Obama Statement on Lebanon -updated-

Lebanese news portal NOW Lebanon reveals a so-called official statement by US Presidential Candidate Barack Obama on Lebanon. The statement raises more questions than it answers.

Obama celebrating good Super Tuesday results (AP)

Here’s a how Obama’s alleged statement is introduced:

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My translation:

Democratic nominee for the American presidential elections Barack obama made a statement to commemorate the third anniversary of the assassination of Martyr Rafic Hariri, in which he stressed that he stood with Lebanon in its battle against extremism and Syrian-Iranian meddling, and that it is important to bring the perpetrators of Hariri’s murder to the International tribunal.

Read the rest in Arabic here, or read it in English here (automatic google translation)


But something feels awfully wrong about this statement. For one it seems very unauthentic. Consider this:

1- Why is the statement only in NOW’s Arabic page and not the English one? (update: It’s now up in the English section. H/T AK)

2- Why isn’t the statement available in Obama’s Official Press Releases page? (update: Read David’s explanation in the comments section)

3- Why does’nt a google search for “Obama hariri Lebanon” yield any results pointing to that statement?

4- And finally, why on earth would Barack Obama or any of his staffers, on the day after an exhausting Super Tuesday, release a statement that relates to a small Middle Eastern country for an event that will be commemorated 8 days from now?

**update**
Thanks to those in the comments section who addressed the above questions and included various links to the statement’s source. 

I also received an email from a Lebanese lobbyist in Washington who told me that the statement -an apparent policy U-turn for Obama- should be celebrated as a victory for the Lebanese cause of independence and sovereignty.