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3 October 2024

“We’d Like to Live Without War”

Aaron David Miller

Aaron David Miller: You were at the UN General Assembly listening to President [Joe] Biden’s speech. When the president mentioned Lebanon, the cameras flashed to you, and you were listening intently. What did you think about what he had to say?

His Excellency Abdallah BouHabib: It was not strong. It was not promising, and it would not solve the Lebanese problem. We need to solve [the problem]. We can’t continue like this, neither the situation that we are in today nor [the situation] we were in the other day before [Israel’s] escalation. And there was no promise in this sense. But we still are hoping the United States is the only country that can really make a difference in the Middle East and with regard to Lebanon.

Miller: Can you describe for us what the general mood of the country is?

BouHabib: I’ve been [in the United States] or on the road since last Thursday, which was this second day [after] we saw the explosions of walkie talkies. . . .

But let me tell you, it is depressing. And nobody expected the war to be taken in that direction. We Lebanese—we’ve had enough war. We’ve had fifteen years of war. . . .

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