General Michel Aoun: Broken Promise & Blemished Record
By: Elias Bejjani
LCCC Chairman
November 4/06
All through their 7,000 years of struggle and deep-rooted history, rich
culture, and radiant civilization, the Lebanese people have never ever
surrendered to despair or lost hope in safeguarding their beloved Lebanon and
carrying it always to resurrection and to a new life again and again after each
and every agony. They have always believed in themselves and maintained their
unshakable faith and hope and trust in Almighty God no matter what hardships
they encountered.
Hundreds of occupiers, tyrants, invaders and barbarians conquered their
country, the Land of the Holy Cedars, all through history, but ultimately all
these foreign powers were forced to leave with defeat and humiliation.
Meanwhile, they miraculously turned each and every difficulty to their own
country's advantage that rose alive from the ashes victorious exactly like the
phoenix bird. No power was able to kill or even tame the Lebanese people's love
for peace, their longing for freedom and solid belief in human rights and
democracy.
Last year another occupier, the Syrian Baathist, was forced to withdraw from
Lebanon after thirty savage years of occupation, persecution, merciless
destruction and murder on all levels. In the aftermath of liberation, many
Lebanese patriotic leaders and citizens returned from exile, while others were
freed from imprisonment. General Michel Aoun, an ex-Army Commander and Prime
Minister who spearheaded the liberation struggle during his 16 years of forced
exile returned as a great hero, while the majority of the Lebanese people in
general and the Lebanese Christian communities in particular envisaged him as a
saving leader. They fully supported him and invested in his platform of
advocacy, promises, and salvation plans. To their disappointment, and merely a
few months after his return, Aoun gave them the cold shoulder, turned on all his
convictions, changed skin and walked a political and national track that totally
negated all that he stood for since 1988.
In a series of editorials, I am endeavoring, from my position as one of his
previous staunchest supporters in the Diaspora to honestly and fairly expose the
man's questionable and confusing change to the Lebanese people. I intend to
shed light on his record in all domains and on all levels (promises,
convictions, and platform) while in exile and after his heroic return to
Lebanon.
Readers' responses to the previous three editorials that I have already
published were numerous, colorful and educational. They ranged between extreme
approval, appreciation, opposition, denouncement and accusations. But what was
almost common among the majority of the readers responses is their question: "if
you say General Aoun is not worthy of our loyalty and trust any more, then who
is the substitute, what are our other options, we do not trust his opponents?"
My answer to all of them was and remains: "You are the substitute, you made
Aoun what he became, and you can no doubt help new leaders and political parties
to emerge. You can, and should, freely pick the leaders and parties that
genuinely speak your minds, empathize with your pains, suffering, hopes and
aspirations. In many of my answers I quoted Saint Luke 13,18-21: "Then he said,
"What is the kingdom of God like? To what can I compare it? It is like a mustard
seed that a person took and planted in the garden. When it was fully grown, it
became a large bush and 'the birds of the sky dwelt in its branches.'" Again he
said, "To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? It is like the yeast that a
woman took and mixed (in) with three measures of wheat flour until the whole
batch of dough was leavened."
My dear Lebanese people in both Lebanon and the Diaspora, you are the seed, you
are the yeast. Do not fall prey to the already made and tailored choices for
you. Trust yourselves, witness for the truth and work on your own choices.
Chose freedom, human rights, equality, democracy and, most importantly, never
abandon your national, ethical and moral convictions. Support and side with
your Lebanon's deeply rooted cause and only the leaders who honor this cause.
In this editorial I will dissect General Aoun’s testimony to the US congress
House Subcommittee on International Affairs given on 9/18/2003. It is an
extremely valuable factual testimony which sheds light on the constants of the
Christian Lebanese conscience and the suffering of Lebanon, the Home of the
Cedars, and its people. It is a documented record for all Lebanon's pains,
agony, dimensions and causes, and specifically as it pertains to the destructive
role of the Syrian regime in the murder of the Lebanese state, entity,
identity, economy, peace and coexistence for three decades, as well as the
criminal missions the Syrian regime has assigned to its Lebanese and Palestinian
agents and puppets including terrorist and fundamentalist groups, Mafias, money
sharks, politicians and parties, officials and all symbols of its Hitlerian
thirty years occupation of Lebanon.
I do not exaggerate, when I state in clear conscience, that this testimony, this
covenant, shows verbatim the Parisian General Aoun before Lebanon's liberation
in
all his dimensions of steadiness, honesty, integrity, struggle, and vigor. It
shows the qualities that made him the first leader par excellence in the
Lebanese
Christian society, which granted him its full support, trust, and love. All
these attributes and the public affirmations of constants made him the General
that I
personally supported with full conviction. Me, the Lebanese living in the
Diaspora since 1966. I strongly defended his platform, struggle and thesis and
preached them truthfully and staunchly for 16 years on a daily basis.
This Parisian General carried the heavy burdens of the Lebanese cause, which
manifested itself in the understanding of many through him, until he delivered
the cause to the beaches of Liberation, and returned as a hero to a liberated
Lebanon last year to start a new phase of his political activity. A phase that
sadly negated and blemished his entire record of achievements. To the surprise
of many of his supporters he turned into an ally and a cover for the Shiite
Hezbollah organization and all the parties and politicians who were Syria's
agents and tools of occupation and persecution all through its 30 years of
occupation of Lebanon, including the Lebanese Syrian made and appointed
president, General Lahoud.
However, and with the same truthfulness and transparency, I, myself, and many
other Lebanese activists in Lebanon and the Diaspora who had supported the
General all through his exile years all decided in faith and conviction to
peacefully, publicly and democratically oppose him strongly due to the fact that
we consider that he has changed his direction, sided with Hezbollah and all of
Syria's Lebanese made politicians, officials, militias and political parties. In
our measure of constants, propositions, alliances, truthfulness, and practices,
we cannot relate anymore to this man. He is not the General that we knew and
supported. He is a new man in both conduct and speech. Meanwhile he has become
quite disconnected in organizational matters, and in the manner of relationships
with others, especially with his supporters who now oppose him and do not see
righteousness, prudence or wisdom in his new political choices and stances.
The General's testimony to the American Congress contradicts all his new post
exile positions and actions, practices and goals, constants and promises, thesis
and alliances. It clearly shows that he has turned a blind eye, a cold shoulder,
a numbed conscience and a deaf ear to all matters, issues, principles, aims and
beliefs that he defended and advocated since 1988 until his return last year to
Lebanon, including his identifying the participants and conspirators against
Lebanon's freedom by their names without any compromises or sweet talk, and most
importantly his witnessing for the truth, and the willful detachment from all
individual interests and personal gain.
Therefore, our people who are shocked by the General’s contradiction of his own
thesis, see in this testimony, a judicial case that comprises numerous potential
charges on whose basis they request to hold him accountable in front of the
Christian Lebanese conscience court. Charges that include the breaking of
promises, the reneging of the cause and identity, the alliance with the enemies
of peace, freedom, and democracy, the joining of the Syrian-Iranian Axis of
Evil, and the incitement of his followers towards objectives un-comprehended by
the people.
One wonders, is there truly any justification to the General's current path
which is contradictory to his history and struggle and all that he preached
since 1988?
Does he really believe that the Lebanese people, including and all his other
fervent previous supporters are naive, superficial, and ignorant, and their
vision blinded to the level that they fail to understand his newly adopted
objectives and goals?
Let us recall some of the new General's puzzling and bizarre positions on the current unfolding events, and then read carefully in the text of the testimony to see the deadly contradictions. We can only sadly become bewildered and ask ourselves the following questions
1- Was the General's statement wise when he recently declared publicly that
Syria is now in Syria, and that all problems between Lebanon and Syria can
simply be resolved over a cup of coffee in Damascus with Syria's president
Bashar Assad? And what about the General’s below statements in the testimony:
A) Following a Syrian withdrawal, it is quite conceivable that the Syrian regime
will leave behind many of its instruments of terror and destruction as well as
its paramilitary/intelligence apparatus. Therefore, it is imperative that Syrian
withdrawal be accompanied by a complete disarmament of all armed elements. Only
the legitimate armed forces of Lebanon can be entrusted with providing security
to the Lebanese people. They are certainly capable of doing so when provided
with a strong political leadership duly elected by the Lebanese themselves,
rather than appointed by an occupying power as is the case today.
B) Like an organized crime syndicate which uses fear, intimidation, and violence
as instruments of pressure to buy silence from otherwise good and honorable
people, the Syrian regime uses these terrorist organizations as instruments of
pressure in a foreign policy strategy that has earned for Syria a "no questions
asked" attitude from the free world with regard to its occupation of Lebanon and
its persecution of the Lebanese people.
2- Is the General’s recent statement true, when he declared that the criminal
repercussions on the Syrian regime disappeared after the withdrawal of its
troops
from Lebanon, and since then the Lebanese government has become the responsible
party? But what about his testimony statements:
A) Equally important, Lebanon will need certified tribunals to investigate and
bring to justice all criminals who committed war atrocities and crimes against
humanity.
B) Two Lebanese presidents-both of whom can be accurately described as unwilling
to take their orders from the Syrian intimidators-were assassinated
immediately upon their elections.
C) Ambassadors, journalists, and political and religious figures from all
denominations who dared to oppose Syria were kidnapped, tortured, imprisoned,
and/or assassinated. And this is in addition to the tens of thousands of
Lebanese who perished in countless massacres, in months upon months of random
Syrian artillery shelling of civilian areas, and in countless booby-trapped and
bombed cars.
D) For twenty-seven years, the Syrian Regime has played the role of both
arsonist and firefighter. Syria starts fires in order to give itself a pretext
to extinguish them and thus justify its continuing occupation of Lebanon. And
any Lebanese who dares to expose or resist Syria's hegemony is simply
eliminated. Syria's occupation of Lebanon has been detrimental and costly to
both American and Lebanese interests in five major ways.
E) First, Syria's hegemony over Lebanon has turned the country into a fertile
ground and safe haven for terrorism. In the 1970s and 1980s, Lebanon was the
first victim of Syrian terrorism. And this was one of the main reasons in 1978
to list Syria as the first terrorist country on the US Department of State list
of terrorist states. Back then, Hizballah and Hamas did not even exist.
F) Under Syrian occupation the human rights of the Lebanese people have been
systematically violated. An exhaustive description of the crimes committed by
the Syrian Regime and its goons in Lebanon would take thousands of pages and
dozens of hearings.
2- Is it true what the General presently alleges in regards to his current
allies: (a) They are pure and honest Lebanese. (b) They are only friends with
Syria
while their decision making process is free and independent? Aren’t they the
same people who were called by him as “Syrian Instruments”? Wasn't he who
said in the testimony:
A) One cannot rationally dissociate the Syrian regime from terrorism. Syria
provides safe haven for a myriad of terrorist organizations, directs their
operations,
and uses occupied Lebanon as their main field of training and operation.
B) Most puzzling and frustrating for the Lebanese people is that there are
supporters of the Syrian Regime in positions of authority, both in Lebanon and
in the U.S., who assert that Syria provides an element of stability in Lebanon.
These supporters turn a blind eye to the fact that Lebanon has become unstable only as a result of Syrian hegemony over it. Today, the Lebanese-Israeli Border
is a lit fuse that can erupt into a regional war at anytime. And why this
present
state of affairs?
3- Isn’t it true that Syria and its instruments who have attempted to
assassinate the General himself three times are the same parties behind the
assassination of Lebanon's late PM Rafic Hariri, and behind the bloody series of
assassinations and explosions during the last two years, since the attempted
assassination of cabinet member Marwan Hamade and until today? Aren't these the
same allies of the General today? Let us recall two statements in his testimony:
A) Let us not forget that Syria's proxies in Lebanon were responsible for
attacks against the American Embassy and the Marine compound costing hundreds of
Lebanese and American lives.
B) One cannot rationally dissociate the Syrian regime from terrorism. Syria
provides safe haven for a myriad of terrorist organizations, directs their
operations,
and uses occupied Lebanon as their main field of training and operation.
4- Is what appeared in the General’s testimony in regards to the principle
of state, sovereignty, independence, and security, compatible with the links
that he has established between the fate of Hezbollah’s weapons, the Palestinian
weapons, the strong Lebanese state, and the public consensus about a newly
developed Lebanese defense strategy? Does he remember what he loudly uttered in
his testimony?:
A) Lebanon has been carrying an enormous burden as a consequence of the
prolonged Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Lebanese cause is a cause in and of
itself. It is not and should not be linked to the resolution of any regional or
global conflict or crisis. Lebanon, alone, is a legitimate and pressing issue by
every standard of international law.
B) Only the legitimate armed forces of Lebanon can be entrusted with providing
security to the Lebanese people.
5- One wonders if the General, through his close alliance with Hezbollah, the
armed militia of the Axis of Evil in Lebanon, and through his questionable
stances in regards to the UNIFIL forces deployed in the South, is now showing
his gratitude for both President Bush and the American people who through both
their houses of Congress passed the "Syria Accountability and Lebanese
Sovereignty Restoration Act of 2003"?
Does he so easily dismiss his below testimony statements:
A) I come before you today to urge you to be true to America's nature, to aid
those aspiring to freedom, to strike a blow to terrorism, and vote to pass the
Syria
Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act of 2003.
B) It is an honor for me to bring you the voice of the Lebanese people; a
people longing for freedom and suffering under occupation. I have come here
today to
convey their gratitude for your initiative in introducing the Syria
Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act, and to urge the
immediate
passage of this bill into law. This piece of prospective legislation is
crucial, as it establishes for the first time a clear United States policy
regarding Syria's occupation of Lebanon.
C) Lebanon must be saved, because it is right to save Lebanon; a nation which
cherishes American principles and human values that we all believe in. To save
Lebanon is to lend credence to what President Bush declared in his speech on
September 11, 2002 and I quote:
"We will use our position of unparalleled strength and influence to build an
atmosphere of international order and openness in which progress and liberty can
flourish in many nations. A peaceful world of growing freedom serves American
long-term interests, reflects enduring American ideals and unites America's
allies."
All that I request from the Lebanese partisans, and specifically the supporters
of General Aoun, with many of whom I have deep friendship, mutual respect, and
history of common struggle, to make a rational and calm reading, without
pre-judgment, pre-conceptions, or emotional justifications, to the General’s
testimony, and then compare it in the same framework with the truthfulness of
his present practices, alliances, positions, and thesis since his return from
exile, and specifically since his return from his unsuccessful visit to the
United States in the Fall of 2005.
To
read the actual General Aoun's English tesimony the subject of this critique
CLICK HERE
To read its Arabic translation CLICK HERE
To read my first critique in the series CLICK HERE
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*Elias Bejjani
Chairman for the Canadian Lebanese Coordinating Council (LCCC)
Human Rights activist, journalist & political commentator.
Spokesman for the Canadian Lebanese Human Rights Federation (CLHRF)
E.Mail
phoenicia@hotmail.com
LCCC Web Site
http://www.10452lccc.com
CLHRF Website http://www.clhrf.com
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