By: Elias Bejjani
LCCC
Chairman
December 22/06
The Maronite Patriarch,
Mar Nasrallah Sfeir -(AsiaNews) – on December 18/06: "It is time to put a
stop to the opposition sit-in that has blocked the centre of Beirut since 1
December, because it is harming the economy. “Unchecked” gatherings taking
place throughout the sit-in should also be stopped because “they could
endanger the family”.
General Lahoud, Lebanon's
Syrian-appointed President on December 18/06 - Daily Star: "I agree Aoun
should become the next president."
In the above two statements, both His Beatitude the Maronite Patriarch and
the Lebanese Maronite President are addressing General Michel Aoun's
grandiose
delusions and lust for power, but from different perspectives and
contradicting aims. While the Patriarch is calling on him to put an end to
his role as a mere destructive and chameleon cover for the Iranian-Syrian
sit-ins spearheaded by Hezbollah, Lahoud, who is himself a Syrian cover and
a subservient tool for the Iranian coup against the legitimate institutions,
is playing on Aoun's grandiose delusion in a bid to keep him stranded from
his own Patriarch and Christian community.
The grace of heaven is rarely bestowed upon oppressed and suffering people
whose existence and identity are threatened, with honest and capable
leadership to
guide their steps wisely and safely towards the shores of deliverance.
Benevolent leaders that can secure for their people the means of freedom,
respect, recognition, dignified existence, and independence. The Lebanese
Christian community in particular, and Lebanon's eighteen other officially
recognized communities in general, have always pleaded to Almighty God to
grant them such leaders who are capable and willing to lead with knowledge,
faith, compassion, conscience, transparency and wisdom.
In Lebanon's modern history, several such gifted leaders emerged, among whom
the late Dr. Charles Malek (Lebanon Foreign Minister in the later fifties
and one
of the main authors of the UN Charter and Human Rights Covenant), Fouad
Efrem Boustani (writer, historian & educator), Bashir Gemayel, (gifted
Christian leader who was assassinated a few weeks after he was being elected
President in 1982), and Michel Aoun (Lebanon's Army Commander and Prime
Minister between 1988-1990, and currently Member of Parliament and leader of
the Free Patriotic Movement party). But while Malek and Boustani ended their
intellectual and ideological mission before departing from this mortal life
because of old age, death kidnapped Bashir Gemayel early in his life at the
age of 34 and at the peak of his capabilities depriving the Lebanese people
of his superb leadership potentials. Meanwhile, Bashir's vision for a free,
united, democratic, and peaceful Lebanon (known as The Dream) never died and
remained alive in the conscience of all free and sovereign Lebanese people.
As to Michel Aoun, he successfully carried the flame of Bashir, from the
heart of the military institution, as Army commander and head of a
transitional military
government between 1988-1990 in the darkest and most difficult moments. He
carried high the thought of Malek and Boustani for 18 long years of bitter
struggle. All the sovereignty partisans and the “Bashirists” (the supporters
of Bashir's national doctrine) gathered around Aoun, attracted by his steady
and firm stances, his courage in witnessing for the truth, self-respect,
patriotic platforms, transparency, honesty, audacity, bravery, and most
importantly for raising high the flags of freedom, sovereignty and
independence.
However, and after the liberation of Lebanon from the Syrian occupation in
2005, and upon his glorious and victorious return from exile (he was living
in forced
exile in France since 1991), Michel Aoun shockingly exhibited a “double
personality” syndrome coupled with a blatant “selective memory loss”. This
psychiatric
disorder (Double Personality) that Aoun has been lately acutely suffering
from is well known to professionals in the Mental Heath field. Aoun has been
exhibiting all its signs and symptoms.
The man has turned 180 degrees from his political and ethical past record,
he even with a numbed conscience buried his own name. He reneged on his 18
years of
honorable patriotic record and betrayed with cold blood all his promises and
covenants. Viciously and venomously, Aoun played demagogically on the
multi-cultural, multi-ethnic and multi-religious Lebanese construct. With
all the dirty tactics and evil manipulative destructive strategies, he hit
hard and maliciously on peoples' emotions, fears, denominational
affiliations, and on the very delicate Lebanese demographic fabric. Suddenly,
with a drugged and stony conscience, and a calcified heart, he joined
Hezbollah, the Iranian army in Lebanon and became not only an ally for this
fanatic terrorist group, but also a mouthpiece for the two Axis of Evil
countries, Syria and Iran. He adopted the role of a dirty cover for the
Syrian-Iranian military onslaught to execute a coup through Hezbollah and
take over the country.
In this realm, he started to deliver fiery, below-the-belt, instigative
and threatening speeches in which he has been advocating publicly to attack
and storm the headquarters of the Lebanese Prime Minister, topple the
legitimate and elected Saniora government by force, and form a second
government. With a dead
conscience, he is executing Hezbollah's scheme in killing the country's
economy, destabilizing the national peace and paralyze all governing and
legislative institutions.
He shamelessly defied the Maronite Patriarch's instructions and
recommendations calling for putting an end to the sit-ins. He stood against
the will and aspiration of the majority of the Lebanese Christian community
that strongly opposes Hezbollah's religious Iranian doctrine and fears its
attempts to tumble the government by force in a bid to abort the
implementation of UN resolutions calling for its disarmament, and to block a
UN international tribunal legislation aiming to try the killers of late PM
Hariri and all the perpetrators who killed or tried to kill fifteen MPs,
journalists and media men and women, all of whom were anti-Syria.
After finding internally, regionally and internationally that his chances
for being elected president are a big zero, the man decided to play the role
of Samson and to bring the temple down on himself and the country. He did
not only become neurotically afflicted with double personality disorder, but
he also became preoccupied with a psychotic grandiose delusion revolving
around the presidency post and his greed and lust for power.
In his sickening and nauseating endeavor to be the next Lebanese president,
Aoun has negated every word that he had uttered during the past eighteen
years. In
one of his published editorials before his return from exile he wrote:
"Lebanon will be again an
independent, sovereign and free country without any Syrian tutelage
and influence. All those serving Syrian interests are puppets and will not
have any future saying in the country's liberation. All of them should know
that those who side with Syria are in fact doing so against nature and no
matter what they do, they ultimately will be defeated". This same
man is now allied with all the parties, politicians and groups that he
himself used to tag as Syrian subservients and agents among which are the
Baath, the Syrian National Socialist, the Nasserists, Hezbollah, the
Communists, and the Workers parties. He is also allied with his worst
previous enemy, the Syrian handpicked current President of the Republic,
General Lahoud, in addition to an assortment of fundamentalists and
collaborators from feudal, and financial-fundamentalist Mafias.
Before shifting sides and forging a secret deal with the Baathist Syrian
regime and its puppets in Lebanon, Michel Aoun had built his popularity for
the last 18 years, and earned his credibility, reputation, and patriotic
record by fighting the political forces that are his current terrorists and
pro-Syrian allies, especially Hezbollah and the Syrian puppet president,
General Emile Lahoud. Aoun had hit hard on Syria and its Lebanese puppet
politicians and parties for their corrupt practices, heresy, fundamentalism,
and subservience to Syrian-Iranian schemes. He has written hundreds of
editorials, given tens of lectures and conducted dozens of interviews,
cautioning in all of them against Syria's evil intents to uproot Lebanon's
distinctive identity and civilization, and empty, marginalize and destroy
its institutions, meddle in its ethnic and religious demographic composition,
terrorize, persecute, starve, and force its people into exodus, erase its
history, oppress freedoms, abort democracy, and abuse human rights..
The lust to power has blinded Aoun's eyes, mind, conscience and discretion.
He can only see the ragged seat of the presidency, polluted with the last
two Syrian-picked Presidents Hrawi and Lahoud. The worst ever Presidents in
Lebanon's remote and contemporary history. He only hears the voices of those
men playing
for him day and night the mantra of the presidency. He is only entertained
by, and relaxes over, the songs glorifying him as “The Great Leader”, and
the “Savior”.
His nerves are tense, and he has become detached from the tangible reality.
He started behaving as if he actually is the inspired and obeyed leader,
becoming
through his media appearances a moral catastrophe, all ending with shameful
military terms, empty verbal threats, and disgusting boastful postures. His
nervous, emotional and adversarial style exhibited boldly in all his public
appearances became so evident even to the blind. He now needs one of his
mouthpieces to constantly “clarify, justify and verify" after every
announcement, message or speech.
Aoun's Syrianized-Iranianized Syndrome came to the surface with his
“Memorandum of Understanding” with Hezbollah, the fundamentalist group with
the highest
degree of hostility to Lebanon the identity, the being, the freedoms, the
coexistence, and the rights. His memorandum realistically and practically is
worthless from the national doctrine perspective and is not worth the ink
that was used to write it. It gave Hezbollah a free Christian “coverage” to
launch its “Godly” July war and now to go ahead with its coup to topple the
Saniora legitimate government and rule the whole country.
Very few Lebanese, even in
their dreams, had imagined to see Aoun standing next to Sheik Naim Kassem,
Hezbollah's Deputy Secretary General at a Beirut downtown rally on Ryad
Al-Solh Square while roaring and chanting "Death to America, death to
Israel" (Sunday December 6/06)
Aoun, and in another attempt to escape forward, he signed another
"Memorandum of Understanding. This time with the Communist party. One
wonders how low his national priorities have fallen. Aoun is almost in a
position of enmity with all the five pillars of the Lebanese Christian
community (The Maronite Patriarch, The
Maronite Bishops, The Christian congregations, The Christian Schools and
Universities and the Christian NGO's/Parties). He has failed to reconcile
with his own people. It is well known that he who is unable to reconcile
with himself, his family and surroundings, is unable to reconcile with other
people. As long as Aoun is at odds with his own Christian society, he won’t
reap any benefit from these memorandums that could get him elected president
or regain the confidence and trust of the Christian intellectuals. His
defiance has reached a stage where is now locking horns even with the
Maronite Patriarch. Although he continuously boasts that he represents the
vast majority of the Lebanese Christians, the question is: aren’t the
Christian parties who are harshly criticized by Aoun, worthier than his
memorandums of understanding?
As I wondered in my previous editorial, how could Aoun remain quiet
regarding the threat by the Hezbollah Shiite cabinet Minister Trad Hamadeh
that his “Godly”
party will seek control of the presidency if the majority remains against
the national unity government and the conditions of Nasrallah. (According to
the Lebanese constitution, the Presidency is designated to the Christians,
the Prime Ministership to the Sunnis, and the Speakership of Parliament to
the Shiites). Today, I wonder again, why is it that Aoun, the
self-proclaimed protector of the Lebanese Christians, never bothered to
answer, even for the sake of form, on the statements of his ally, the former
pro-Syrian Minister Sleiman Frangieh, who unashamedly attacked in an
unprecedented manner, the Maronite Patriarch Sfeir, through the Hezbollah
Manar TV station?
I also ask, what is left of Aoun's credibility and sincerity and those of
his Parliamentary block when clarifications, verifications and corrections
of statements have became a requirement after each one of Aoun's
pronouncements? What good is derived from their lip-service to the latest
Maronite Bishops declaration of convictions, while Aoun and his
parliamentary block remain a Trojan horse providing Christian cover and
décor to Hezbollah’s Syria-Iran revolution/coup
d’etat, against the Lebanese state right from the Beirut Downtown Ryad Solh
square? These deceiving positions insult the intelligence of our people.
These
are astonishing contradictions to all Aoun's record and platforms for all
through 18 years.
I, with my psychiatric professional background, wonder what has actually led
Aoun to be afflicted with this Acute Double Personality Disorder? From 1988
till
January of this year, Aoun had promised emancipation after liberation of the
country. Now and after the country was liberated from the Syrian occupation,
Aoun
assumed with a numbed conscience the Trojan role, the witness to falsehood,
the chameleon cover to kidnap Lebanon underneath the Hezbollah yellow flags,
and
dragging it to the deserts and under Hezbollah's tents from the Stone Age.
Above all, through his 180 degrees turn, Aoun has been marketing Hezbollah’s
Iranian plan and weapons, which according to its members of parliament,
shall remain, remain, and remain as long as there is a Bible and a Quran!
While Hezbollah makes
no secrets of its goals for the war and every Lebanese is aware of this
destructive reality, Aoun, and despite all these facts regarding Hezbollah's
weapons and hunger for power, deludes himself thinking that people are sheep,
cannot recognize where Hezbollah is dragging the country to, and that he can
herd his supporters anywhere he pleases without any objection.
One wonders what is the common denominator, in ideas, culture, and practices
between Aoun and the master of the “Holy Resistance” and his “God party”
Sheik Hassan Nasrallah? Truly nothing is common except that Aoun is driven
by his desire to become Lebanon's next president. His vision has become a
tunnel one, and he desperately is trying through his alliance with Hezbollah
to impose a new Lebanese internal equation, that quenched his desires for
the presidential post.
He is playing this last resort card, after it was explained to him clearly
that his candidacy has been rejected by the US, France, the European and
Arab countries, other Lebanese Christian parties, the Maronite Patriarch,
and the March 14 parliamentary majority group in Parliament.
Aoun has himself pointed this Syrian tactic in an editorial entitled “The
Continuation of Blackmail" (5/19/2001).
He wrote: “The bitter truth that we sense today is the transformation of the
resistance (Hezbollah) into a political instrument used by Damascus in
creating internal Lebanese equations to solidify its policies in Lebanon and
support its regime back in Syria. Syria’s scare tactics are geared to serve
these goals. This is apparent through their grandiose theoretic propositions
and the lowering of economic production until annihilation".
Aoun's actual anti-Hezbollah stances in regards to its resistance, arms, the
Syrian-Iranian fabricated lie of Shebaa Farms, the so-called liberation of
the South
Lebanon allegations etc. are all well documented in dozens of articles,
speeches, and communiqués. What follows are verbatim samples that shows how
Aoun has
backed off on all his platforms, promises and national convictions, and all
for his presidency obsession.
Aoun at the US Congress September 18, 2003.
“After the Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon, we realize that the
Syrian regime will leave behind scores of its terror and destruction
instruments, as well as its intelligence operatives. It is therefore
mandatory, that the withdrawal is simultaneously executed along with the
full disarmament of the armed elements. Only the Lebanese legal armed forces
can provide the security to the Lebanese citizens.”
Aoun in an editorial on July 14/2002 entitled "Syria: Lebanon's soft
flank":
"Syria has resisted the Israeli withdrawal (from South Lebanon,
prior to its unilateral withdrawal in May 2000), and when it did not succeed
in preventing its
occurrence, it aborted through pressuring Lebanon the implementation of UN
Resolution 426 (which stipulates the obligations of both Lebanon and Israel
once UN
Resolution 425 is implemented). Syria had invented the Shebaa Farms case in
a bid to keep Lebanon a soft flank for Israel and a protective zone for
itself.".
In same context of negating all Hezbollah's and Syria's sincerity, trust and
credibility, Aoun in another editorial dated November 11/2000, wrote: "The
Syrian regime has found its desire and goal in the Southern resistance (Hezbollah
in South Lebanon), and accordingly alleged its protection in its liberation
mission".
Aoun on June 23, 2000. in an editorial titled “The return to Clam”
“ In this occasion, we advise those who want to keep arms, to
withdraw it from all hands and store it. For resistance to occupation has
ceased after it has ended
. There is no hope of extending it (the resistance) beyond the borders. From
now on, these weapons will only harm those who carry them. And a liberation
remain meaningless unless it is transformed to an absolute national
sovereignty.”
Aoun on December 10, 2000.
“In all cases, those (Lebanese) who own cannons (possess arms in
Lebanon) are all on one side facing all those others who are not armed. The
cannons are
all in the possession of Hezbollah, the Lebanese Government and the Syrians.
All of them are on one side in the same line facing the rest of the unarmed
people. Meanwhile the people are stubborn and persistent in claiming their
rights. Or is it that we are back to the concept of force where we have no
choice but to accept what Syrian imposed or be exposed to extinction."
Aoun on December 31/1999:
"The squad composed of the US, Syria, Israel, the Lebanese
Government and the resistance (Hezbollah), is playing an
international-regional show that has
nothing to do with the reality of the Lebanese people except what disastrous
results it dictated. Meanwhile the Lebanese regime does not represent
Lebanon and it
is part of the show that started and had emerged ten years ago. In the
negotiations, it (the Lebanese Government) represents the doorkeepers' role.
It gets
in and out according to signals. This role will not change by the change of
the negotiating delegation members because this role is assigned to them and
of
their own making."
Aoun on September 17/1999 in an editorial entitled "The Israeli
withdrawal":
"In case the resistance (Hezbollah) continues (after an Israeli withdrawal
from South Lebanon), in the international point of view, Israel will be safe
from
being denounced when using its deterrent destructive power in respond to the
resistance even if it exceeds the limits of the appropriate response."
Aoun on August 4/2000:
"When the national education gets low in the society, and when the
citizen loses his capability to differentiate between the nation's permanent
convictions and the political unstable and moveable matters, he is then
dragged to stances that contradict what he wants to express, he is used to
fix what he wants to change and to change what he wants to fix although
playing with words and endorsing stances in contrary to its truth."
The alliance between Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement and Hezbollah's General
Secretary Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah is so odd, bizarre and does not by any
means
bridge the two individuals' publicly declared views about each other, e.g.:
Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah on November 11/1989 (Annahar Newspaper)
"Palestine belongs to the whole nation "Al Umma", and not to a bunch
of leaders who got exhausted, old and sold themselves to the devil. We
emphasize that there
is no means except to continue the struggle "Al Jihad", till total
liberation of our holy country". "In the midst of the events in Lebanon
emerges a problem whose name is the "Taef Accord", and a problem whose name
is Michel Aoun. It is not true that he who rejects the Taef Accord is with
Michel Aoun. The Taef Accord is a problem because it dedicates the
denominational system without reforms, but an increase in the number of the
MPs. The cabinet was given power while the President remains the Army Higher
Chief Commander. Our problem in Lebanon is the denominational system through
which deprivation remains. The alternative as the leader of the Iranian
Islamic Republic Ayatollah Al Khomeini has said, the system should fall and
the people decide on the course of the new system. What we hope is that the
people and public in Lebanon will choose without pressure the system they
want and we are with the people in deciding their our fate. As for that Aoun,
he is a problem because he is an Israeli destructive and confrontational
condition. He does not see except his individual interests and those of his
denomination. He is the racist Maronite course in Eastern Beirut (the
Capital's Christian sector)." Nasrallah stressed in his speech that the
alternative to the Taef
resolutions is the resistance.
Aoun in an editorial dated May 27, 2000 entitled “When will the
Liberation be”
In the aftermath of the unilateral Israeli withdrawal from South Lebanon
Aoun described Hezbollah as an organization that cuts open bellies and
slaughters people's necks while in their own beds. This statement was a
response to a public threat uttered by Hezbollah's General Secretary Sheikh
Hassan Nasrallah who, a few days before the Israeli withdrawal, warned the
Lebanese Southern citizens through all media channles that that Nasrallah's
organization, Hezbollah Party, will get to their bedrooms to slaughter their
necks and cut open their bellies.
Aoun wrote in his editorial: “What are the Lebanese State (Lahoud puppet
regime) and its deceitful ruling class proud of after the Israeli withdrawal,
now that
thousands of innocent Lebanese citizens have fled to Israel? Why did the
women flee scared with their children to the Israeli camps? Isn’t this the
result of Nasrallah’s threats to slaughter people in their beds, under the
watching eyes and ears of a State running after this rhetoric because of its
failure to perform its duties, and then adopt this rhetoric by its silence,
therefore abandoning all its security and judicial responsibilities. And how
could a “President” (General Lahoud) give assurances to his people to return
to their land, when he has no sovereignty over it and is characterized by
his constant absence from executing his responsibilities. And until the true
celebration of liberation arrives, we refuse to participate in the
“drugging” celebrations, and we leave its pleasure peak to the drug addicts
to enjoy.”
For Heaven's sake, how could these two men trust one another and forge an
alliance with each other? There is no logic, common sense or rationale in
such a bizarre alliance. But, in the end it is so sad and so disappointing
to watch a great leader like General Aoun committing political suicide
through forging an alliance with the Axis of Evil via its Iranian army in
Lebanon, Hezbollah. The question remains: Is the man sane? Many of those who
knew him so close reply with a big NO and continue to bitterly say the man
is not himself.
6-General Michel Aoun: An improvised political version of Dr. Jekyll &
Mr. Hyde
By: Elias
Bejjani/LCCC Chairman
November 30/2006
(Part 6 of the Aoun series of editorials)
In this editorial - part six in my Aoun series - the focus will be solely on
the text of a lengthy audio interview that the Lebanese MTV channel
conducted with General Michel Aoun on October 9, 2002 while he was
still in exile in Paris - France. This is another lengthy text of 40
pages that shows without a shadow of doubt, and by this man's own words,
that he has in cold blood buried under 12 feet all his declared
national and political convictions whose banner he carried for 18 years,
only to back off completely on all his promises in the end. He simply made
a 180 degree turn without even bothering to explain himself or at least
to his supporters the rationale for such a drastic turnaround.
He is still claiming boldly to be the most popular Lebanese Christian
politician, and accordingly he acts in an extremely aggressive and reckless
manner as he elaborates his national and political choices and alliances.
His demagogic attitudes, approaches and speeches are still appealing to
many young Lebanese, especially in the Christian community, because he is
hypocritically playing on sectarian fears while portraying himself as a
secularist and the savior and protector of the Christian community. This
metamorphosis had the effect that many intellectuals among his close
supporters have either left him or just backed off and are not involving
themselves in political activity any longer.
The Lebanese people in general and the Christian community in particular had
hoped for many years that General Aoun's return from exile would be a very
constructive push forward and a solid patriotic cornerstone for reclaiming
the country's confiscated sovereignty, independence, freedoms and security.
But to their disappointment and frustration, the man lost all focus on
national priorities except for his unabated drive for the presidency.
Everything he does or says revolves around this apparently unreachable
ambition.
And instead of working genuinely for unity in his own Christian community
after he got almost 80% of its votes in the last parliamentary elections,
he became his community's main problem and element of division after he
backed off on his electoral platform and forged an alliance with Hezbollah
and all the pro-Syrian parties, officials, and militias in Lebanon. He
turned into a Syrian mouthpiece defending the Damascus regime's conduct and
atrocities, aborting all efforts to replace the Syrian hand-picked Lebanese
President, General Emile Lahoud.
In his blind pursuit of the presidency, he turned against France, the US,
UNIFIL, and all UN resolutions, and took a hostile stance against the
Maronite Patriarch after his Beatitude and the Maronite Council of Bishops
expressed their disapproval of his alliances. He continues to issue threats
to topple the Siniora government by force and through street demonstrations
side by side with Hezbollah and the pro-Syrian parties.
On Sunday November 26, 2006 and because Aoun was still persisting to
join forces with Hezbollah and topple the Lebanese government, His
Beatitude the Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir urged the Lebanese
Christians to close ranks although he acknowledged that such a unity is
difficult to achieve, (mainly because of Aoun's stubbornness): " We are
going through miserable days, but we hope they will be followed by happy
days in which the Lebanese will reunite…We mean by that the Christians who
are divided," Sfeir told his visitors on Sunday. "It seems that their
reunification has become hard," Sfeir added. He said the Lebanese should
join hands since "our leaders are being killed one after the other."
Because of Aoun's individualistic, selfish and uncalculated ambitions,
Lebanon's Christians are divided between those who support Fouad Siniora's
government and those who are revolving around Aoun and are calling for the
toppling of the government.
Below are a number of selected quotes from Aoun's MTV October 2002
interview which shows Aoun's own description of Hezbollah's fundamentalist
doctrine, weapons, ties to foreign countries, power balance between Arab
countries and Israel, Lebanon's borders with both Israel and Syria, the big
lie of the Shebaa Farms, suicide operations, reckless military skirmishes
against Israel through Lebanon's borders, rules of negotiation, acceptance
of others, civil and military societies, Syria's criminal role, terrorism
and the pressure it exerts on the Palestinians, Dhimmitude attitudes,
extermination of Lebanon's Christians, inefficiency of Lebanon's current
pro-Syrian president, General Lahoud, and many other opinions and stances
in the same context.
The prime objective from this illustration is to show - using Aoun's own
words - the educated and intellectuals among his supporters, as well as
within his party's members, and in particular the young and university
students, how the man since his return from exile last year has backed off
from all his political advocacy of the past 18 years and reneged on all
his platforms and promises. All what is required from the reader is to just
compare, with an open mind and without any kind of sentiment or bias,
Aoun's platforms during the exile years which they admired and supported,
with those after his return from exile. The Lebanese people owe it to themselves
and to their country to only support politicians based on platforms and not
on emotions or blind sentimentalist fanaticism. Only sheep can be lead
blindly to slaughterhouses, but not the Lebanese people.
Below are
selected excerpts from General Aoun's interview with MTV on 09/04/02.
Journalist Elie Nakouzi conducted the interview (Below also some writer's
comments)
1-General Aoun: "By the way,
I remind you here that the Syrian regime had said that it came to Lebanon
to save its Christians from extermination. I want to ask this regime who,
apart from it, in fact wanted to exterminate us?"
2-General Aoun: "I sure am very
optimistic with the Palestinian people's victory, but not the way some
envisage it. Not by the extermination of Israel as Hezbollah and Bashar
Al-Assad say, because this kind of policy is globally rejected".
3-General Aoun: "The best that Syria has
offered is rejected by us. What can Syria offer us? Its liberal regime,
freedoms, or economic system? All of these are rejected because they do not
match our thinking. For the Syrian regime to be accepted by us, it has to
be like us in Lebanon, and not vice-versa".
Writer's Comment: Does the General have
any assurances from the Syrian Baathist regime that its leadership has
scraped their schemes to exterminate the Lebanese Christian community, or
at least their intellectuals and leaders who oppose their interferences and
hegemony? If he does, the Lebanese people are entitled to be informed,
especially that the horrible Syrian crimes continue to target Lebanon's
national leaders, journalists and officials one after the other. Needless
to remind the General that he himself has accused Syria and its Lebanese
agents to be behind three assassination attempts that targeted him
personally.
4-General Aoun: "The Arabs have gained the
experience. I noticed that whose who got the experience are acting wisely
at this stage. Meanwhile, there are those who don't own the experience,
mostly the young, are enthusiastic for war, like Hezbollah and his
Excellency president Bashar Al Assad".
5-General Aoun: "There are rejectionist
factions (in the region), Hezbollah and Syria are such well-known
rejectionists. They are the factions that pressure the Palestinian people
and the Palestinian resistance in a certain direction".
6-General Aoun: "We can't live today
according to Bin Laden's school (doctrine). We can't live in the East or in
the West with a war slogan against Jews and Christians".
7-General Aoun: "Whenever the
Palestinian problem get close to a solution, we feel that the Palestinian
people are exposed to pressure from outside bidding factions striving to
corner and embarrass the Chairman of the Palestinian Authority and make him
reject the solution. They put him in a weak position and at times tag him
with treason if he accepts the proposed solutions".
8-General Aoun: "I am against any suicide
operation (for any target) if you can bombard or explode the target. In any
kind of military operation the soldier should always have a good chance to
return alive. No one (fighter, soldier) should detonate himself. As far as I
am concerned, this (suicide operations) is against my human and faith
beliefs".
9-General Aoun: "We are the country that
was struck by 258 booby-trapped vehicles during the unfolding events.
The Lebanese people remember very well these cars that exploded in all (the
Lebanese) regions. We are against this kind of thinking, the thinking of
annihilating the society because it does not distinguish (between military
and civil societies)"
Writer's Comment: The General has so far
not cleared the rejectionists from what he accused them of doing in
2002. Does his alliance with them simply mean that he was wrong at that
time, or that they have abandoned such practices? Aren't these
rejectionists the General's new allies? How could he now sell his
supporters such an alliance? Aren't they still rejectionists?
One wonders whether the General's new allies, especially Hezbollah, have
abandoned this kind of thinking, or if they have succeeded in convincing
the General himself to adopt their own doctrines in this regard. It is
worth mentioning that Hezbollah has fired tens of its missiles against
civilian targets during its last war with Israel.
10-General Aoun: "I consider these
martyrdom operations wrong because, as I previously stated, they freed the
Israeli military destructive power and legitimized its usage."
11-General Aoun: "Israel owns a mighty
military and destruction power. By using the booby-trapped vehicles weapon
against them (the Israelis), we give Israel a free hand to use its power
and even legitimize it".
12-General Aoun: "The Palestinians
should know that their case can't be solved through violence. They have
45 years experience of violence and mutual wars".
13-General Aoun: "Once engaged in
negotiations, this simply means the parties recognize each other. One
cannot, by the end of a peace process and because of not agreeing on some
issues, turn around and again deny the existence of the other party, and
accordingly make this existence a questionable matter. We can't adopt an
argument that advocates for Israel's cancellation (annihilation)".
Writer's Comment: Does the General have
any doubt that Hezbollah, his new ally, has fully freed the Israeli mighty
destructive military power when its men crossed the Lebanese border into
Israel to kill and kidnap Israeli soldiers? The perplexing question for the
General remains: Did Hezbollah and President Bashar Al Assad change their
way of thinking, or is it the General who did?
14-General Aoun: "I say the military
escalation does not help, especially when power balance (in the Middle
East) is to a great extent subjected to international constraints and not to
Arab power in the face of Israel’s power" .
Writer's Comment: If this is the
situation, how could the General justify his adaptation for Hezbollah's
latest “divine victory?”
15-General Aoun: "In Lebanon there was a
UN Resolution (452), meanwhile the resistance (Hezbollah) has
prolonged the time of occupation (for South Lebanon). There was a proposal
from Israel in 1994. Would the Lebanese government tell us why at that
time it withdrew from the negotiations when the Israeli proposal for
withdrawal (from South Lebanon) was submitted".
Writer's Comment: If actually Hezbollah
did not liberate the South and instead it prolonged its Israeli occupation,
how does the general instruct his followers to share with Hezbollah and Hezbollah
supporters all over the world their annual festivities of the so-called
liberation?
16-General Aoun: "Lebanon's frontiers
were originally never closed. All Lebanon is open (not guarded). Where are
the closed frontiers? They are neither closed with Syria nor with Israel.
The Lebanese state does not exist on the frontiers. These frontiers are
open and every night skirmishes take place. I am with closing the frontiers
and not with abandoning responsibilities. But what is happening today? All
are washing their hands from all responsibilities".
Writer's Comment: Are these frontiers
closed now to make the General refuse the deployment of UNIFIL forces on
the Lebanese Israeli borders, and to oppose putting UNIFIL under the UN’s
chapter seven?
17-General Aoun: "The Shebaa Farms is a
big lie; I am fully responsible for what I am saying. We can't adjust the
map in accordance to our mood. Shebaa Farms are not Lebanese. Even if they were,
this land was confiscated by Syria since a long time and Lebanon has been
silent about it. The Lebanese government did not state once that it has an
occupied land subjected to UN resolution 242 ".
18-General Aoun: "Let them leave the
Shebaa story which is originally a fabricated one, they want to keep the
borders open. Let us assume for the sake of argument that the Shebaa Farms
is Lebanese, and that we have the right to fight for it, and that we don't
want to implement the UN Resolution. But what about the Golan Heights? Why
doesn’t our sisterly neighboring Syria open its front (with Israel) at a
time when it made of itself a trustee over Lebanon?"
Writer's Comment: Based on the General's
own words, how could he and his parliamentary bloc members allege that
Hezbollah's weapons are a result of the occupation of Shebaa, and not the
cause for Lebanon's current problems? And how could he support a lie and tie
the fate of Hezbollah's disarmament with the fate of the armed Palestinian
militias in Lebanon and the erection of a strong, fair and resistant
Lebanese state? One wonders how could a strong Lebanese state be erected
when Hezbollah has its own Iranian-Syrian militant state inside the state
and uses force to deny any Lebanese efforts to rectify peacefully this
bizarre imposed status.
19-General Aoun: "Emile Lahoud, as he
says, is not qualified to be president of the Republic or to head the
Arabic summit conference".
20-General Aoun: "Didn't you hear the
speeches threatening us with a civil war in case we call for a Syrian
withdrawal (from Lebanon). Hezbollah is the one that threatened and who else
has weapons. Hezbollah said we want to erect another Kosovo (in Lebanon)
and it intents to confront this matter. Hezbollah said that they are on the
front at the border to defend Syria. This is exactly what Al Syassa Kuwaiti
newspaper quoted Sayed Hassan Nasrallah as saying. It seems that he was
threatening us with a civil war if we called for a Syrian withdrawal".
Writer's Comment: Isn’t Nasrallah now
resorting to the same kind of speeches and threats? And is it not true too
that the General is now on Nasrallah's side? And aren’t both Aoun and Nasrallah
threatening the Lebanese people with a civil war if the Siniora government
does not give them the power to run the country?
21-General Aoun: "We have the
independence pact, as well as the foundations of the country. None of them
could build on any contracts Hezbollah forges with foreign countries. The country's
foundations are sovereignty, independence and the unity of both the people
and land".
22-General Aoun: "What is the military
value of the Syrian Army in the power balance in case a war erupts with
Israel? Do you really believe peace and tranquility in the East are
sustained by power balance? What actually preserved tranquility up till now
is the international will. Military skirmishes (on the borders with Israel)
occurring these days could lead to the freeing of these constraints. We
live these days a very delicate situation because if Hezbollah and Syria
are serious in their escalation and not merely theoretical, then the
possibility of the plight of war is serious".
Writer's Comment: Here the General has a
great deal of explaining to do in regards to his groundless and
non-military support for Hezbollah's last devastating war against Israel. Hezbollah
did or did not free the destructive Israeli mighty military power when it
kidnapped the Israeli solders from inside the Israeli borders? Meanwhile
and based on his own words in 2002 how could he declare Hezbollah
victorious in the last war? Isn’t the General contradicting himself between
2002 and 2006? In 2002, he said that Hezbollah’s skirmishes
with the Israelis could lead to war. Now he says that the July War was a
war that the US had been preparing for regardless of what Hezbollah does or
does not do in the south?
23-General Aoun: "Hezbollah can not
forge partnerships (with foreign countries) and then tie all the country (Lebanon)
to its opinion. Such partnerships are unacceptable. I refuse both religious
and political Dhimmitude. These days we live a state of political Dhimmitude
in Lebanon".
Writer's Comment: The General, for the
sake of credibility, ought to inform at least his party members and
supporters if Hezbollah has severed its financial, military, strategic, and
ideological ties with Syria and Iran? He should also tell them if he
approves today of political Dhimmitude? [A “Dhimmi” is a second-class
non-Moslem citizen in a State ruled by Moslems].
"Did the General renege on his own words when he signed the so-called "Paper
of Understanding" with Hezbollah while its leadership openly and daily
declares that they are allies with Syria and Iran? Didn't Hezbollah’s
General Secretary loudly say over and over that if and when Syria is forced
to withdraw from Lebanon, we [Hezbollah] will be its own army? Does the
General recall to whom Sheik Hassan Nasrallah bestowed the recent so-called
divine victory? It was for Syria and Iran. He should remember that because
his delegation was in the front seats during that huge victory celebration.
24-General Aoun: "No one is armed except
the state's parties: the Syrian National Social Party, the Baath Party and
Hezbollah. These are the supporters of the authority. All of this is used
under the resistance tag. They keep the weapons in a bid to threaten others
with killing and a civil war. We do not fear killing, but if violence is
forced on us we will defend ourselves".
Writer's comment: "Aren't these same
armed parties the General's new allies today on the ground in Beirut?
Aren't he and them threatening the rest of the Lebanese with massive
demonstrations and aren't they threatening the Siniora Government to resign
or otherwise?".
25-General Aoun: "It is impossible to
tag those who want to go to the West Bank for help as agents. What is this
complex? Are all the Palestinians there Israeli agents. This same complex was
practiced in South Lebanon when its citizens were dealt with as agents and
put in jails".
Writer's Comment: "It would be great if
the General tells our people that his current ally Hezbollah was the
authority that tagged and still tags the South Lebanese Army members, their
families and many other security zone citizens as Israeli agents".
26-General Aoun: "And this subject, the
dialogue I have put it forward for others and in particular for Hezbollah.
That was through our youth who were engaged in a dialogue with Hezbollah between
1993 and 1994. These youth visited me at that time in France (Haute
Maison) and asked for my opinion. I requested that they put forward this
same question for Hezbollah: "If we reach the national borders (Israeli-Lebanese
borders) tomorrow by one way or another, does the role of the rifle end
there and the Lebanese state is erected, or we will keep holding to the
rifle for other things? The Hezbollah response was:" the matter will be left
for an assessment of the situation at that time". This simply means and in
a very diplomatic way that they don't want to give up the rifle".
Writer's Comment: The irony here is that
the General has kept a blind eye on his own theory and prediction when
signing the so-called "Paper of Understanding" with Hezbollah, which subsequently
linked its weapons to the “Sacred, honor, dignity, defense strategy, a
strong, fair and resistant State and until a time when Israel would not be
able to fly a kite over Lebanon”. Does the General recall who ignited the
last war?
27-General Aoun: "I know that Lebanon
will not be divided. It will return again a country for all of its people,
even in the presence of supporters for Syria whose role in the end will
cease to exist because they can't stand against nature on the account of
the country and its foundations. But if one does not believe in a sovereign,
free and independent Lebanon, then everything is finished".
Writer's Comment: "What is funny here is
that the General himself, and after his return from exile, has aggressively
and enthusiastically joined the Syrian supporters through his alliance with
Hezbollah, General Lahoud and the rest of Syria's agents in Lebanon,
including the pro-Syrian Baath Party...One wonders if the General's
perception of what is ‘nature’ and ‘the foundations of the country’ has
been revolutionized, Syrianized, and baathized?".
28-General Aoun: "Up till today I notice
that the Lebanese Forces Party and the "Qornet Chehwan" (political
Christian coalition) are very persistent in their support of the "Taef
Accord" as if it is another bible, while in fact it is a ploy that they
were dragged in. Some do not know how to get out because they refuse to
admit they were cheated and that their choice was wrong".
Writer's comment: “It is no secret that
the General has revolutionized his position on the "Taef Accord" and became,
like those ploy victims, one of its major supporters. He even scolded some
of his prime supporters when publicly they reiterated his original "Taef"
opposition stance. Is his new choice righteous in his own eyes? And if so,
how could he in 2002 say that the accord was a ploy? I believe he owes
our own people a great deal of explanation.”
29-General Aoun: "We start from the
southern region. If it does not return back to the (state's) legitimate
authority, to the jurisdiction of the law and to the legitimate Lebanese
armed forces, then we can't consider it liberated, but still under the
control of a militia and that it has been transferred from two occupations
to one.
Writer's comment: "It is worth noting
that when the General signed his " Paper of Understanding" with Hezbollah,
this armed militia was still in full control of the southern region (now it
is under the control of the UNIFIL and the Lebanese Army), and at that time
too there was no existence there whatsoever for the state's authority,
jurisdiction of law, or Lebanon's legitimate armed forces. This same
militia is the one that still holds tight to its 40,000 missiles and to
its destructive arsenal, refusing to disarm with the full support of the
General. This is the same militia with which the General has forged with
not a mere “understanding” as both parties allege, but a full alliance
accord".
30-General Aoun: "The issue is not that
of an ally, I am America's ally. I went there (to the USA) to call for
Lebanon's independence. We do not forget that America is the sole mighty
country and its policies affect the whole world whether we like it or not.
America has a power formula. If one can make this formula to his advantage
he will be able to save his country. Although America and Israel had hurt
me the most in the world, I can't ignore America' power and influence in
the world. We should understand that a mistake was committed against Lebanon
who fell a victim for terrorism. The mistake should be rectified. I showed
them (the USA) the assassination and explosion schedule that Lebanon had
been exposed to. I told them, I did not want to accuse anybody, but
requested they ask their Intelligence. I asked them not make parties
accountable because these parties have ties with regimes. The organizations
that you consider terrorists are tied to regimes. These organizations
should be disarmed and the regimes rendered democratic and to help in
developing the poor people".
Writer's comment: The General instead of
working hard to disarm these organizations, and in particular Hezbollah,
has forged an alliance with them and has become a guardian angel for their
weapons.
31-General Aoun: "Not at all, attacking
Hezbollah is not requested. Our call for Hezbollah has always been a
peaceful one. We told Hezbollah's leadership, ‘Your liberation role has
finished and you should not be a tool in the hands of others. Come and play
your political role’. It is true that I reject many of their ideas, because
they have somewhat strange ideas as far as our society is concerned. These
ideas do not comply with our society nor with Lebanon's traditional
mission. But they are a part of the Lebanese society. I call on them not to
be an outside (foreign) dimension n Lebanon, but a Lebanese dimension
abroad. It does not bother me whether their religious loyalty is in Qom or
in Iraq. This a religious authority with whom we have no relations. But
what is rejected, is the turning of any Muslim or Christian faction into a
dimension in Lebanon for the outside (foreign countries).
Writer's Comment: Hezbollah's ideas are
still the same and even more crystal clear. Meanwhile, Hezbollah is not
only an internal dimension for outside powers, but in fact an Iranian-Syria
armed militia in Lebanon. Its leadership is not hiding this fact, can the
General do otherwise?
10/04/02:
Below are Excerpts from the Aoun MTV interview, the subject of our editorial,
as published in the As-Safir Lebanese Arabic-language daily one day after
its airing.
("Aoun: The Shebaa Farms are not Lebanese and the Resistance (Hezbollah)
has prolonged the Occupation.
General Michel Aoun appeared live yesterday from Paris and presented his
views and positions regarding the developments in the region. Aoun
described the martyrdom missions executed by the Palestinian resistance
against the Israeli occupation as "suicide missions" and not "missions of
martyrdom". He added that such operations "reveal an uncivilized conduct,"
and that the use of booby-trapped vehicles against Israel is an act of
terrorism.
Aoun, in a televised interview with MTV, fiercely attacked Hezbollah and
Syria and accused them of nurturing the rejectionist discourse of the
Palestinians. He also accused them of wanting to annihilate the Israelis,
and of prodding the Palestinians to destroy a whole population. Aoun
criticized the military operations undertaken by the resistance (Hezbollah)
in the Shebaa Farms stating that "the Farms issue is a lie: the Shebaa
Farms are not Lebanese; let Syria give us an official document that these
Farms are Lebanese then we will work at liberating them."
Aoun described Hezbollah's and Syria's position regarding the developments
in occupied Palestine as "an extremist position stemming from either
political recklessness or collusion with Israel." Aoun criticized “the
rejectionist discourse that rejects even the human Israeli existence, such
as the Hezbollah discourse that considers the killing of anyone in the
Israeli society as ´fair game', and the discourse of President Bashar Assad
that is identical to Hezbollah's and proclaims that ´there are no civilians
in Israeli society'. Aoun added: "We reject this kind of discourse. We
reject such policy of extermination. Such things are contradictory to any
human or civilized conduct. They are calling for the destruction of a whole
people through terrorist means, and this is unacceptable. The use of such
means released the destructive military power of Israel and legitimized
it."
He also stated that the military victory of Israel "will not eliminate the
Palestinian State nor the rights of the Palestinian people. However, those
goals cannot be reached by the extermination of Israelis and wiping out
Israel, as Hezbollah and Bashar Assad want." And regarding the resistance (Hezbollah)
that liberated the South from Israeli occupation, Aoun said: "The resistance
prolonged the occupation. There was an Israeli proposal of withdrawal in
1994. Why did Lebanon withdraw from the negotiation process? Lebanon
attached itself to the Syrian tractor and dissolved its own political and
diplomatic identity… the resistance prolonged the occupation and damaged
Lebanon economically". He called for the "disarming of Hezbollah that keeps
threatening us with civil war."
Aoun attacked Syria fiercely and said: "Is it allowable for Syria to kill in
the name of brotherhood? Is it allowable for Syria to occupy Baabda (Presidential
Palace) in the name of brotherhood? Why did it greet me with hostility from
my first day as head of the interim government?"
Aoun described the Lebanese constitutional institutions as "farms" (in a
veiled reference to the Shebaa Farms) and said: "The Baabda farm (Presidential
Palace) needs to be liberated, so does the Qoraytem (Prime Minister’s
Office) and the Nejmeh Square (Parliament) farms. There is no free decision
in any of these places."
On the future of the region, Aoun said: “Peace in the Middle East is a
civilization condition that must evolve against the politics of violence.
It rests on the acceptance of the "other", the right to be different, and
the democratization of the political systems. It is impossible to build a
new Middle East with a war mentality. Competition through development and
pluralism, which arises from the acceptance of those who are different, the
plurality of races, genders, and origins, and the freedom of creed, is
consistent with the stipulations of the Charter of Human Rights.
I do not trust States that engage themselves in the path of peace and try to
develop their systems, but that do not recognize the right of freedom of
creed, which by the way is not limited to religion, but also includes
political and all other forms of freedoms. There are underdeveloped
autocratic and theocratic states that are anachronisms and are incompatible
with the times in which we live. The Bin Laden School is such a belief
system and it cannot survive. The slogan of war on Christians and Jews is
an aberration that cannot survive, neither in the East nor in the West.
Lebanon is the only oasis for the reconciliation of cultures because of its
Moslems and Christians who have lived the experience and found it to be
viable. Aoun said his return to Lebanon is tied to "changes on the ground"
he expects to happen soon and which are linked to regional developments."
)
5-General Michel Aoun's Alliance with Hezbollah: A Bizarre
and Groundless Marriage of Opportunism
By: Elias
Bejjani-LCCC/Chairman
November 20/2006
"The positions of those afflicted with contradiction
between acts and words cannot be reassuring. Such individuals desire one
thing and its opposite at the same time" (General Aoun on 16/06/2000).
I would like to tell my readers that I am really happy and
extremely pleased with the many emails, phones and faxes, both negative and
positive, that I have been receiving from the Diaspora and back home since I
started publishing this series of editorials. In response to those who are
accusing me of creating division among the sovereignists' ranks, I borrow my
reply from Edmund Burke, the well known English statesman and political
philosopher (1729-1797):
"All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do
nothing."
In this fifth episode from General Michel Aoun's series, the prime focus
will be on a set of miscellaneous selected quotations from the man's
documented speeches, theses and political positions that focus all on
Hezbollah's weapons, south Lebanon, Lebanon's sovereignty, independence and
security.
My prime objective is to give our people, as well as our world wide friends,
the chance to examine thoroughly General Aoun's positions, promises, pledges,
convictions, his party's 2005 parliamentary electoral platform, his
alliances and then check these against the extent of his sincerity and
commitment to all of the above. This study aims to fairly and openly
pinpoint the General's post-exile trend of contradictions between his acts
and his words.
A very simple and straightforward comparison between his pre- and post-exile
attitudes and stances makes it very clear, and without a shred of a doubt,
that the man has molted, turned against all his positions, and accordingly,
allied himself with Hezbollah and the Lebanese agents of Syria in Lebanon.
Needless to say that he has built his leadership and popularity all through
the past eighteen years on fighting all of them, initially militarily, and
then politically.
Six years ago, and while he was still in exile, the General denounced
similar patterns of behavior and accused his opponents of adopting them for
personal
gains, power and status. On 16/06/2000 he said: "The
positions of those afflicted with contradiction between acts and words
cannot be reassuring. Such individuals desire one thing and its opposite at
the same time".
One wonders if General Aoun, who has recently joined forces with the "Evil
Axis" through his alliance with Hezbollah and Syria's agents in Lebanon, is
the same
man who enthusiastically and staunchly sponsored, advocated and worked hard
with the Lebanese lobbyists in the US to prepare, promote and then pass the
"Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act of 2003". An
Act that stipulates: "To halt Syrian support for terrorism, end its
occupation of Lebanon, stop its development of weapons of mass destruction,
cease its illegal importation of Iraqi oil and illegal shipments of weapons
and other military items to Iraq, and by so doing hold Syria accountable for
the serious international security problems it has caused in the Middle
East, and for other purposes."
One wonders why the US ambassador to Lebanon had to warn Aoun of 'Grave
Consequences' over an alliance with Hezbollah, as Naharnet posted on its
Internet site on Friday November 3, 2006: {"Beirut-U.S. ambassador Jeffrey
Feltman has allegedly warned General Michel Aoun of 'grave consequences'
over his alliance with Hezbollah, accusing the Shiite group of plotting to
obliterate Lebanon."Feltman was quoted as saying: "Hezbollah is constantly
working on destroying and obliterating Lebanon as well as sowing chaos,"
according to the Lebanese daily As-Safir. It said his remarks were made
during a visit to Aoun at his house in Rabieh on Thursday. The paper quoted
leading sources in Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) as saying that
Feltman also slammed the so-called "political understanding" between Aoun
and Hezbollah. But Aoun has reiterated his adherence to the "political
understanding," the sources said. They said
that Feltman has indirectly threatened Aoun that his alliance with Hezbollah
would bear "grave consequences on his political future." As-Safir said that
this was
a tortuous reference to the presidency issue, in which Aoun, a Maronite, is
eligible for under the Lebanese constitution. The paper also said that the
FPM has
previously received similar threats from the American administration warning
Aoun against establishing any "material or financial ties with Hezbollah, or
be
blacklisted for assisting terrorists".
Aoun's supporters and followers in the Diaspora and back
home have an obligation, at least towards themselves to rationally and
intelligently question his post-exile new plans, positions and alliances,
and decide if he actually is still the leader whom they supported as far as
platforms, convictions, and promises.
Below are selected excerpts from Aoun's
documented writings, speeches and interviews that delineate his pre-exile
anti-Hezbollah, anti-terrorism stances.
1) January.3/2005- An excerpt from Aoun's speech (via
the phone) in the inauguration of his party's office in the Lebanese
Northern city of Zgharta:
"We should not compromise on the country's
cause. The cause is not a bet in a race, nor an issue of trade. It is a
matter of existence for everybody (Lebanon's people), and not the existence
of a one segment and not the other. If you want the country, make it a
priority in all your thinking. Everything else is secondary; this is the
salvation. As from today, we will not accept any loyalty that supersedes
that for our country. We will not accept that all matters be given two
meanings and two specifications, especially the national convictions. We
cannot be with Syria or the Palestinian cause more than we are with
ourselves and with our country. We cannot love the neighbors' children more
than we love our own family members. In our relations with each other, we
should get rid of lying & dodging, as well as of ambiguity and the every
day planting of mines in a bid to improve and develop our national life, or
otherwise we will remain wedged in ongoing problems."
2) Excerpt from General Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement
Party Parliamentary 2005 electoral platform, "Annex number one, Hezbollah's
issue":
"N Resolution 1559
and the 'Taef Accord' both stipulate that all militias (in Lebanon) must be
disarmed. This matter raises the paradox of Hezbollah's military existence.
Regardless of different opinions on Hezbollah's ideological choices and its
relations with Syria, that is suspicious in its intentions towards Lebanon,
Hezbollah's military activities were seen in the UN Resolutions frame as
resistance acts against occupation until the day Israel withdraw from
Lebanon's southern region (May 2000). After the Israeli withdrawal,
legitimacy for Hezbollah' military operations dissipated. Meanwhile, since
then, it created a crisis on national and international levels. This status
put Lebanon in a confrontation with the international law, while at the same
time exerted a threat to the national unity as it indicates that one group
Monopolizes Lebanon's national decision making process."
Doubts in regards to Hezbollah's actual
objectives and hazards of its strategy are not by any means going to
dissipate through avowed relations with hardliner Iran, or through its
alliance with (Palestinian) Hamas and the Islamic Jihad movements that are
both classified by the West as anti-peace movements. In this same context,
the Shebaa Farms ploy is not a convincing proof (to justify Hezbollah's
military anti Israel Acts) and it did not succeed in concealing Syrian
intentions that hide in the back. Keenness on the national sovereignty is
not one religious denomination's monopoly and should not be so."
3) January.3/2005-An excerpt from
Aoun's speech (via the phone) in the inauguration of his party's office in
the Lebanese Northern city of Zgharta:
"We hear at times an MP saying that UN Resolution 1559 is an
internationalization for the "Taef Accord". This Accord has no relation with
the UN. It is a tribal
accord forged between the Lebanese themselves and has no execution mechanism.
Where is the Taef Accord execution mechanism? Is it the withdrawal to the
Bekaa Valley? What is the Bekaa fate than? What is the fate of both regions,
the North and the South? If they want to keep any rifle that is not the one
with the
Lebanese army, then where is the State's centrality of security while
Hezbollah keeps holding on to its arms? They invented the Shebaa Farms tale
as an excuse to keep the arms. Why weapons should remain (with Hezbollah)
and nobody says anything? Are all these things found in the conduct of some
opposition figures
or in the majority of the new opposition that lately joined its ranks? All
of this makes us adopt reservations on the topics they circulate in a bid to
attract people. Definitely in the future they will reach dead ends. You ask
them the questions: What after the Bekaa Valley and when? What is the style
that will be implemented in the Bekaa Valley to make the Syrians leave? And
what is the style that will follow with Hezbollah? When will the country
reassume its security responsibilities? All these questions must be answered.
We are the front opposition and have the right to ask. In 1990 the US
offered Lebanon as a gift for Syria in return for its participation in the
Gulf War. What price will we pay the US in return for its help?"
4) Quotation from Aoun's (via the phone) meeting with
the Free Patriotic Movement's school students third annual conference on
April 5/2003. Journalist Katia Srour moderated the dialogue.
*Question by one of the students: The US considers Hezbollah
a terrorist organization. Hezbollah is the son of our country. What will be
our position?
"Aoun's answer: "I had previously invited Hezbollah to a solution. I am not
willing to assume the results for the policies it follows and for its
external ties. I
advised them to abandon the military work and return a political party, for
then we congratulated them on liberating Lebanese land. But when Hezbollah
wants to stand outside the Lebanese framework for other objectives, we
cannot bear the results of its policies.
Then I cannot engage in a
dialogue with Hezbollah while it is carrying the rifle. Let it put the rifle
aside, then we sit down and talk.
I call on Hezbollah to turn
into a political party and we will cooperate with it. We don't want to
eliminate this part, but it too can not enmesh us; from the Palestinian
resistance to the Lebanese resistance, to others. [As the Lebanese proverb
says]: "We brought the bear to our vineyard and then gave ourselves the
credit for pushing it out". And everything is on our account. Taking out the
Palestinian bear, taking out the Israeli bear, all on our account. To where
will we continue? I don't know."
"If what they (Hezbollah leadership) want are the Shebaa
Farms, they have to get a small paper from the Syrians saying that these
farms are inside Lebanese territory so we can liberate them. And then there
is no need for the canon and the parades. But if carrying the rifle aims for
Hezbollah's hegemony over Lebanon and if it becomes a Syrian tool for
hegemony over Lebanon's decision, then Hezbollah would have abandoned much
of its Lebanese affiliation and abandoned the fact that it is our brother,
because we don't see him acting like one.
He (Hezbollah) did not have
any forgiveness or any understanding in the southern issue after the Israeli
withdrawal.. The result was thousands of refugees in the south. Why were
they treated like this? Because the State has neglected them for many years
and accordingly they were forced to deal with an imposed status quo".
"We then,
cannot bear the results of a wrong policy when we have been giving Hezbollah
advice from its first days. It is enough for us that we have postponed the
solution in the Southern region since 1994 till year 2000. Today we want to
liberate Jerusalem, as if Jerusalem is Hezbollah's responsibility. There are
one billion and two hundred million Muslims who say Jerusalem is theirs. Let
them step in and liberate it. For us in Lebanon alone to bear responsibility
for this is a matter that is not at all acceptable anymore. It is a matter
that is beyond our capabilities and not a normal one. Because of this wrong
policy, look how many Lebanese have emigrated and how they are dispersed all
over the world, both Muslims and Christians. We do not consent and support
blindly. Let Hezbollah step in and explain to us its policy."
5) Quotations from Aoun's meeting with NDU University
students on March 26/2002. Journalist and FPM senior official, Mr. Elias
Zoghby (who has now left the FPM) moderated the dialogue.
"*Question from one
of the students: There is a paradox in the fear of the
Lebanese. They are afraid from the occurring tranquility in the South that
Hezbollah has abided by, because of American threats (made by Colin Powell,
U.S. Secretary of State) and in accordance to advice from Iran's Foreign
Minister Mr. Kharazi. Is this tranquility a pretext for a new status similar
to the one that prevailed 12 years ago, or it is the tranquility that
precedes the storm?
Aoun's answer:
Today, in the new American policy, America and its allies would not anymore
be satisfied with only a tranquility status. The Americans want to
dismantle the capabilities of those they classify as terrorists. Dismantle
their action capabilities at the present time and also in the future.
Tranquility is a paralyzing act and will be followed by dismantling. This
tranquility, if not followed by dismantlement, would not last for long and
the status will return to be hot again. I stress that the importance here
lies in the result that we will reach. We are now one step far from the
final phase, and dismantlement will follow the tranquility.".
"In Lebanon many have dealt with Hezbollah through "Dissimulation" [Taqiyah].
They, within themselves, wish that [Hezbollah] would be attacked, while in
the
open they encourage and command its stances. They push Hezbollah towards
collision. This is a bad and wrong course. Meanwhile when we call on
Hezbollah to abandon weapons and turn into political practice, we do so
because we don't want it to be attacked. Or otherwise we would have
encouraged it on wrongdoing and pushed it as others do.
I said before and now I
will repeat it: A complete divorce with the rifle should take place in
Lebanon internally and externally. There is a solution for the Middle East,
it will be enforced. Why then increase the losses, and why increase the
casualties? Let everybody step in and go back to their selves under the
shade of Lebanese laws and constitution. Let them go back to their Lebanese
status. Do not be afraid. The tranquility will prolong the current status
and breakdown will occur before such a decision is taken in case there is
one."
6) Quotation from an Arabic editorial written by Aoun
and published on 08/04/2001 under the title "Lebanese Majority Crushed and
an Occupier who Masters Black Humor":
"The national occasion is Lebanese Army Day. We observe the memory, but we
don't celebrate before this army reclaims its normal position in the
country's
life, and before it reclaims the sole military power on its land. An army
that extends its nation's sovereignty on Lebanese soil without any partners
[militias]. An Army that is committed to a liberated Lebanese regime, free
from guilt and inferiority complexes towards Syria. Up until these righteous
circumstances are provided there will be no festivities, and no talk about
sovereignty is acceptable, specially from those who sold and infringed on
all (national) taboos.
7) Quotation from an Arabic editorial written by Aoun and published on
14/07/2001 under the title: "Syria is Lebanon's Soft Flank":
"Syria has resisted the
Israeli withdrawal (from South Lebanon), but was not successful in stopping
it. with its pressure on Lebanon, it aborted the implementation of UN
Resolution 426. It invented the Shebaa Farms' case in a bid to keep Lebanon
an Israeli soft flank and a protective zone for Syria. Israel decided to
deal militarily with Hezbollah (the dominant power on Southern Lebanese
land) after the understanding neared its end. Hereupon starts the stage for
change in both game and roles."
8) Quotation from an Arabic editorial written by Aoun
and published on 29/05/2001 under the title: "Continuation of Blackmailing":
"The bitter reality that we
are sensing today is the transformation of the resistance (Hezbollah) into a
political tool geared by Damascus to create internal (Lebanese political)
equations in a bid to solidify its policies in Lebanon and support its
regime in Syria".
9) Quotations from Aoun's Lecture that was delivered in
France - Lyon on January 3/2001:
A)" For the Lebanese, the Shebaa Farms farce was not enough
to justify the continuation of the military struggle, while negotiation
channels were always open.
This land that Syria has annexed long time ago, and the Israelis occupied
after the 1967 war, was never before an official Lebanese issue of property
claims,
not before nor after 1967. On top of all this, the irrational and
unjustifiable refusal by Lebanese Authorities for the return of Lebanese
sovereignty to
the Southern region has isolated Lebanon politically from the international
community and even from its friends. Those (Friends) countries were never
convinced with the vague excuses that Syria who controls Lebanon's
decision-making process has produced. As a result Western countries decided
to
freeze their economic aid to South Lebanon as long as the legitimate
Lebanese authorities are not in control of the liberated land (In may 2000,
Israel
unilaterally withdrew its forces from South Lebanon).
B) "The Lebanese had hoped that the end of the military conflict in South
Lebanon would bring back to their country more tranquility, assurance and
trust that could reflect positively on reclaiming peace and economical
prosperity. But Syria has decided otherwise. By not allowing the Lebanese
authorities to reclaim its southern region, (after the Israeli withdrawal in
May 2000), it has dragged the country back into the same pre-liberation
status, and even worse. The ghost of the Palestinian camps (Syrian sponsored
militias) sharply emerged with full Syrian coordination and became a threat
to stability and a tool in Syrian hands for compromising and blackmailing.
All this has come as a compensation for the weakening of the Syrians
resistance card (Hezbollah) or its loss in the power balance between them
and the Israelis.
C)" We can add up to the national peace illusion, the regional one, and also
the promised coming spring and the wishes for tranquility that the Lebanese
people
have deserved through these last years which were tagged, erroneously, as
the post-war years. Nonetheless, if we do not take in consideration the
Syrian control over the resistance card in south Lebanon and the motto that
became holy in the past, the "Unity of track and fate" between Syria and
Lebanon. This motto that was a mere maneuver orchestrated by the Syrians to
keep holding on to the resistance card between their teeth and forbid
Lebanon from reclaiming its sovereignty on its southern region through
peaceful negotiations. For the Syrians, this is a very important maneuver
because an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory would expose the
shameful Arab/Syrian withdrawal from the military confrontation with Israel.
The military conflict in south Lebanon has been hiding primarily the Syrian,
and in general the collective Arab, withdrawal from the military
confrontation with Israel.
D) "On May 2000, and in a bid to split the Lebanese Syrian track and achieve
security on its border after failing to reach peace (with Syria and Lebanon),
Israel withdrew its army from South Lebanon. In the absence of the whole
peace, this new status was supposed to provide a great deal of tranquility
and
stability for the Lebanese Southern citizens in particular. But instead, and
contrary to all their expectations, the Lebanese harvested disappointment
and frustration. The Southern Lebanese residents of the zone from which
Israel withdrew had expected to be warmly welcomed for returning under the
patronage of their Lebanese state after a long and forced exile, during
which the state had left them facing their fate alone without help or care.
But instead, they sadly discovered the state's hostility and its accusations
to them with treason and treachery. Many of them were hunted and arrested.
What made the humiliation even worse are the practices of the status quo
militias (Hezbollah) who took the state's role. They interrogated and
imprisoned many Southern citizens before handing them over to the (State's)
judicial authorities.
E) "The Southern Lebanese citizens had hoped too that the State's legitimate
authority, as reason and logic dictate, would return to the land that the
Israelis have withdrawn from. But, the Lebanese state, instead of enforcing
back its authority over the liberated land, bowed to Syria's demands and
dictates and refused to deploy its armed forces there. It handed over the
land to the control of the militias, the only master over the area there
since day one of liberation (May 2000).
"Official statements issued by Hezbollah in regards to its continuation of
the fight up and until the liberation of the Shebaa Heights that soon
translated into reality led to the dissipation of all hopes for the return
of normal status and stability. In the absence of peace talks that the
citizens have been longing for in the aftermath of an occupation that lasted
for quarter of a century, and because of the frequent counter military
attacks (between Israel and Hezbollah), the Lebanese in general and the
southern citizens in particular, were again preoccupied with fear of a
comprehensive war, and today, they still do.
10) On 17/11/2000, Aoun's wrote:
"The
Syrian regime found its long pursued desire in the Southern Resistance (Hezbollah).
Syria claimed protection for this resistance in its liberation mission. But
in spite of the destructive many wars waged on Lebanon by Israel in response
to the resistance attacks (Hezbollah), the Syrian Army remained idle".
11) On 03/07/2000, Aoun wrote:
"It is our right to inquire where is this republic (Lebanese
Republic)? Is it in the South that is void from all sovereignty and its
people are moving from the occupation yoke to the party's (Hezbollah)
despotism?"
12) Quotes from an Interview with Aoun conducted by
Journalist Hyam Qusayfi (An-Nahar, 18.1.03):
Q: Are you at all concerned about the impact of a regional war on Lebanon
and its inability to absorb the impending changes?
A: The issue is that the Lebanese depend on the Syrians, in spite of the
latter's faults, to resolve their question. They just don¹t understand that
the Syrians will have to deal with the regional changes, which in turn will
have repercussions on Lebanon. The state is non-existent and is unable to
contain people because the leaders have no popular base whatsoever they can
rely on. The authorities have starved their people and rule them with forces
of repression. Without the backing of the Syrians, these forces do not have
the backbone to repress people. So if the Syrian presence is suddenly
dismantled, and absent any agreement among the Lebanese for a substitute,
there is bound to be a number of disturbances.
Q: Some are concerned about a convergence of fundamentalist movements into
Lebanon.
A: This is the only thing that I am not worried about. Fundamentalism is
being challenged and confronted globally, and it can barely protect itself.
Q: So what worries you therefore about the Lebanese situation?
A: Internal chaos. People are lost and feel defeated, and there is no role
model around which to gather. People have become moving skeletons. Period.
Hezbollah will cease to
exist.
Q: There is talk about a regional deal of which Hezbollah will
pay the price.
A: There won¹t be any
deal over Hezbollah, because a decision has been made to end the military
wing of Hezbollah without trade-offs. It will cease to exist without any
deal.
13) Quote from an editorial Aoun
published On 27/05/2000 under the title "When is the Liberation?"
A) "We wonder if South Lebanon has actually returned back to
Lebanon, and if so under what sovereignty it is now to justify the joyful
drum-beating and
jubilation celebrations?"
B) "What is there for the
Lebanese regime and its deceitful society to be proud of, when the Israeli
withdrawal had forced thousands of innocent Lebanese citizens to flee out
side the country’s borders? Why were the Southern women scared and the
mothers escaped with their children to the Israeli camps? Is it not because
of the threatening speeches’ uttered towards the Southern residents
promising and voicing revenge and cold blood murder? This blood shedding
savage policy has been hailed and adopted by the regime because of an
apparent inability to assume its security and judiciary responsibilities".
C) "Under what
jurisdiction the head of the state (President Lahoud) has uttered rhetoric
empty assurances to his scared fleeing people, and how could he ask them to
return to their land and homes? Who would trust his reassurances when he
personally has no say in any of the state’s affairs, and when his official
role has been characterized by an ongoing shameful phenomenon of abandoning
responsibilities and breaking oaths?"
D) "What delight is in
the triumph liberation festivities when the people of the liberated land
have been forced by the liberators to flee the country fearing for their
lives? The Southern people have been fighting
courageously for the last 25 years, refusing to abandon the land they
worship and the identity they honor. The successive Lebanese governments
have abandoned them for quarter a century and left them isolated
encountering unbearable circumstances. They are now paying the price of the
occupier’s withdrawal in which they had no say as they have paid previously
the price of the occupation that was forced on them."
E) "The Beirut regime is making the residents of the liberated territories,
who are actually the victims, legally accountable for the occupation. The
heroic
Southern residents who resisted the occupation and refused to leave their
land are now the target of reprisal and savage official campaign spearheaded
by
officials and politicians who were originally responsible for the occupation
of the Southern region and for the pain, destruction, poverty, displacement,
loses and sufferings of all the Lebanese people since 1975. The free world
countries and UN should not allow this judicial mockery to be inflict on our
innocent
patriotic southern people."
F) "In the meantime what we are now witnessing in occupied Lebanon is a
biased, selective, unfair, revenge, double standard and politicized
judiciary".
*End of the editorial
N.B: All quotations listed in this editorial were translated by the
writer from the original Arabic version.
4-General
Michel Aoun: Fading Halos & Falling Masks
By: Elias Bejjani,
LCCC Chairman
November 12/06
In a public gathering held on October 28/06, with
mayors and dignitaries from the Lebanese regions of Keserwan and Jbeil,
General Michel Aoun said: "There is another important matter, for every time
someone slaps someone else, Syria is accused. Fourteen crimes took place in
2005, and Syria was accused, the truth remains similar to Rajeh's Story, (A
Lebanese folk tale in which all wrongdoings, bad behavior and acts are
attributed to an imaginary person named Rajeh)
The frame of mind and tunnel vision in which General
Michel Aoun has imprisoned himself during the last 10 months are sad and
extremely shocking. He has assumed the role of a staunch advocate and
guardian angel for the Syrian regime and its Lebanese agents. He brags
loudly about this mission wherever he goes and whenever he delivers a speech,
gives a statement or even engages in private conversations. He has not only
allied himself with Hezbollah and adopted its Iranian- Syrian schemes for
Lebanon, but he has become an umbrella that gathers under its shade the rest
of the pro-Syrian Lebanese officials, parties and politicians from all
categories of Arabists and fundamentalists.
Among those new allies and comrades are his previous
worst enemies, President General Lahoud, Dr. Salim Al Hoss, the three Syrian
notorious mouthpieces in Lebanon, Ex MP Nasser Kandiel, Ex MP Elie Ferzli,
and ex Minister Weam Wahab, and the list goes on and on.
The puzzling question that all of General Aoun's
intellectual supporters are sadly asking: Isn't he himself who stated
loudly in hundreds of statements, interviews, articles, testimonies lecture(
many of them in the USA), that Syria through its agents has engineered and
executed three assignations against him personally?
One wonders what has happened to this big leader's
credibility and memory after his return to Lebanon in May 2005 after 16
years of exile in France.
How could he even think that the Lebanese people will
buy his fishy and questionable endeavors to label the Syrian regime and its
Lebanese agents as pure and innocent? How could he simply expect that they
should not be automatically tagged as main suspects in any crime,
assassination attempt, booby-trapped vehicles or any sort of chaos in
Lebanon.
Isn't he the same man who, all through eighteen years,
has been building his popularity and reputation on courageously exposing
their evil and criminal terrorist roles?
No the Lebanese people are not that naive and their
memory is extremely vivid; they can not forget that Syria has occupied their
country for almost thirty years, destroyed its institutions, stole its
fortunes, forced its youth to emigration, messed with its delicate
demographic balance, enslaved, persecuted, kidnapped, imprisoned and killed
thousands and thousands of innocent civilians.
How can they forget that Hezbollah, Lebanon's major
threat, was and still is, nurtured, sponsored and used by Syria and Iran?
In this editorial the focus will be on the text of a
lecture the General delivered at The Foundation For the Defense of
Democracies-Washington DC, March 7, 2003 in the realm of his political
advocacy campaign to convince the US Congress to pass the "Syria
Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act of 2003".
The main aims of this piece are:
1- To rationally and objectively compare between what
General Aoun stated and preached in that lecture, and what he has since
delivered and practiced in real life and with whom he has been forging
alliances.
2- A genuine and conscientious review of General Aoun's
platforms, declared national convictions, promises, statements, practices
and alliances in two separate eras, the first one while he was in power as
PM (1988-1990) and in exile for 16 years (1991-2005), and the second one
since his return to Lebanon on May/7/2005.
For 18 years he proudly and courageously carried
Lebanon's cause of freedom, sovereignty, human rights, liberation and the
Lebanese Christians’ attachment to the Land of the Cedars. His struggle was
successful and was crowned by Lebanon's liberation from the Syrian
occupation in early 2005. But sadly and to the surprise of many of his
supporters, especially among his own Christian community, he suddenly turned
against all his declared convictions, negated all his long time documented
platforms, abandoned all his previous pro-state sovereignty stances, sided
with Hezbollah and with all the rest of the pro-Syrian Lebanese officials,
parties and politicians. His only focus became merely the presidency post,
and accordingly he resorted to manipulation, propaganda, demagogy and
denominational instigation tactics. He fell under the false belief that the
Lebanese people in general and the Christians in particular will blindly
walk his heretic tracks and swallow his new political choices that are in
sharp contrast to their 1,500-year recent history, conscience, values and
nationalism. He has ignored the solid fact that the Lebanese patriotic cause
makes the Leaders and not otherwise. He has selectively forgotten that the
GREAT Lebanese people are not only great in love, sacrifices, sincerity,
devotion, love to their country, longing for freedom and human rights, but
also great in accountability, questioning, and judgment when they sense that
the leaders and politicians they trusted have betrayed that trust. They
adopt harsh opposition stances towards those who underestimate their
intelligence, do not honor the sacrifices of their martyrs and overstep in
their political practices the boundaries of safeguarding their country's
independence, sovereignty, identity and freedoms.
3- Remind the General who enjoyed our full support for
many years, as well as other Lebanese politicians and leaders, in particular
those of the Christian community, that their national duty and obligation is
to serve both their country and people and not vice-versa. To put him on
notice too that the people’s mandate given to him during the last
parliamentary election is revocable at any time. Meanwhile only the Lebanese
people are the custodians of the Lebanese cause and defendants. Leaders who
drift away from the cause are exposed and not elected again. In this realm,
Saint Peter has said: "If I wanted to cajole and appease the people’s status
and ranks, I would not have been a servant for Jesus Christ".
4-Send a bold message and a notice to all Lebanon's
leaders and politicians, in particular the Christians, that their Lebanese
communities honor freedom, democracy and human rights. They should know that
their people are not sheep that can be led blindly to slaughterhouses, and
definitely not a kind of a merchandise offered in the markets for trade and
for wheeling and dealing. They should never ever forget that the Lebanese
people are intelligent, political well informed and, when the need arises,
they can be very harsh in accountability. They are the main power that
chooses the country's legislatures as well as its political leaders.
Meanwhile, the people are also the power that revokes mandates given to
politicians and withdraws the trust granted to them when they derail from
declared and promised platforms.
5- Desensitize our own people in regards to
constructive critiques and at the same time helping them to be more tolerant
and patient to peaceful and intellectual opposition. Encourage them to
practice accountability in its widest boundaries with each and every
politician and leader. No leader should at any time take the people for
granted and confiscate their free decision making process
Below are selective excerpts from the Text of General
Michel Aoun's Lecture that he delivered (en English) at the Foundation For
the Defense of Democracies- Washington DC, March 7, 2003. Below the excerpts
a set of the writer's short comment related to what the General has been
preaching since 1998 and what actually he has been delivering during the
last 17 months.
A) Aoun: "It is both a privilege and a pleasure for me to participate in
this symposium, where we can together think out loud about some of the most
important subjects of our time, namely human rights, democracy, economics,
and development. The fate of these issues has become increasingly worrisome
in many regions of the world that are in a state of a global and fateful
confrontation with terrorism. I say “global” because terrorism, by its very
nature, reaches into several aspects of public and private life and knows no
limit, and I say “fateful” because the outcome of this confrontation will
lead to one of two critical directions and set of consequences for human
civilization: either terrorism will be defeated under the leadership of the
United States, and thus a foundation for positive interaction will be built
among diverse societies, or, God forbid, terrorism prevails and humanity
enters into an age of darkness and decline.
B) Aoun: The right to self-determination was in most cases hijacked by
many regimes that adopted or continued dictatorial or theocratic systems of
governance. These regimes rejected the Human Rights Charter, marginalized
their people, and crippled their ability to develop and advance by
engraining in their societies antiquated customs that were inherited from
primitive and backward mentalities. These regimes are today fertile ground
for the sponsorship and incubation of terrorism, and the use of it as a
strategic instrument of influence in their foreign policies.
C) Aoun: Lebanon, a small country by size but much larger in mission, was
the first victim of terrorism. At the end of the sixties, Lebanon, a
multicultural society, began to absorb the shocks of the conflict between
the East and the West. In the early eighties it found itself at the
frontlines of confrontation with Islamic fundamentalists.
As a democracy and free market economy surrounded by autocratic regimes and
directed economies, Lebanon strived to live under its secular and democratic
constitution. I
D) Aoun: These universal values cherished in Lebanon presented a threat
to the single-ideology theocracies and dictatorships that dominated the
region. Lebanon became a target for these regimes which believed it
imperative to kill its pioneering role in the region. At the time, some
regional and international parties believed that some benefit could be drawn
from the demise of Lebanon. They remained silent and refrained from helping
it. The Syrian regime played the major role in this conflict. It first
claimed to protect the Palestinian Revolution against the Lebanese, and so
it allied itself with the Palestinian movement until it was able to
undermine the stability of the Lebanese society and destroy the country’s
security institutions. At that point, it changed direction and claimed to
protect Lebanon from the Palestinians, and it legitimized its entry into the
country under the banner of the Arab Deterrence Force in 1976.
Between 1976 and 1982, the Arab Deterrence Force was under the authority
of the Lebanese President, but the Syrian contingent – which was the largest
– operated independently of the other contingents and of the President. The
Syrians shelled the residential areas and carried out massacres; they
imposed censorship on the press and began shutting down some of the media.
They assassinated politicians, clergymen, reporters and diplomats. They
bombed embassies and chased out virtually all diplomatic missions from
Beirut. They kidnapped people, both individuals and groups, and liquidated
them. They incited massacres in some areas of the country and executed
military prisoners. Many Lebanese nationals remain incarcerated in Syrian
jails even as we speak.
For all these reasons, the other Arab contingents of the Deterrence Force
left Lebanon, and the Syrian regime managed to achieve an exclusive solid
grip over the majority of Lebanon. The Syrian regime transformed Lebanon
into a refuge and a breeding ground for all types of international terrorist
groups operating in areas under its control. It was in this environment that
a massive drug cultivation, processing, and distribution industry prospered,
and the Lebanese coast became peppered with illicit harbors controlled by
various militias that used them as a launching pad for terrorist activities
and other illegal activities.
E) Aoun: In 1982, the Israeli invasion of Lebanon evicted the PLO from
Beirut. The Lebanese government abolished the mandate of the Arab Deterrence
Force and requested Syria to withdraw its forces. However, the Syrian regime
ignored the Lebanese request in violation of UN Charter, and instead of
withdrawing it re-armed the Palestinian organizations and its allied
militias and political parties in Lebanon. This caused a return to the
situation that preceded the Israeli invasion, namely military clashes,
kidnappings and killings. It was at that time that the embassies of the
United States and France were bombed, twice each by the Syrian protected and
supported terrorists, and that the French and American contingents of the
Multi-National Force were attacked.
The Multi-National Force withdrew in the aftermath of these suicide attacks,
leaving Lebanon to confront its fate alone. Syria then forced Lebanon to
abrogate the May 1983 Accord that Lebanon had negotiated with Israel. Israel
pulled back to the border zone, and Syria returned to its task of gnawing,
destabilizing and disintegrating Lebanon. This period climaxed with the
Syrian invasion of the last free bastion in Lebanon on October 13, 1990 and
the resulting eviction of the constitutional government. Syria had thus
completed its takeover of Lebanon.
F) Aoun: The Syrian regime has all but eliminated Lebanon from the
international political map. It has halted all bilateral negotiations
between Israel and Lebanon, thus bypassing the bilateral nature of peace
negotiations. It rendered the prospect of peace between Lebanon and Israel
contingent upon the dragging and slow process of the Syrian track with
Israel. It forced the Lebanese government to submit to its will and not
implement UN resolution 426 which calls for the deployment of Lebanese Army
Forces alongside the United Nations Forces following Israel’s implementation
of resolution 425 and its withdrawal from South Lebanon. On the issue of the
Shebaa Farms, the Syrian regime created a pretext not to disarm its allied
militias, which it has used to maintain tensions at the Lebanese southern
borders and terrorize those Lebanese citizens demanding the withdrawal of
the Syrian army from Lebanese soil.
G) Aoun: It is difficult to understand how Syria could have in the first
place marketed itself to the world as a stability factor in Lebanon, when
the reality is that it has subverted and destroyed that stability! We are
at a loss to understand how the world allows Syria to remain in Lebanon when
Syria has failed to meet any of its commitments!
H) Aoun: Syria has created restricted zones inside Lebanon where security
forces are not allowed. These areas, primarily the Palestinian camps, have
become shelters for terrorists and the heroes of organized crime where
radical Islamic organizations thrive, and where sectarian hate-crimes
against Christians and others opposed to this lawlessness continue to take
place. For example,
On July 31, 2002, an employee at the Teachers Mutual Insurance Fund in
Beirut killed eight of his fellow employees and injured another six. He
admitted to the judge that his attack was religiously motivated.
On November 25, 2002, an American missionary was assassinated in Sid |
The