WINEP: "While the US generally refrains from intervening in foreign elections, an exception should be made in Lebanon..."

WINEP's John Hannah wants Obama to visit Nayla Moawad's house in Hazmieh! in the Washington Times, here

"Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s visit to Beirut last week underscored the enormous stake America has in parliamentary elections that Lebanon will hold June 7. The country's governing majority -- moderate, pro-Western, supported by Washington -- is running neck and neck with a coalition dominated by Hezbollah, the militant Shiite group controlled by Iran, backed by Syria and considered by American intelligence to be perhaps the world's most capable terrorist organization.

The Obama administration should continue doing everything it can to avert this looming strategic setback...

Since its election in 2005, March 14th has been committed, albeit imperfectly, to limiting the malign interference of Iran and Syria while re-establishing Lebanon's sovereignty and independence. Central to this effort has been a desire to implement U.N. Security Council resolutions calling for the dismantling of Hezbollah's powerful militia.

For its part, Hezbollah, with Iranian and Syrian backing, has worked assiduously to reverse the Cedar Revolution. .... With elections just weeks away, Lebanon's fate hangs in the balance. ...

Make no mistake: Hezbollah's triumph would constitute a major U.S. defeat. ....embolden Teheran at a time when Washington hopes to negotiate an end to Iran's nuclear weapons program, its support for terrorism and its escalating efforts -- frequently using Hezbollah operatives -- to subvert pro-U.S. governments across the Arab world from Iraq to Egypt to Morocco. (What is this guy smoking?)

With the stakes so high and the elections still too close to call, the Obama administration should throw caution to the wind and do what it can to tip the balance in March 14th's favor. While the United States generally refrains from intervening in foreign elections, an exception should be made in Lebanon -- where the consequences for U.S. national security are potentially so grave and America's enemies (read Iran and Syria) already are interfering heavily to secure an outcome harmful to U.S. interests.

Moreover, the odds actually are good that a U.S. embrace of March 14th could make a positive difference at the margins. As in much of the world, President Obama is extremely popular in Lebanon. Were he to act boldly to demonstrate America's unequivocal preference for March 14th, it could be decisive in moving key constituencies off the fence and against Hezbollah. Mr. Biden's visit to Beirut was an excellent step.

More dramatically, the president could arrange a snap Oval Office meeting with March 14th's leader, Saad Hariri (the slain prime minister's son), and use it to underscore the depths of his personal commitment to the Cedar Revolution's ideals as well as his concern for the future of U.S.-Lebanese relations should the government fall to Hezbollah..."