Tuesday 12^th December 2006 

Washington Bureau

Media Release

General Michel Aoun MP

-        We Trusted You and You Sold Us Out

-        We Respected You and You Trampled Upon Our Respect

-        We Worked With You and You Betrayed Our Efforts

For the duration of your fifteen years of exile in Paris, you spoke and seemed to convince the Lebanese Diaspora that you were the champion of the cause for the restoration of Lebanon’s sovereignty, independence and democratic freedoms. Your supporters who were dispersed around the world, also in exile, proudly projected your loyal and nationalistic qualities. We were all skeptical nevertheless, we knew that we needed to begin the unifying process somewhere, so we took the chance on working with a group of people who supported a General, Commander of the armed forces of Lebanon, a man who was installed as temporary Prime Minister until a legitimate Presidential election was effected and a new government sworn in.

At that time, your loyalty to the people of Lebanon and your military background and training forced you into an almost fatal position which resulted in your exile. Your enemies at that time were the Syrians and their terrorist allies. Many people in Lebanon and the Diaspora admired your stand and commitment to your responsibilities. We admired even further that you were prepared to gather your forces in Lebanon and the Diaspora and work towards restoration of all that was dignified, great and honorable in Lebanon. Perhaps that was the only way in which you could maintain an effective role in the political arena in Lebanon.

You needed the support of the Lebanese Diaspora and we all us worked with you, from all political, cultural and community organizations, we worked with you and with other political leaders who showed outstanding leadership in the unifying efforts to produce a combined and powerful movement which would ultimately move the people of Lebanon in numbers exceeding one and a quarter million people onto liberty square and drive the Syrians out of Lebanon in that famous and unforgettable operation known as the Cedars Revolution.

Despite the fact that you had not yet returned to Lebanon, you were one of the leaders of the Cedars Revolution. Your Free Patriotic Movement was there in force. Your participation was unquestionable and your anticipated return to Lebanon was anxiously awaited. Equally anticipated was the imminent release from prison, of the Leader of the Lebanese Forces Dr Samir Geagea.

Together with the return from self exile of the former President and leader of the Lebanese Katateb Amine Gemayel and the active presence of the Leader of the National Liberal party of Lebanon Mr Dory Chamoun, there seemed to be a wave of positive expectation by the people who had been oppressed for approximately thirty years by the Syrians and their terrorist allies.

The people of Lebanon welcomed you in glory with open arms and open hearts and paved the way for you to reach the pinnacle of your clearly stated objectives, but you misunderstood their welcome and their hunger for your presence and you have turned your back on them. That, they will not forgive.

The people of Lebanon placed their trust in you. They elected you and your team comfortably so that you can represent their dreams and motivations for the rebuilding of Lebanon and an honorable and dignified life for themselves and their families, but you have turned your back on them; and that, they will not forgive.

The people of Lebanon were prepared to work with you in the redevelopment of our nation, but you turned your back on them; and that they will not forgive.

Dear General, great leaders serve their constituents and not their enemies. Great leaders communicate with their constituents and not go off on a tangent without the knowledge and support of their public.

You were welcomed, embraced and elected to parliament because of your participation in the original movement of the Cedars Revolution, but you have turned your back on the Cedars Revolution and aligned yourself with the axis of terrorism in Iran-Syria-Hezbollah and their terrorist allies.

Your coup d’etat is in alliance with the very enemies who drove you out of Lebanon and against whom you fought for over seventeen years.

You are now being used by the terrorists to destroy the Cedars Revolution and the democratic freedoms it represents to the people of Lebanon.

Your operatives are roaming throughout the world in collaboration with Hezbollah in an attempt to generate pressure and bring about the fall of a democratically elected government in Lebanon.

You are losing your intellectual support by the hundreds. You are losing your political support by the thousands. By what authority do you take to the podium and pontificate honor and respectability to the great people of Lebanon who have demonstrated their greatness by their ability to withstand all the pressures of terrorist activities, assassinations of their elected officials and the continuous  attempts to destroy their unquestionable right to a quality life as free people.

General Michel Aoun MP, are you not guilty of political corruption and manipulation against the very people who elected you? Your alliance with Hezbollah, an acknowledged terrorist organization by the United Nations Security Council, renders you vulnerable to the same classification. For affiliation with terrorists attracts the same classification. That puts you in direct opposition to the people who elected you. You should resign your position in parliament, for you may be deemed to be there under false pretences.

Before you drown yourself in the quagmire of terrorists, the door is still jarred open for you to return to  the fold and take your position among the greats of the Cedars Revolution and protect the sovereignty, independence and democratic freedoms of the great people of Lebanon.

For the World Council of the Cedars Revolution

Joseph P Baini

President