never seen. And by the way, I got nothing done. Results. We need results from these leaders. And then I'll say that they're great leaders. I like them. I believe them. I'm willing to work with them. My boss is ready to work with them. We need results. RICARDO KARAM: Tom I'd like to talk a little bit about Syria and the regional fallout. You are the U.S. Special Envoy for Syria, and half of your roadmap, and truth is about Lebanon's relationship with Syria, border control, arms smuggling, Hezbollah military role, refugee repatriation. It all runs through Damascus. Where do you see the Lebanese-Syrian relations heading to? TOM BARRACK: My hope is two parallel lanes that come together in the near term. And let me give it to you in steps. My personal feeling is that the Syrian regime and we probably spent as much time with them as anybody, and helping the architecture softly of where they're going, what they're doing has no predatory interest in Lebanon. The al-Sharaa regime's interest right now is staying in place and, quite honestly, protecting their leadership. They have so many internal issues and splinter groups of militias with hopes and expectations. As you're talking about his biggest problem is disappointing a community that viewed this as a flicker of hope upon which they're going to have a rocket ship. So at the moment, their view of Lebanon, of Israel, of Jordan, of Iraq, is this new tapestry. And as goes Syria, goes Lebanon, now we have all of the problems that you're talking about: A couple million Syrians. We have a Captagon trade that still goes along the smuggler route. We have arms that are coming from, who knows where. We have all of those issues, and we have a border issue that's never been resolved. We now have a new regime who is not saying: 'I can't sign the Abraham Accords tomorrow.' Are they pointing to have some de-confliction, some discussion with Israel about a stand down. Yes. Al-Sharaa has stated, Israel is not my enemy. They're not his enemy. At the same time, Lebanon is the path for them, the Lebanese-Syrian combination, going back to Bilad al-Sham, right? Talking about these borders and boundaries, nobody needs more land, especially somebody who went from Idlib to taking over all of Syria. That's not his problem. His problem is resources and implementation of what he's got in front of him. Now, is it a Sunni base? I understand the issues here end up being again, encampments is that's, that's a Sunni based culture. What's your Sunni leadership here? What happens with the Shias, if something happens with Hezbollah, between the Shias and the Christians? To me, this is all imaginary at the moment. It's being talked about by people who don't want to see this happen. Our view, which is an educated view of Syria, they're stable. They're not interested in any predatory manner with Lebanon, the way Lebanon goes, in major part, will help Syria, for sure, and that this combination on borders with Israel, Syria and Lebanon need to be hand in glove together. And I think everybody's ready to do that, by the way, including Israel. Israel is ready to do that. It's trust. So if we can be some vehicle towards trust, with all the things you talked about, and we, and we have a device that's been trying to do that, we need to beef up that device, we'll have accomplished something, but that's all we can do, is be the usher to these discussions. RICARDO KARAM: In your discussions and meetings in Syria, have you heard about annexing, or the will to annex the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, or any other cities and villages or areas in northern Lebanon and the Bekaa to Syria. You know, it went to the press, and there was no official comment about it. So in the discussions you had, did it come through? TOM BARRACK: It's imagination. It's a loser. It's a cartoon. These guys think about what they have. They didn't have an encampment of a government that could take place over such a large realm of what they've got. They're really focusing. They're not on the outside borders trying to figure out. They're trying to figure out, what do they do inside? How do they man this very difficult. They have two days of water. They have three hours a day of electricity. They've run out of gas. They have internal security problems that are imputed to religious problems just because they're gangs without an internal gendarmerie. I haven't heard one word, nor have I heard anybody reliable who's in this circle of trying to help Syria move to the next place even utter those words. RICARDO KARAM: One of the most tragic events that happened in Syria lately was the bomb, the suicide bombing in the church. And actually, this event reminded the whole world that we're not done yet with terrorism. Are we looking in the perspective? Are there any new wave of terror, of fear, of bloodshed? TOM BARRACK: 100% Absolutely. So I ask myself every day. What is our mission? The ambassador has a different mission. Her mission is to provide mortar in the bricks for a long period of time, so that there's always a conversation and there's a stickiness to the ability to have difficult issues with difficult people. Our mission is something different. Our mission in Syria was clear, anti-ISIS, counterterrorism. That's still why we're there. So we have a group, we have CENTCOM, we have a military base. The president said very clearly, no more boots on the ground, but we're not withdrawing those troops until we're certain that those terroristic cells that cause you problems, that cause your problems, that eventually cause us problems, are extinguished to the best ability that we can that's one hand. Underneath that, you have 30,000 displaced people in camps, forget about the prisoners. Half of them are under the age of 14. Are those kids growing up saying, Wow, I really love all these other countries. I want to be part of it. I love the West. I want democracy. I want to be a banker. We need another piece of this, right? Everybody wants hope. Everybody wants a better life for their kids. We have to figure out how to give them that as we handle these terrorist groups. Look, you and I know one thing in the Middle East, there's only one thing that everybody unanimously respects, power, power. So how we establish that and how we get there has to be one hand power, one hand peace and prosperity. And out of chaos can come commerce first and then maybe tranquility for a while. But in Syria, their problem is internal. At the moment, they're trying to align all of those minority interests, plus his own interests, there hasn't been one predatory indication, a word that we're aware of. RICARDO KARAM: I still have a few questions, if you allow me, you are the U.S. ambassador to Turkey. Yet there hasn't been much talk about Ankara. Turkey is clearly ambitious and working to expand its influence in the region, from the Gulf to Syria to Lebanon, and that raises a lot of concern, not just here, but beyond. How do you see Turkey's ambitions? TOM BARRACK: So, let me give you my personal view, and I'll give you a political view. My personal view is, I am a turkey fan. Turkey as a base for another system, a non Arab system. Some parts of it we understand. Parts of it we don't understand, our largest NATO ally. So if you look at what its relationship to the west is, it does all the hard work. It's the tail end of NATO. They have the largest military. They have the most amazing aerospace and defense system growing, and they've been a good, solid ally to America. Now there's confusing parts of it. Confusing parts always happen at this intersection between Islam and the religions of the West, or between secular orientation. Part of Turkey faces east and north, but you have 13 Turkic states. So when people say that it's ambitious, by the way, Syria would not be there if it were not for the present regime in Turkey, who are first class leaders, President Erdogan, Hakan entire the entire program, operating with almost 90 million people, where east meets west, continuing to move east while staying West, dealing with Arab neighbors who are very suspect of saying, Well, are they going back to the Ottoman Empire. It's not happening. Turkey, the same is focused on its domestic profile at the moment. What it wants is respect, and they deserve it. What they want is reverence, and they deserve it. So we have turkey who's taking all of the, all of the effort for NATO and Europe refuses to let them into the European Union. This is what it's about. It's simple for everybody. It's, it's respect, it's reverence, it's dignity. I'm a turkey a fan. I don't think there's any problem. Turkey has always stepped in to help us when we need it. There's some things we don't understand. What their affiliation, association is with others. We have 13,000 Iranians that go back and forth over the border without a visa. Turkey also has very little energy, so it has to rely on its neighbors, but it's relied on its neighbors forever again. It's a very difficult neighborhood. RICARDO KARAM: I'm reaching here the final part of this interview. I know that your time is so precious, and thank you for granting me some more minutes, 20 years ago, you told me about Abdallah Barrack, your father, who left Zahleh when he was nine years old and who found himself by mistake in New York. Now, his son is returning to Beirut as the U.S. Special Envoy. You see this as a full circle moment, and what would your father say if he saw the mission you're heading today? TOM BARRACK: I'm stopping just because when I think about it honestly, I have…it's, it's a destiny that I could have never imagined in one long distance, in one long generation. And now that I'm this age, I can say it's, it's one long generation to go from the belly of a cargo ship, with 13 Turkish Lira in his pocket, to travel with nothing, to my family having the ability in one long generation, to be honored by the President of the United States to be selected for such a delicate and prestigious journey, but really to wander back to these shores as a humble son from where I came and feel the spirit of the place that I always dreamed about growing up with the wonder and the bless, the blessedness of America, freedom, but always feeling like there's something I'm missing. I find myself. So I just hope I just don't disappoint you, that I don't disappoint the Lebanese people, that I don't disappoint my boss and my father, I think, would be speechless. RICARDO KARAM: Tom, you once said your Lebanese sixth sense gave you an edge in business and life. You mentioned to me that adaptability, instinct, and ambition were in your DNA. However, today, many say that same adaptability has turned into political fragmentation. You still believe Lebanon's cultural DNA can save it, or is it part of the problem now? TOM BARRACK: I think 1,000% it can save it. Everywhere we go in the world, every wonderful person that I meet like you, the diaspora we have 22 million of them, adaptability, hospitality, this inner courage, the lack of fear for whatever is coming at in moment, you reinvent yourself 100 times. This, this, this doesn't exist anywhere. It doesn't exist in any other culture. I've been, I've been as a barista, working around the world, right? I've never seen it happen before. So I'm, I'm a believer, which is why I'm pleading here to leave regrets of the past behind, leave the lines that were drawn by somebody else in advance, redefine the Lebanese future now. Now is the time. RICARDO KARAM: We have met 20 years ago in this house, and we have conducted an interview in this specific room. We're hosted, of course, by a great friend of ours who has a heart as deep as an ocean. My question to you, what does continuity mean to you on the emotional level and on the diplomatic level? TOM BARRACK: So look, as I told you, I'm a bad diplomat, because I don't have the patience to extend through time. So I look at it the same way as I look at my kids' advice that I give to them, my personal life, my business life, diplomatic life, is the same you. You build relationships in tiny little steps when you need nothing, and in days and months and years, eventually you gain some credibility, and by one mistaken moment, you lose it all. So the long line relationships of credibility, of trust, of reliance, of the ability to absorb pain, is the key. RICARDO KARAM: In a country this fractured, does personal connection still matter in diplomacy? TOM BARRACK: Yes, I think you I think even I think even more so, and that the transparency of the delivery of a message, which is so complicated here because there's so many angles, and it's why, humbly and in my personal style, is there's just a single lane with one message, so there's no edges that complained about me not laundering or negotiating with the press? What are points of view that come from a team and an embassy in the State Department, which are complex? Is as a result of saying I'll have no trust or reliance if I start playing the edges for my own personal momentary game, I'm going to disappoint my boss and I'm going to disappoint the counterpart, so absolutely it matters. RICARDO KARAM: Tom, you're returning in two weeks. What would you be coming back with? Real breakthrough, or just more uncertainty? TOM BARRACK: I can assure you that it will be a breakthrough. If it's a breakthrough that every constituency that you have applauds, that would be a miracle, I'm certain. And our commitment is to force this to that conclusion. And my belief against popular drama here is everybody's ready to do that. I think the components of the government, of course, it has to go to the Minister of Councils when it's defined enough to get unanimity. It requires that. LAF is the perfect place. We have to bolster it. We have to enhance it. We have to give it resources. And that can be an answer to many of the problems that we have around us. Everybody wants protection. If they don't have protection from us, they're going to get from protection from somebody else. And I think everybody on the edges, all the countries on the edges, are ready to listen to us. They want consistency, they want trust, they want permanency. I think it's going to happen. I really do.
LBCI
5 hours ago
- LBCI
Tune in for exclusive LBCI interview with US envoy Tom Barrack
A special interview with U.S. envoy Tom Barrack will air on LBCI, following Tuesday's evening news, in a one-on-one conversation with host Ricardo Karam.
