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Nov 24, 2006

THE US CAN ONLY HELP THOSE WHO HELP THEMSELVES



No one knows Lebanon better than Walid Phares. His article on the evolution of the Cedar revolution is a must. It ends thus:

If Iran and Syria had any doubts about their strategy of destabilization, the midterm elections in the United States dispelled them. On November 7, the opposition party in the United States grabbed both houses of Congress. Although an unremarkable feature of American and Western politics, this shift in power was read by Iranian and Syrian elites as a collapse of American determination to defend democracies in the region. Ayatollah Khamenei declared:"The defeat of Bush in Congress is a victory for us." He was echoed in Lebanon by Hassan Nasrallah:"America is being defeated and is leaving the region. Those who worked with the US will pay the price."

Further reinforcing suspicions in Tehran and Damascus, the Iraq Study Group, headed by presidential advisor James Baker, is slated to recommend next month that Washington backtrack from its policy of promoting democracy in order to cut deals with…Iran and Syria.

On the basis of these developments, Iran and Syria concluded that the time was ripe to strike a punishing blow against democratic forces. But Lebanese leaders moved first. They emphasized that they would go to the UN and lead the masses into the streets against foreign interference in Lebanese politics. Calculating the numbers of the opposition, the"axis" commanders in Lebanon shifted tactics. Instead of sending in troops, a decision was made to send in the death squad to"mollify" the resistance.

The warning signs came last week. The ministers of Hezbollah and the Shiite Amal Party resigned from the Lebanese council of ministers to shake the"legitimacy" of the cabinet. They failed. The Lebanese Constitution is clear: You need more than one third of the members to collapse a cabinet. Therefore, the"axis" needed to eliminate three members, one after the other. Thus the decision was made to kill the youngest, brightest and most vocal Lebanese minister, a true symbol of Lebanon's civic revolution: Pierre Gemayel.

Unlike the warlords and senior politicians, the 34-year-old MP acted like a head of a happy family, with a wife and children. He drove his own car in the middle of the most dangerous urban areas, and socialized with neighbors, partisans and friends. He was living the life he was struggling to defend: one of peace, freedom and democracy. It was abruptly ended on Tuesday. Two vehicles blocked Pierre Gemayel's car, while several assassins shot the young leader"execution style."

Gemayel is dead, but, as his younger brother Sami told his friends,"The march continues." On these shores, the question arises: What should be done?

The answer is clear. The United States and the new Congress must be implacable in resisting the onslaught of terror and fascism in the Middle East. When cynical politicians, interest groups and apologist academics call for the appeasement of Iran and Syria, resist them. When a population is endangered and its leadership is being eliminated, assist them. Will the new Washington rise to the occasion?

The more pertinent question is will the Lebanese leadership rise to the occasion. God helps those who help themselves and so does the US. Washington can only help countries who posses a strong leaderships able to help themselves and the cowardly Lebanese leadership's backing of Hezbollah during the war with Israel demonstrates that it like Iraq does not.

Yes, Baker, Kissinger and the rest of the Western appeasers have Pierre Gemayel's blood on their hands. They also have the blood of many Iraqis on their hands. The more they talk of the need to appease Iran and Syria, the more emboldened those tyrannies. We know the scenario. We have seen in play out all too often. I wished they kept their mouth shut. That does not mean that they do not have a point. Sitting back and waiting for"the international community" or"the coalition forces" to solve internal problems is an inherent loser. Ultimately, the ball is in the Lebanese court. Syria and Hezbollah acted. Will their opponents?



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Zyad Raheb - 1/11/2009

Our current state is no longer viable:
we must remain true to our past and to the sacrifies of our martyrs who have battled and lost their lives in defense of freedom and peace in Lebanon.
The pluralism of our society is a gift, and history proved to us that no dominant culture can impose its orientations on the others...
In order to live in peace and prosperity, we have to build a State that protects its various cultural entities, organizing harmonious relation between them:
The solution is in a new constitution formula, that combines the divergent interests of each lebanese culture, in one unique, united and powerful state!
"7allna ntawwir el nizam"...samy gemayel we are all proud of you,lebanese kataeb party will reborn again, you are the new leader of the christians in Lebanon. The real lebanese State will be established correctly...we are counting on you!!!
check http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=MBHd7fZ1XUA