US Envoy Tom Barrack has a tough schedule. He recently travelled from Jerusalem to Damascus and then on to Beirut. He has been the key figure in the Trump administration, attempting to balance US policy on Syria while in talks with Lebanon and Israel as well.
Barrack has been critiqued along the way. Now, he faces yet another challenge on account of off-the-cuff remarks that he made at a press briefing in Lebanon.
While speaking to the press in Lebanon, on Tuesday, he told the room of journalists and others to be “quiet for a moment.”
He then said that if the briefing became “chaotic, like animalistic,” then he and the rest of the US delegation, including Morgan Ortagus, the US deputy special envoy to the Middle East, would be “gone.” He also said that the briefing would need to be “civilized.”
Barrack’s comments sparked widespread anger and have been seized by critics to slam the US.
According to Al Akhbar, Barrack’s remarks were “the arrogant impudence of a cowboy.” The article claimed his rhetoric was the “old vocabulary of colonialists.” It also accused him of racism. This is despite Barrack having a Lebanese background.
Media criticizes Barrack's statements
A second article in Al Akhbar read, “the Galactic Empire’s envoy to our country... looked around, sniffed the air, then vomited a behavioral line: Don’t be anarchic... no animality. He distributed notices to journalists: No howling in the presence of the Empire.”
The term “Galactic Empire” apparently compares the US to the Empire in the Star Wars franchise.
Further, the reports said that Lebanese journalists have condemned the comments and that the translators at the event even tried not to convey what was being said so as not to cause offense. The Guardian reported that Barrack had caused an “uproar.” Al Jazeera said he had “promoted outrage.”
During his role as the US ambassador to Turkey and also as the envoy to Syria, Barrack has not usually offended. His role on Syria policy has led to some controversy, primarily among those who support the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces and other minorities.
This is because he has been perceived as being against any kind of federal structure in Syria, and his views are seen as closely dovetailing with Ankara’s views and also those of Damascus.
However, Barrack has also appeared to shift some of his views. In general, his job is to carry out the White House’s policies and engage with the key actors – from Damascus to Jerusalem, Ankara, and Beirut.
The recent comments in Beirut may be further seized upon by critics who want to weaken America’s role in Lebanon. These people’s goal is to stop Hezbollah from being disarmed, so they will try to exploit the comments to push this “Yankee go home” slogan.