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Hoss,
Hussaini and Licking the Rasp
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By: Elias Bejjani
& Colonel Charbel Barakat |
January 15/2005 |
Maintaining a set of contingency plans for dealing with
different political situations is a well-known Syrian practice. In the
face of peaceful demonstrations in 2001 against its occupation of Lebanon,
the Syrians orchestrated their own notorious demonstration of "daggers,
butcher knives and cleavers". Similarly, when they could not ban the "Independence
and Sovereignty" demonstration of November 22, 2004, they arranged and
organized their infamous but failed "one million" demonstration.
These Syrian deception and containment tactics are well known to everybody.
Meanwhile, the Lebanese have become accustomed to, and are fully informed
of the source behind the frequent venomous fabrications of acts of
destruction and killing in Sidon, Tripoli, Beirut or the Bekaa.
Syrian tactics of scaring the Lebanese people with Hizbollah, the
Palestinians and the resumption of civil war are not a secret, while
everyone knows that the Syrians were the masterminds behind all the wars
on Lebanese soil. The non-refutable fact is that the Syrians have always
been the power that ignites and halts wars in Lebanon, only to rekindle
them when convenient. Wars that have never been Lebanese at the core,
although they were fought continuously by and against them.
Syria has now resorted to its new old strategy that consists in the
manipulation of a few Lebanese politicians in an attempt to rebuild the
credibility of its regime now damaged in international and national
circles. In this context, the Syrian Baathist occupier has now recruited
both former Prime Minister Salim Hoss and Parliament Speaker Hussain
Husaini who, willingly or under pressure, are actively working to
embellish its ruined image. The Syrian Secret Intelligence, "Al-Mukabarat,"
has instructed both men to appeal publicly to the Syrian president to show
mercy on Lebanon by directly interfering in the Lebanese electoral law
that is currently in the making, and provide a justification for this
dictator - now a hero and a savior - to maintain his occupation army in
certain Lebanese regions. Moreover, through their camouflaged criticism of
the Mukabarat's meddling in Lebanese affairs, followed by their calls to
the Syrian president to put an end to such acts, Hoss and Hussaini help
keep Syria's occupation in place.
Parliament Speaker Hussaini says he is part of the opposition, when in
fact his opposition is only in name and could be classified as a kind of
protest that is motivated by personal gains and interests. His opposition
has no patriotic platform whatsoever. By publicly calling on the Syrians
to meddle in a purely internal Lebanese affair, he is actually repeating
former President Elias Hrawi's bizarre statement that the Lebanese people
have not yet reached the age of maturity, and accordingly need the Syrians
to be their custodian.
Hrawi's irresponsible statements have inflicted years of oppression on the
Lebanese people, and the humiliation and burden of foreign debts currently
approximating the sum of 45 billion dollars. This unprecedented debt has
mortgaged the future of Lebanon's new generations, while most of it ended
in the pockets of high-ranking Syrian and Lebanese officials and
politicians.
We ask Mr. Hussaini, "Who is forbidding the Lebanese Parliament from
legislating a modern and fair electoral law acceptable to the majority of
the Lebanese people?" "Isn't Mr. Hussaini's call on the Syrian President
to sponsor a Lebanese electoral law evidence that the main Lebanese
problem lies in Syria, and not in Lebanon?" On the other hand, Mr.
Hussaini's statement, in which he bragged that there is a Lebanese
consensus on no hostility toward Syria, is definitely correct because the
Lebanese bear no hostility toward anyone, especially not their neighbors.
Yet Syria always complained before 1970, during that period when Syria's
political maturity consisted of changing governments by a succession of
military coups, that their neighbor Lebanon was interfering in their
domestic affairs by providing a safe refuge for Syrian opposition figures,
and by not handing over other unsuccessful coup leaders who sought shelter
in Lebanon.
Their sick minds, their ignorance, and their hatred for freedom, human
rights and democracy caused Syrian Baathist officials to delude themselves
that by inflicting chaos and terrorism on neighboring countries they could
solidify their regime and prolong its life. They resorted to this evil
strategy with neighboring Turkey through the the KLP, (Kurdish Labor
Party), but were later forced to abandon it and evict its leader Abdullah
Ocalan, to be arrested by Turkey when the latter massed its troops along
the Syrian border. For years they have been using the same tactics with
Lebanon, Jordan and the Palestinians.
Dr. Salim Hoss is a role model of political cowardice. It matters not
whether in office or in the opposition, he continuously endeavors to
portray himself as an educated, moderate and technocrat politician. In
fact, however, he lives in fear of death at the hands of his Syrian
masters, and so utters what he does not mean, or believe when addressing
national matters. Hoss anticipates such a fate since there have been many
precedents: The late Kamal Jumblatt who met this fate after erroneously
believing that the Syrian Baathists could be trusted; Lebanon's Grand
Sunni Mufti, Sheik Hassan Khalid, who had the courage to witness for the
truth; or the late President-Elect Rene Muawad who was murdered the same
day he attempted to say no to the Syrians; or more recently former
Minister Marwan Hamadi who miraculously escaped an assassination attempt
that, according to him, was engineered by Syrian and Lebanese Mukabarat
Services.
Dr. Salim Hoss is not only a role model in political cowardice but also an
expert in aborting international resolutions. The Syrians resort to his
expertise every now and then, especially when facing mounting
international pressure, because he belongs to a political class that is
moderate, cautious, and patient. All these traits could be very effective
political assets during peaceful times when the country is free and its
people are not suffering hardships and the consequences of occupation. But
these same assets turn into extremely useless, if not altogether dangerous,
during those times when witnessing for the truth becomes a patriotic
obligation, and when courage becomes a vehicle of salvation for the
nation.
Dr. Salim Hoss is infamous for his official role in aborting UN Resolution
425 in 1978. At the time, the Lebanese Parliament had voted to send the
Palestinian guerillas back to their refugee camps, disarm them and give
the Lebanese government sole control over the coastal highway, in
anticipation of the United Nations taking over the South from Israel and
hand it over to the Lebanese authorities, in accordance with UN Resolution
426.
In his capacity as Prime Minister, Dr. Hoss viciously aborted this plan by
masterfully playing his role as a slave to the Syrians' destructive
instructions. Instead of banning the Palestinian Guerrillas' presence on
the coastal highway between Beirut and Tyre, he initially took a
laissez-faire stance, then turned around and supported the guerillas in
their battle aiming to force the French Army contingent out of the Tyre
pocket. In the same treacherous vein, he facilitated the Syrian Army's
re-conquest of West Beirut in 1984.
Again, in 1988 when General Michel Aoun was appointed to head a
transitional government whose mandate was to prepare for electing a new
president, Dr. Hoss, whose government had resigned months earlier to
scuttle those elections, acted cowardly and as a Syrian puppet by "reviving"
his illegal government in the face of General Aoun's legitimate one. He
initially agreed to shut down the illegal ports and open the crossing
roads between the two sectors of then-divided Beirut, but promptly backed
out, a decision that led the country further in the abyss of the War of
Liberation and the destruction of the country.
Based on this background, one wonders if Hoss's bizarre initiative today
is not another Syrian ploy aiming to abort UN Resolution 1559. Acting on
his own frustration in the aftermath of his humiliating failure in the
last parliamentary elections, he publicly declared his intention to stay
away from any official position and not take part in any election. So the
question now is, why has Hoss suddenly decided to begin publicly
glorifying the "heroism" of the late Syrian dictator, Hafez Assad, and
vocally expressing his gratitude to the dictator's son Bashar, Syria's
president, for his brotherly interference in Lebanon, calling on him to
withdraw his troops to the Bekaa Valley and implement the "Taif Accord"?
Hoss came up with this chameleon ruse at a time when the whole world has
courageously decided though resolution 1559 to put an end to the Syrian
rule over Lebanon, and to help the Lebanese people reclaim their stolen
independence, oppressed freedoms and confiscated sovereignty.
Hoss's initiative will fall on deaf ears in Lebanese, regional and
international circles because the whole world has now recognized that
Syria is the evil and instigating force behind all the wars that were
inflicted on the Lebanese people during the last 28 years. And accordingly,
Syria is accountable for all the consequences of these wars. The free
world is now fully aware that Lebanon cannot be again a free and
democratic country unless Syria is forced to withdraw all its troops and
intelligence apparatus (Mukabarat), and stop meddling in its internal
affairs.
During the past thirty years, Syria has never ever fought Israel or
confronted any foreign army. Instead, Syria murdered civilian Lebanese by
the thousands and butchered its own unarmed Syrian people in Aleppo and
Hama. There is no doubt that the Syrian Army is still feeling the
humiliation of defeat in its confrontations with the Lebanese Army in Souk
Al Gharb, Fiyyadieh, Bhamdoun, Aqoura, Zahle, Beirut, etc., and the Syrian
Army has never been victorious in any battle that it has engaged with the
Lebanese Army or the Lebanese Resistance militias. Syrian heroism has
always been portrayed on the basis of its cold-blooded mass murder and
shelling of civilians, Lebanese and Syrian alike.
What Syrian military victories is Hoss exalting?
In case Hoss is terrified of the Syrians and their schemes, and is
chicken-hearted in attempting to cajole them, we assure him that the
Syrian era of injustice is on its way to vanishing. Like every thing else
that is evil, it has to reach an end, no matter what happens. Hoss is a
smart, opportunistic politician who should not be subdued by Syrian
threats, or be deceived by the fake Syrian grip on power in Lebanon and
Syria. He ought to recognize that the Iraqi government, in spite of all
that is happening now in Iraq, is more capable than the Baathists in Syria
to govern and stay in power.
In case Hoss is planning to return to office, after he was kicked out
scandalously by his "brothers" the Syrians and even ripped of his MP title,
we advise his Excellency to wake up and stop his daydreaming. Hoss should
understand that Lebanon's future officials are not going to come from the
rank of cowards, or from amongst those politicians who have not witnessed
for the truth, and have declined to struggle and reclaim Lebanon's
sovereignty, independence and freedoms.
Lebanon's future officials will be elected freely by the Lebanese people,
and not appointed by the Syrian occupier. These officials will
authentically represent the hopes, aspirations and wishes of the people.
Future Lebanon will be ruled by heroes and dignified politicians because
the people will be the actual rulers through the democratic process that
is implemented in all the civilized countries of the free world. This
democracy is paving its way in Middle Eastern countries, among which Syria
is counted, no matter how much time this will take.
Both Hoss and Hussaini should know that the fate of the Syrian Baathist
gang of officials is not going to be much different from the fate of all
other dictators, from Ceaucescu to Saddam. We advise both of them to
immediately join the rank of the Lebanese who are working for Lebanon's
liberation and the end of the Syrian occupation. Remaining within earshot
of the puppets' applause for Lebanon's occupiers is not going to get them
anywhere. These puppets are like the cat that licks a rasp and keeps
enjoying the taste of blood until it learns that it has been licking its
own blood.
We call on our people, the free and patriotic Lebanese in occupied Lebanon
and in the Diaspora, to watch out for political wolves dressed in sheep's
clothing and to keep away from their traps. Our people should all be
confident that the Syrian occupier is cornered and isolated as well as his
Lebanese Trojans. Their options are few and so are their days. The
occupier has now resorted to its most effective weapon, the tactic of
"divide and conquer." The Syrians are working hard to turn our people
against each other while threatening some and appeasing others.
Our faithful people! Syria has exhausted all its evil means. Be calm, hold
on to your faith, and look on to Lebanon's future with hope and optimism.
Patience is the path to salvation. Lebanon's liberation is on the horizon,
and its dawn is rapidly creeping through the darkness into sight.
Long Live Freedom
Charbel Barakat
*Vice President for the (WLO) World Lebanese
Organization
* Historian & political commentator
*Author of the book "Madamik"
*Retired Colonel - the Lebanese Army
Elias Bejjani
*Human Rights activist, journalist &
political commentator.
*Spokesman for the Canadian Lebanese Human Rights Federation (CLHRF)
*Media Chairman for the Canadian Lebanese Coordinating Council (LCCC)
E.Mail phoenicia@hotmail.com |
