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CLAO
Founded in 1989 to
serve the USA and Lebanon.
THE COUNCIL OF LEBANESE AMERICAN ORGANIZATIONS
E-mail: clao@clao.com
1-888-4 CLAO 89
Internet: www.clao.com
March 20, 2005
Terror & Destabilization: The
Syrian Ploy
The explosion that has rocked the Lebanese
city of Jdeideh shortly after midnight on March 19, 2005, Beirut time,
wounding several people, is yet another sign of what the Syrian regime of
terror is planning for Lebanon and the Lebanese. Furthermore, hours before
the car bomb explosion, when asked if he was concerned about an
assassination of another senior Lebanese figure, Terje Roed-Larsen, who
represents U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan in talks with Lebanese and
Syrian officials replied "Yes, I am indeed.”
On the other hand, those who have carefully
listened to the speech of Bashar Assad, the Syrian President, on March 5,
2005, could have easily figured out the Syrian plot aiming to destabilize
Lebanon. Assad has warned about instability after withdrawal while his
intelligence networks were busy arming Syrian surrogates in Lebanon! In
recent days, ahead of the Syrian withdrawal to the Bekaa Valley, many
members of the Syrian intelligence team have moved to the Southern Suburb
of Beirut, an area controlled by Hizballah and denied to the Lebanese army.
Furthermore, an undetermined number of Syrian terrorists have been
illegally given Lebanese citizenships and are now spread in many areas in
Lebanon.
The Council of Lebanese American
Organizations (CLAO) strongly believes that the Jdeideh blast and the
assassination of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri are Syrian designed and
executed on the hands of their murderous intelligence network and
surrogates. Syria did not enter Lebanon to willfully withdraw. Its current
and preceding Stalinist regimes have long sought annexing the smaller but
more prosperous neighboring nation. Syria continues to defy the will of
the United Nations since it has yet to announce a clear timetable of a
full withdrawal. The Syrian regime remains hopeful that by destabilizing
Lebanon it could reinforce its grip on the country once the international
focus has been shifted.
CLAO would like to reiterate its position by
proposing an urgent formation of an international coalition force,
spearheaded by the US and France to be deployed to Lebanon in the shortest
term possible in support of the Lebanese Army’s efforts to protect the
people and to maintain order. CLAO believes that the Syrian regime and its
surrogates will repeat similar events to the one that took place in
Jdeideh. Murdering of innocents is an act of terror that the Syrian regime
has been exporting to the region for decades. The chambers of torture that
the Syrians have left behind in Beirut and have been exposed in recent
days must be internationally investigated. The Syrian regime and its
Lebanese surrogates must be held accountable. For Lebanon to be spared
further tragedies and to avoid treacherous destabilization plots and for
the region to witness a considerable decline in terrorism and to achieve
peace, it seems that a regime reconfiguration is badly needed in Syria.
The Syrian Ba’athists need to understand that the war on terror is real
and that democracy in indeed on the march. The Assad regime must abandon
its doctrine of terror now as time is running out. |
