I do not understand the politics of former Prime Minister, General Michel Aoun, a current member of parliament and leader of the "Free Patriotic Movement".
Aoun has always stood for a strong central government, and against militias. His first initiative as Prime Minister was to shutdown all illegal seaports, and tried to reign in militias. In order for this Christian general to show he was non-sectarian, he started by trying to dismantle the Christian Militia, the Lebanese Forces.
Now, Michel Aoun is the main ally of Hizballa, the last armed militia in Lebanon.
Aoun has been a staunch supporter of an independent Lebanon and fought bloody battles against the Syrian occupation forces in Lebanon. His followers constituted the core of the demonstrations that led to the Syrian precipitated withdrawal from Lebanon. As a matter of fact, the General epitomized anti-Syrian movement in Lebanon.
Now Michel Aoun is allied with all of Syria's agents in Lebanon: Michel Murr (formerly Syria's enforcer in Lebanon), the Baathists, the Karami clan of Tripoli, Hizballa and puppet President Lahoud. Pick any political remnant of the Syrian influence in Lebanon, and you can count Aoun as one of its allies.
I have not heard any real justification of Aoun's alliances. Some arguments I have heard include:
-"The March 14th Alliance is led by the Sunnis and Druze, while the Christians have been relegated to second class citizenship in it". But could this be, because Aoun has divided the Christians?
-The March 14th Alliance betrayed Aoun politically after his return to Lebanon". But is this a reason for Aoun to betray Lebanon?
-"The strategic interests of the Christians lie in an alliance with the Shiites". But do the strategic interests of the Lebanese Christians lie with Syria and Iran, Hizballa's godparents?
As a former staunch Aoun supporter, I would really like to have answers, to know what happened to such a promising Lebanese leader.
Saturday, September 02, 2006
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4 comments:
Aoun is a calamity to the Christians of Lebanon.
He has divided us like no other (even Hobeika wan't so divisive), and led us to death and destruction.
The Syrians knew what they were doing when they allowed him to return to Lebanon, they knew he would divide the Cedars Revolution!
Aoun is dying to be a president, as the joke said, he'll kiss anybody's *ss to be president.
I never liked his politics, too emotional and dumb for my taste.
As a matter of fact, Aoun has always been a passionate and honest leader whose only aim has been to see Lebanon free, free of any occupying army, be it Syrian or Israeli and free of corruption and cheap politics.
Remember the $42 billion dollar national debt, remember the time when they defended "The Sister" presence in Lebanon when Aoun was fighting the Syrians and remember the Hariri-Hizbollah alliance in the recent Lebanese elections. The whole story has nothing to do with a strong central government, it is all about a small elite group who are arrogant enough to think they can run the country and decide the future of Lebanon for generations to come regardless of the opinion of the majority of the Lebanese population.
Forget about a change of government and forget about early elections; let's have a referendum and let the Lebanese decide their future.
The March 14th Alliance has betrayed Aoun, yes. But no, Aoun did not betray Lebanon. How on Earth, did he betray his country? By supporting a group that has resisted an occupying force, or by having an open arm and helping fellow Lebanese when they needed it most.
Yes, the strategic interest of the Christians lie in an alliance with the Shiites and the Syrians.
To Michel:
I would tend to agree with all you said about the past of General Aoun.
However, I disagree that our interests lie with Hizballa and the Syrians. You don't want us to forget the past deeds of Lebanese politicians, but you somehow want us to forget about Syria's deeds and its ambitions in Lebanon?
The Shiites and the Christians would make good allies, it's true. But not Hizballa! It's an Islamist organization, taking orders from a brutal theocratic regime in Tehran.
To understand Hizballa, look at their flag:
1. It has a verse of the Koran on top.
2. Has an AK47 in the middle along with a globe.
3. Has the name of the party Hizballa
4. An inscription saying: "The Islamic Resistance in Lebanon"
The nuance of the phrase is very important. It's not the Lebanese Islamic resistance, but the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon. They are not Lebanese, they are Islamic and happen to be in Lebanon.
For an other indication to Hizballah's allegiance look at their actions outside of Lebanon. They are doing Iran's work in Iraq by distabilizing the situation, and doing the same in the Palestinian territories ensuring the Palestinians and Israelis don't reach a settlement.
Bottom line: Hizballa is not a Lebanese resistance movement, but an extension of the Iranian "Revolution" in Lebanon.
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