LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
October 13/08

October 13, & Lebanon's Heroes
By: Elias Bejjani
October 13/08
On October 13, 1990 the Syrian Army savagely invaded the last remaining free regions of Lebanon, killed and mutilated hundreds of Lebanese soldiers and innocent citizens in cold blooded murder, kidnapped tens of soldiers, officers, clergymen, politicians and citizens, and erected a subservient and puppet regime fully controlled by its security intelligence headquarters in Damascus. Since then, we commemorate the painful event each year on October 13.
In year 2005 the Syrian Army was forced to withdraw from Lebanon in accordance with the UNSC Resolution 1559, but its proxy Lebanese and Palestinian armed militias still run and fully control numerous mini states inside the state of Lebanon. They are hindering the Lebanese people from completely reclaiming their independence, freedom and sovereignty. The Terrorist Hezbollah Militia is the Syrian-Iranian spearhead in this axis of evil notorious scheme against Lebanon and the Lebanese.
Eighteen years since the desecration of the People’s Palace (presidential Palace) by the horde of Syrian Baathist gangs, Mafiosi, militias, and other corrupt mercenaries of Tamerlane invaders vintage. The soldiers of our valiant army were tortured and butchered in the cities of Bsous, Aley, Kahhale, and other bastions of resistance. Our most precious of possessions, our freedom, was raped in broad daylight, while the free world and all the Arab countries at that time watched in silence.
With this remembrance, a journey back to the true identity of Lebanon has begun through UNSC Resolution 1559, which has crowned a long and difficult struggle by an elite of free patriots from the Land of the Cedars. In a violent Middle East, they raised the struggle for a free Lebanon to the standards of a civilized, peaceful, and non-violent resistance in spite of the obstacles and difficulties along the way. And here they are today, their hopes and aspirations saluted and raised by the free world through the Security Council and its pro-free Lebanon Resolutions (1559 & 1701), in a genuine bid to lift the yoke of enslavement, and with it the shroud of misinformation, off of a free nation and a sovereign people.
This remembrance won’t pass without wiping the tears of sorrow and pain for those loved ones who left this world and others who emigrated to its far-flung corners. For a lifetime of hard work wiped out overnight, for the destroyed villages and towns that dot our hills, for the closed factories, for the fields that lay fallow and dry, for our children who lost their innocence, and for all that we had but which was lost. Yet we are a tough and hopeful people, and no matter the sacrifices and the pain, we are today even more determined with our strong faith to redeem our freedom, and bring to justice all those who accepted to be the dirty tools of the conspiracy that has been destroying, humiliating, and tormenting our country since 1976.
Meanwhile the lessons of October 13 are many and they are all glorious. The free of our people, civilians and military, ordinary citizens and leaders, all stood tall and strong in turning back the aggression of the barbarians at the gate. They resisted valiantly and courageously, writing with their own blood long epics that will not be soon forgotten by their children and grandchildren and other students of history. They refused to sign on an agreement of surrender and oppression, and spoke up against the shame of capitulation.
On October 13, on the eighteenth commemoration of the Syrian invasion to Lebanon's free regions, we shall pray for the souls of all those Lebanese comrades who
fell in the battles of confrontation, for all our citizens who are arbitrarily detained in Syria's notorious jails, for the safe and dignified return of our refugees from Israel, for the return of peace to the homeland, and for the repentance of Lebanon's leaders and politicians who for personal gains have turned against their own people, negated their declared convictions, downtrodden their freedom and liberation slogans, sided with the Axis of evil (Syria, Iran) and forged an alliance with Hezbollah whose ultimate aim is to replicate the Iranian Mullahs' regime in Lebanon.
But in spite of the Syrian military withdrawal from Lebanon in year 2005, old and new Syrian-made Lebanese puppets continue to trade demagogy and spread incitement, profiting from people’s economic needs and the absence of the state's law and order. Thanks to the Iranian petro dollars, their consciences are numbed, and their bank accounts and pockets inflated. Sadly, among those is General Michele Aoun who after his return from exile to Lebanon in 2005 has bizarrely transformed from an staunched patriotic Lebanese leader and advocate for freedom and peace, into a Syrian-Iranian allay and a loud mouthpiece for their axis of evil schemes and conspiracies.
General Aoun like the rest of the pro-Syrian-Iranian Lebanese politicians and leaders care only for his position, personal interests, and greed. In the eyes of the patriotic Lebanese, Aoun and the rest of those conscienceless creatures are nothing but robots and dirty instruments bent on Lebanon's destabilization, blocking the return of peace and order to its people, aborting the mission of the international forces and the UN security council (UNSC) resolutions, in particular resolutions 1559 and 1701. They are hired by the axis of evil nations and organizations to keep our homeland, the land of the Holy Cedars, an arena and a backyard for “The Wars of the Others”, a base for chaos and a breeding culture for hatred, terrorism, hostility and fundamentalism.
In this year's commemoration we proudly hail and remember the passing and disappearance of hundreds of our people, civilian, military, and religious personnel who gladly sacrified themselves on Lebanon’s altar in defense of freedom, dignity and identity, we raise our prayers for the rest of their souls and for the safe return of all our prisoners held arbitrarily in the dungeons of the Syrian Baath.
We ask for consolation to all their families, hoping that their grand sacrifices were not in vain, now that prominent leaders and politicians of that era changed sides and joined the killers after the liberation of the country. Those Pharisees were in positions of responsibility to safeguard the nation and its dignity, and were entrusted to defend the identity, the homeland and the beliefs.
Our martyrs, the living and dead alike, must be rolling in anger in their graves and in the Syrian Baath dungeons as they witness these leaders today, especially General Michele Aoun, upon whom they laid their hope, fall into the gutter of cheap politics.
General Aoun reversed all his theses and slogans and joined the same powers that invaded the free Lebanon region on October 13, 1990. He selectively had forgotten who he is and who his people are, and negated everything he advocated and lobbied for.
What truly saddens us is the continuing suffering of our refugees in Israel since 2000 despite all the recent developments. This is due to the stark servitude of those Lebanese Leaders and politicians on whom we held our hopes for a courageous resolution to this humane problem. Instead, they shed their responsibilities and voided the cause from its humane content, and furthermore, in order to satisfy their alliances with fundamentalists and radicals, they betrayed their own people and the cause of Lebanon by agreeing to label our heroic southern refugees as criminals.
Our refugees in Israel are the ultimate Lebanese patriots who did no wrong, but who simply suffered for 30 years trying to defend their land, their homes, their children and their dignity against Syria and the hordes of Islamic fundamentalists, outlaw Palestinian militias, and even renegade battalions of the Lebanese Army itself that seceded from the government to fight alongside the outlaw organizations and militias against Lebanon, the Lebanese State and the Lebanese people.
For our fallen heroes who gave themselves in sacrifice at the altar of Lebanon on October 13, we pray and make the pledge of living with our heads high, so that Lebanon remains the homeland of dignity and pride, the message of truth, the cradle of civility and giving, and the crucible of culture and civilizations. He who has God by his side, whose weapon is the truth, and whose faith is like the rock, shall never be vanquished.

Bible Reading of the day.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 22,1-14. Jesus again in reply spoke to them in parables, saying, The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. He dispatched his servants to summon the invited guests to the feast, but they refused to come. A second time he sent other servants, saying, 'Tell those invited: "Behold, I have prepared my banquet, my calves and fattened cattle are killed, and everything is ready; come to the feast."' Some ignored the invitation and went away, one to his farm, another to his business. The rest laid hold of his servants, mistreated them, and killed them. The king was enraged and sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. Then he said to his servants, 'The feast is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy to come. Go out, therefore, into the main roads and invite to the feast whomever you find.' The servants went out into the streets and gathered all they found, bad and good alike, and the hall was filled with guests.But when the king came in to meet the guests he saw a man there not dressed in a wedding garment. He said to him, 'My friend, how is it that you came in here without a wedding garment?' But he was reduced to silence. Then the king said to his attendants, 'Bind his hands and feet, and cast him into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.'Many are invited, but few are chosen."

Saint Augustine (354-430), Bishop of Hippo (North Africa) and Doctor of the Church
Sermon 90; PL 38, 559f./Being clothed in the wedding garment
What is the wedding garment that the Gospel talks about? Very certainly, that garment is something that only the good have, those who are to participate in the feast... Could it be the sacraments? Baptism? Without baptism, no one comes to God, but some people receive baptism and do not come to God... Perhaps it is the altar or what a person receives at the altar? But in receiving the Lord's body, some people eat and drink to their own condemnation (1 Cor 11:29). So what is it? Fasting? The wicked also fast. Going to church often? The wicked go to church just like others...So what is this wedding garment? The apostle Paul tells us: «What we are aiming at... is the love that springs from a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith.» (1 Tim 1:5) That is the wedding garment. Paul is not talking about just any kind of love, for one can often see dishonest people loving others ..., but one does not see among them this love «that springs from a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith.» Now that is the love that is the wedding garment.
The apostle Paul said: «If I speak with human tongues and angelic as well, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong, a clanging cymbal... If I have the gift of prophecy and, with full knowledge, comprehend all mysteries, if I have faith great enough to move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.» (1 Cor 13:1-2) He said that even if he had all that, without Christ «I am nothing.»... It would be useless, because I can act in that way for love of glory... «If I have not love, it is of no use.» That is the wedding garment. Examine yourselves: if you have it, then come to the Lord's banquet with confidence.

Free Opinions, Releases, letters & Special Reports
Q & A with Lebanese Forces Chief, Samir Geagea. By Thair Abbas- Asharq Al-Awsat Newspaper 12/10/08
We Must Protect Iraq's Christians.By Tariq Alhomayed 12/10/08
What's Afoot in Syria?By: Claude Salhani 12/10/08
George Washington University's Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week: One Year Later.By: FrontPage 12/10/08
Black Racists Recruited to Guide the Jihad.By: John Perazzo.FrontPage 12/10/08

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for October 13/08
Billboard truce: Beirut scraps irksome posters-The Associated Press
Suleiman for Saudi Arabia -Naharnet
Baddawi Bolsters Security to Keep Islamists Out-Naharnet
Phalange Party Declares Election Candidate for Batroun-Naharnet
Aoun for Tehran Seeking Friendship with Iran-Naharnet
SSNP Proud of Lifting Assad's Posters in Beirut-Naharnet
Missing Jordanian Mother and Daughters Safe in Beirut-Naharnet
Abu Jamra Praises Relations with Saudi-Naharnet
Berri: Distortion is Part of Elections Game-Naharnet
Islamic Tawheed Denies Having Security Zones in North Lebanon-Naharnet
Wahhab Accuses Army Officer of Interfering in Military Reshuffle-Naharnet
Hizbullah-Jumblat Reunion Next Week-Naharnet
U.S. Approves Additional $825,000 for De-Mining-Naharnet
UAE to Guarantee Bank Deposits-Naharnet
U.S. Removes North Korea from Terror Blacklist -Naharnet

Suleiman for Saudi Arabia
Naharnet/President Michel Suleiman headed to Saudi Arabia on Sunday to express gratitude to the kingdom for its backing to Lebanon and upgrade bilateral relations. Sources accompanying Suleiman said the Lebanese President would not launch an initiative aimed at reconciling Riyadh with Damascus.
Suleiman's talks in Saudi Arabia, including a meeting with King Abdullah, would cover the need to bolster pan-Arab solidarity.
Suleiman heads a five-person ministerial team in his two day visit, including Deputy Premier Issam Abu Jamra, a member of Michel Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement. Abu Jamra, talking to reporters at Beirut's Rafik Hariri airport, said criticism by Aoun of Saudi Arabia on Saturday was not intended to sabotage President Suleiman's visit. Beirut, 12 Oct 08, 14:43

Aoun for Tehran Seeking Friendship with Iran
Naharnet/Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun on Sunday left for Tehran on a visit aimed at setting up "friendship" with Iran. "Friendship is not a charge," Aoun told reporters at Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport. In answering a question about charges that his visit to Iran aims at fund raising and obtaining weapons, Aoun said: "Then it would be to counter funds and weapons obtained by the other side." He called for bolstering relations and friendship with Middle East states. Beirut, 12 Oct 08, 13:11

Baddawi Bolsters Security to Keep Islamists Out
Naharnet/Palestinian officials are compiling a register of residents in the northern refugee camp of Baddawi to crack down on Islamist militants and to prevent unrest, one of them said on Saturday. "Rumors have spread concerning the presence of outlaws in Baddawi camp," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
"As a result Palestinian faction leaders unanimously decided to bolster security measures in order to prevent the outlaws from using the camp," to settle scores, the official said. The decision is also aimed at preventing in Baddawi the kind of outbreaks of violence which in recent months have ravaged Ain al-Hilweh, the biggest of the 12 impoverished Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, the official said. Extremists believed to have links with al-Qaida have settled in Lebanon's Palestinian refugee camps, especially in Ain al-Hilweh. Baddawi is near Nahr al-Bared camp where last summer more than 400 people, including 168 soldiers, were killed in a 15-week battle before the Lebanese army defeated al-Qaida-inspired Fatah al-Islam militants holed up there.
Preventive security measures in Baddawi comprise "a comprehensive census of camp residents," the official said. According to the U.N. refugee agency Baddawi is home to more than 16,000 people. "Any person other than permanent residents must fill in a form listing all personal data, the reason and the duration of their stay. Landlords must inform in writing of any new tenant, even Palestinians," he said. Palestinian faction leaders "have informed the Lebanese security officials of the measures," he added. "We will not allow anyone to transform the camp into a threat to Lebanon's security." The Lebanese army does not enter the camps, leaving responsibility for security to Palestinian factions. The clashes in Ain al-Hilweh, in southern Lebanon, have pitted members of the mainstream Fatah faction against a Sunni Islamist militant group known as Jund al-Sham (Soldiers of Damascus).(AFP) Beirut, 11 Oct 08, 15:07

Phalange Party Declares Election Candidate for Batroun
Naharnet/The Phalange Party on Sunday officially nominated Samer George Saadeh its candidate in the Batroun Province for the 2009 elections. The announcement was made by Party leader Amin Gemayel who headed an extraordinary session for the party's Batroun branch. Gemayel called for pacifying Lebanon regarding regional differences and denounced criticism by Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun of Saudi Arabia "that has given Lebanon a lot." At least 150 new members of the Phalange Party took the oath as Gemayel presided over the ceremony. Beirut, 12 Oct 08, 14:56

SSNP Proud of Lifting Assad's Posters in Beirut
Naharnet/MP Marwan Faris said his Syrian Social National Party (SSNP) is "honored by those who lifted posters of Syrian President Bashar Assad in Beirut last May" during an attack by Hizbullah and allies on the capital. The SSNP, Faris said, is an "historic ally of Syria and President Assad." The party also is allied with Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun who embarked on an official visit to Iran earlier in the day, he stressed. "The SSNP and the FPM would compete in the forthcoming elections side by side with other factions of the opposition," Faris said in a television interview. Beirut, 12 Oct 08, 11:59

Missing Jordanian Mother and Daughters Safe in Beirut
Naharnet/Jordanian Foreign Minister Salaheddine al-Bashir announced Sunday that the Lebanese authorities have found a Jordanian mother and her three daughters who went missing in Beirut 10 days ago. "Investigation is underway into the issue that had concerned the Jordanian public opinion," Bashir said.
He said Hajar Abu Salim, 29, and her three daughters Rahaf, Roua and Rand, are safe and would be turned over to custody of the Jordanian Embassy in Beirut.
Press reports in Beirut said Abu Salim was hiding with friends in Beirut's Sabra district due to differences with her husband Moutaz Hammoudi.
Beirut, 12 Oct 08, 11:24

Abu Jamra Praises Relations with Saudi
Naharnet/Deputy Premier Issam Abu Jamra said relations between Lebanon and Saudi Arabia have always been excellent, contradicting a declared stand by his leader Michel Aoun. Abu Jamra, a member of Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement, is to accompany President Michel Suleiman in a visit to Saudi Arabia.
Abu Jamra, in an interview with the Saudi newspaper Okaz, said relations between Beirut and Riyadh would "always remain excellent." "Entente," according to Abu Jamra, has always overwhelmed relations between Lebanon and Saudi Arabia. His remarks sharply contradicted a stand declared by Aoun on Saturday in which he attacked alleged Saudi dominance over Lebanon. Beirut, 12 Oct 08, 11:02

Billboard truce: Beirut scraps irksome posters
By HUSSEIN DAKROUB
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) — In polarized Lebanon, flaunting a political leader's poster can be enough to spark a gunfight. So shopkeepers on Beirut's al-Maamoun Street are breathing a little easier now that "poster disarmament" has been declared. Most of the posters once plastered on Beirut's walls and lampposts have come down by agreement between the main factions of Shiite and Sunni Muslims — part of a broader attempt to ease nearly three years of sectarian and political tensions that almost dragged the country back into civil war. The move is giving a new look to a city where political posters and banners once greatly outnumbered advertising billboards. This year, several people were injured in battles that erupted along al-Maamoun Street in Beirut's mixed Sunni-Shiite neighborhood of Basta. The cause: Someone tore down a portrait of slain former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and his son Saad, both Sunni leaders. And last month, two people died in a gunfight between rival Christian groups over the hanging of a political banner in a village in north Lebanon. "What a relief," Assad Shami, an 80-year-old Shiite barber in Basta, said of the disappearing posters. "It is a positive step that defuses tensions and eliminates one of the causes of sectarian fights," said Mohammed Halawani, 55, a Sunni grocer.
The Muslim factions took down their posters simultaneously around Beirut at the start of the month, and political graffiti was cleaned off walls. The same deal is being negotiated for the city's suburbs, the airport highway and elsewhere in Lebanon. Some posters in Christian areas also are coming down.
Posters have historically been a marker of political rivalry in this country. During the 1975-90 civil war, they included the late Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser, Syrian President Hafez Assad, and PLO leader Yasser Arafat.
All three are now dead, and new factions have taken center stage, raising posters of their leaders and of their lieutenants killed in battles. The Sunni Hariris vied with Sheik Hassan Nasrallah of the Shiite movement Hezbollah. Pictures of Saudi King Abdullah, a Hariri ally, went up to counter portraits of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the late Shiite spiritual leader of Iran.
But the ubiquitous portraits have taken on greater weight since 2005, when the country was torn by a power struggle between pro- and anti-Syrian politicians — the former largely Sunni, the latter led by Hezbollah. Since the factions are mostly religion-based, the posters could be seen as claiming power for one group over another.A poster now gone showed Nasrallah and Shiite Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri over a Quranic verse reading, "Prepare for them with as much might as you can." The verse was intended to rally Muslims against foes in the early days of Islam, but some Sunnis saw it as calling for battle against them.
Many portraits of the Hariris carried the slogan, "Lebanon First," a dig at Hezbollah's ties to Syria and Iran.
In May, the Western-backed, anti-Syrian government tried to rein in Hezbollah, which responded by unleashing its gunmen. Gunbattles killed 81 people. To avert outright civil war, the factions agreed to create a national unity government, and embraced poster disarmament.
Not all the posters have gone — the deal does not include Christian areas — but for perhaps the first time in decades, Beirut's streets are not a jungle of divisive posters and banners.
Instead, pro-unity slogans are in vogue on al-Maamoun Street. "No to strife among Muslims" and "Yes to Muslim unity" says a large poster that replaced a portrait of the Hariris.
Shopkeeper Jamal Mekkawi is skeptical that peace can grow from poster removal. What's needed, he said, is a reconciliation meeting between Sunnis and Shiites — something that's still being negotiated. And with parliamentary elections a few months away, no one expects the portraits to stay down for good. Meanwhile, political loyalties still are advertised inside homes and shops — Nasrallah's picture hangs in Shami's barbershop.
The key is to keep those loyalties from spilling into street violence, said Kamal Khashab, a 70-year-old Shiite grocer.
"Faith is in the heart, not in street banners," he said.

We Must Protect Iraq's Christians
By Tariq Alhomayed
12/10/2008
Editor-in-Chief of Asharq Al-Awsat,
There seems to be an organized campaign targeting the Christian population of Iraq, which prompted the President of the Chaldean synod, the Archbishop of Kirkuk and Mosul, Louis Sako to remind Iraqis of the words of the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) regarding the rights of neighbors towards one another.
In an interview the Archbishop spoke of the importance of protecting Iraq's Christians, and touched on a serious issue which needs to be addressed. He said ‘What we have seen from the persecution and oppression is that it’s goals are political...those who target us are looking to make gains, either to force us to leave, or force us to ally with parties we do not wish to’. Archbishop Sako added that this violence is conducted behind ‘regional and internal plans which is a part of the chaos intended for Iraq, which regrettably has resulted in it turning into an arena of ethnic cleansing, making the situation complicated and overlapping.'
The question then is who are these parties that want the Iraqi Christians either to join them, or be murdered and displaced? We all know that Al Qaeda's criminal ideology is as far removed as possible for it to allay itself with Christians, or even grasp the game of politics for that matter.
And as Al Qaeda continues to torture Christians it is important to note that a Shi’ite collation of MPs has already rejected a draft law which protects the Christian minority. This is strange since Iraq is proud of its Assyrian and Babylonian heritage, and the Iraqi Church associates itself with them, calling itself the Chaldean Church of Babylon. The Shi’ite alliance voted against Article 50 which deals with the representation of minorities in the provincial council, contrary to the promise of Abdulaziz Al Hakim, the new law was incomplete and disruptive giving only the minimum of political rights to the Iraqi minorities, like the Chaldean Christians.
This is a strange paradox since it was Saddam Hussein’s regime that suppressed the powerful, but did not concern itself with minorities, while the first thing the democratic Iraq of today did was to disregard the rights of the minorities who do not carry arms, and are not affiliated with a particular clan or tribe to defend them.
Archbishop Sako confirmed that ‘Christians in Iraq do not have militias or tribes to defend them’ and added ‘I feel a sense of pain and injustice because innocent people are being killed and we do not know why. We cannot put together an armed force to protect us because this will not solve the problem, only exasperate it’.
The targeting of minorities, including the Iraqi Christians, will mean Iraq's disintegration and a breach of its internal structure, culturally, and politically, and who can guarantee that the matter will end with minorities, and moreover the targeting of minorities will open the gates of hell, which could easily be done, but not undone.
It is remarkable when taking into account the words of the Archbishop regarding the results of this aggressive oppression. He said ‘the population of Christians before 2003 was around eight hundred thousand, but the targeted violence against the Christian population in Mosul, Kirkuk, Baghdad and Basra has led to a mass-migration of some two hundred and fifty thousand. While the death-toll from the campaign of explosions, kidnappings and murder, targeted against the churches of Baghdad, Mosul and Kirkuk has led to the deaths of over two hundred’.
It is the duty of all Iraqis and not just its government, to protect the Iraqi Christians from murder and displacement, and all forms of oppression, particularly when taking into account that they have always been patriots and have never been apart of any alliance against their nation, and moreover they suffer more then any other Christian demographic in the Middle East.

What's Afoot in Syria?
By Claude Salhani
The Washington Times | Friday, October 10, 2008
Syria has long claimed it is tied to Lebanon in more ways than one. Over the last two weeks this statement has proven to be far more on the money than Syria would have ever imagined - or hoped for - as the wave of terrorist attacks that reared its ugly head in Lebanon has now exported itself to Syria.
Terrorist acts in Syria have been rare, but over the last two weeks a number of bombs have exploded in and around the Syrian capital. The government in Damascus remains tight-lipped, as always, when it relates to security matters; however, statements by President Bashar Assad allude to the origin of those attacks as Salafi groups based around the northern Lebanese port city of Tripoli.
Needless to say, Mr. Assad's statements have set off warning bells in Beirut as the pro-Western government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora looks with great trepidation at the statements from Damascus as well as the recent deployment of about 10,000 Syrian troops backed by armor and rotary-wing aircraft along the Lebanese border, even if the official government line is to tone down those fears.
Speaking to this reporter, a Lebanese government spokesman repeated what the Syrians have been saying, that Syrian troops have deployed to the border area to fight smugglers. Asked if there was reason to worry, the spokesman told this reporter that the "Syrians are free to deploy their forces on their side of the border." He added, however, that the government in Beirut has asked the Lebanese army to establish liaison with the Syrian military.
Lebanon has good reason to worry. Syria has long eyed Lebanon as a rebellious province rather than as an independent country. Damascus has yet to open an embassy in Beirut, despite promises by Mr. Assad to French President Nicolas Sarkozy last July when the Syrian president was brought out of years of isolation and invited by Mr. Sarkozy to attend the Bastille Day military parade in Paris. Yet, instead of one ambassador arriving in a shinning limousine, there are fears in Beirut that Damascus instead may dispatch several thousand envoys armed with AK-47s and traveling aboard T64 Soviet-era tanks.
How did the security situation deteriorate in Lebanon to this point? Things started going bad for Lebanon on two fronts. First is the growing strength of the Salafi movement in the country, but primarily in the north around the port city of Tripoli. This new development has Syria, which long has battled the Islamists, very worried.
Second is the growing power and influence of Hezbollah and absence of the Lebanese state's authority in the country's south. This has Israel very worried.
Washington is taking those fears seriously. The Pentagon is preparing to install X band radars in Israel's Negev Desert early next year. The X band radar, once fully installed, would give Israel 2 or even 3 times the range in which it could track inbound Iranian and Hezbollah missiles. It also would give Israel the possibility of attacking Iran and Hezbollah without too much worry about retaliation.
And if Syria and Israel can agree on any one thing, it most likely would be that the weakness of the Lebanese state and its inability to control its own internal security are detrimental to the security of both Syria and Israel.
Speaking at a conference in Geneva last month organized by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, Maj. Gen. Giora Eiland, a former director of Israel's National Security Council, told delegates that he advised that the Israeli Cabinet need not view negatively the re-entry of Syrian troops in Lebanon. His reasoning was that, with Syria in charge of security in Lebanon, Israel would have a return address to any terrorist activity coming its way across the Lebanese border. Damascus would be liable to retaliation and therefore would ensure that Hezbollah followed the new guidelines. A case in point is the calm that has existed on the Golan Heights since Syria and Israel signed a truce in 1973. Whereas with Hezbollah on its own in south Lebanon, retaliation, as demonstrated during the Second Lebanon War two summers ago, remains futile.
Having said that, Israel appears to be rearming its air force with new weapons designed to fight this new type of nonconventional war. Israel is acquiring 25 F-35 fighter jets made by Lockheed Martin. The plane comes in three versions: the conventional type, a carrier type and the VTOL - vertical take-off and landing. This advanced technology would allow Israel to deploy its aircraft relatively closer to the Lebanese border, to protect conventional airfields - a difficult task, given that conventional airstrips would be prone to Hezbollah rocket attack.
While a renewed Syrian incursion into Lebanon would be a setback in terms of establishing democracy in the Middle East, it would address one of Syria's and Israel's major problems. Of course, Syria might not act on its urge to cross that international frontier into Lebanon without at least a tacit green light from Washington. And just how likely is Washington to turn the other way, given that Mr. Siniora's government is considered pro-American?
Suffice it to remember one of Winston Churchill's famous lines: "We have no lasting friends, no lasting enemies, only lasting interests."
The Lebanese have been unable to consider themselves a unified nation, behaving instead as feuding clans. They have allowed outside political influences to give credence to another saying, from the Latin: "Divide et impera," or divide and rule.

Q & A with Lebanese Forces Chief, Samir Geagea
By Thair Abbas in Beirut
Asharq Al-Awsat Newspaper 08/10/08
Q) During the war, many things were committed. Why is the "crime" of the Lebanese Forces appear to be greater then others?
A) The crime of the Lebanese Forces is greater because they portrayed it as being so. The government that existed between 1992 and 2005 made the Lebanese Forces the central target. This was to the extent that the Lebanese Forces' officials [with the exception of] a very small minority were hunted down, investigated, and encroached upon for minute incidents related to the war, and these incidents were taken out of the natural context of the war, and placed within a criminal context. The crimes of the Lebanese Forces were exaggerated by authorities that had been pushing these incidents in this direction for 15 years. Let us not forget that I was subjected to five trials, and five circumstantial decisions and judgments were issued against me. Every trial continued for some year and a half, and while preserving the form required for the trial, they were in fact not real trials. They took place in the light of investigations, which we know how they were conducted. The ordinary citizen used to sit before the television watching one trial after another, with an increasing belief that there was what is called things committed by the Lebanese Forces. Because of all this, the crime of the Lebanese Forces appears to be greater, while history - not me - is the one that will judge that might be the smallest in the light of what took place during the Lebanese war. Worse than this is that everybody forgets that I assumed the leadership of the Lebanese Forces in 1986, and they hold me responsible for deeds that I was not at all present when they took place, while those who committed them became their allies.
Q) Who, for instance?
A) My weak point is this way in political and media dealings. Many of the politicians in Lebanon do not have something positive to present, as they do not offer either a plan of action or a political stance, and hence most of their political work consists of attacking the others and accusing them. I am very weak in this way of operation. I can say about others that I do, or do not agree with their stances and actions, but I do not get into naming names, despite the fact that these names exist. Some of them now died, but they have links to many major things that happened, but they became allies of those who today accuse me of these deeds and others. Anyway, I believe that the next step we ought to take is to form a fact-finding and general reconciliation commission, similar to that which was formed in South Africa after the collapse of the apartheid regime. Within the context of this commission facts and incidents will emerge, and on the basis of this reconciliation will take place.
Q) Why did you apologize if the crime of the Lebanese Forces was not the biggest?
A) This is because we want to lay the foundations for a sincere, serious, and responsible policy toward the people. During the war there were decisions that were taken along the days - my days and the days of others - which were not correct; in fact they were wrong. Therefore, regardless of what the other groups say, we ought to be sincere with ourselves. We ought to apologize for the negligence, mistakes, and things we committed, which were not proper, regardless of the behavior of others.
Q) Why apologize at this time?
A) I have adopted this way since I was released from prison. On a number of occasions I talked about this issue, whether in media interviews or press interviews. However, I have noticed that not many people have "picked up" the idea that was in the midst of other issues on which the light was more focused. Therefore, after four or five months of thinking, I decided to take this initiative within the context of a public occasion when all eyes would be focused on this speech, and in the presence of all media organs. I did not find any better occasion that the memorial mass of the martyrs of the Lebanese Forces, which is an annual occasion we have never stopped except under difficult and overwhelming circumstances. Thus, I set aside a special part for this, and I talked about it calmly and clearly so that our stance would be clear for everyone once and for all.
Q) You wanted to turn a new page?
A) Certainly, the timing was suitable, the party attendance at the celebration was large, and the media coverage was extensive.
Q) How was the apology received?
A) It was very good, contrary to what some people imagined. This apology was addressed to the Lebanese people and the human conscience through a mode of behavior that ought to be now adopted across the Middle East as a whole. Regardless of the politically motivated and intended criticism by individuals who do not understand the meaning of the stance I adopted, I have received good and positive reactions from the Lebanese at home and abroad. This is to the extent that I once met a Lebanese journalist who is working in the Gulf, and he said to me, "I have received what I was entitled to." When I asked him about the reason, he explained that he once was insulted at a military barrier when he was passing together with his wife during the war, and that despite the fact that he was a supporter of our political line, that incident remained a thorn in his side that was removed by the apology.
Q) In the light of the reconciliations that took place in the Islamic street among the sides of the former "quadripartite alliance," have you at any moment feared that this alliance might come back in the upcoming parliamentary elections?
A) Not for a single moment did I fear that the existing reconciliations would be an introduction for a new quadripartite alliance. This is because I know my allies in the 14 March Forces, I know how deeply they think, and I know their strategic and stage-by-stage aims. On the other hand, the field reconciliations that took place were not surprising after the events of 7 May. The demographic mixture in Beirut requires the representatives of the Future Trend, Hezbollah, and Amal Movement to sit down together. The same applies to the situation in Khaldah, Baysur, and Aliyah between Hezbollah and the Progressive Socialist Party after the tensions that took place, and the blood that was shed. Moreover, all the political statements, and what we know through our means, confirm that these are field reconciliations, and every team stresses that it is remaining within its alliances.
Q) Has the meeting, which took place recently between you and Deputy Walid Junblatt, removed the fears that Junblatt would "turn against" his allies?
A) The image I have has been free of fear since before the meeting. This is because we are in continuous touch, and the meetings between our two teams are continuing on a regular basis. The meeting that took place in Mirab was within the framework of these regular meetings, many of which take place away from the media eyes.
Q) Do you think it is possible to establish a comprehensive Christian reconciliation in the light of the existence of two contradictory projects on this arena?
A) Yes, there are two major projects, and neither we nor the team of General Michel Awn have hidden that there is a disparity between them. We invite the people to participate in the elections on their basis. The situation on the Christian arena is natural, and is normalized between all sides, with the exception of the Lebanese Forces and Al-Maradah Group. General Awn himself has said that there is no revenge between us, and that we reconciled when he visited me in prison, and when I visited him after my release. When we meet during the dialogs, this takes in a natural and amicable way. The only difference between us is the political disagreement. The existing tension with Al-Maradah Group has been reflected in a regrettable incident in Al-Kurah, which claimed casualties from both sides. Therefore, there is a need to establish reconciliation between the two sides. We have agreed immediately to the resolutions of the meeting, which was held under the auspices of the Maronite Association, and I am waiting for the allocation of the time and place to meet Minister Suleiman Franjiyah.
Q) Is there a possibility of meeting soon?
A) I am waiting for the reply of the Maronite Association. As for them, I believe that they do not object.
Q) It is rumored that Minister Franjiyah rejects the meeting?
A) This surprises me. As far as we are concerned, this is a procedural issue. The chairman of the Maronite Association (Joseph Tarbiyyah) has conveyed to me that Franjiyah has the same wish. I personally am ready, and I am waiting.
Q) It seems that the result of the elections in 2009 will be decided in the regions of Muslim majority. Do you think that you are capable of breaking the 70 percent share of the Christian vote achieved by General Awn in 2005?
A) Whatever happens, there will be no 70 percent shares. The results of the 2005 elections certainly will not be repeated on the Christian arena, because the picture has become different from that of 2005. The only question is about the extent of this difference.
Q) Why have you announced your abstention from becoming a candidate in the upcoming elections?
A) First, I do not have a natural tendency to assume official positions. There is another and more important reason, which is that we still are heavily involved in party work, and the circumstances have not yet allowed us to dedicate ourselves to the establishment of an aspired for party formulation, and to hold the first general congress of the party. This is due to the consecutive developments, and assassinations. The last time we decided to call for a general congress was in the spring of this year. We decided to open the door for joining in June 2008, and to hold the founding general congress in October, but the May events took place, and the party work rushed in another direction. After that came the Doha conference, the presidential elections, and the formation of the government. When I decide to assume a parliamentary or ministerial position, I have to perform my duties in full, and at the moment I cannot do this. However, in one way or another we will fight the elections by candidates in all constituencies.
Q) Will you have candidates in all constituencies?
A) We will have direct candidates in some regions, and will support our allies in other regions, specifically the candidates of the 14 March Forces.
Q) When will the next general congress of the Lebanese Forces convene?
A) It will convene after the parliamentary elections, because now all the efforts focus on preparing for these elections. These elections are the first ones we actually fight in all regions. This is because in the previous elections we were still a dissolved party, our leaders were being hunted down, and I was in prison.
Q) What about the Al-Shuf constituency?
A) The talk circulating about this constituency is not correct. Some people look at the events in a distorted way.
Q) There is talk about nominating National Liberal Party Leader Duri Sham'un as a candidate in Al-Shuf, which is the seat currently occupied by Deputy George Adwan, member of your bloc, and your deputy in the Lebanese Forces?
A) The world is big enough for all. There is no problem with Duri Sham'un. Some people are creating a problem that does not exist.
Q) Therefore, there will be a candidate for the Lebanese Forces and another for the National Liberals. This means that you will have to take some of the share of Deputy Junblatt?
A) Without getting into the details, I would like to assure you that the 14 March Forces will fight the elections under unified lists?
Q) What will happen if the 8 March Forces wins the elections?
A) We will go to them and congratulate them for this win. However, their win means that Lebanon will take a completely different direction.
Q) What do you mean?
A) The state will revert to the form that has existed since 1992. The strategic direction will be the return to the unity of fate and course with Syria, and the domestic situation will restore the form of the security regime.
Q) What will happen if the 14 March Forces wins?
A) First of all, I hope that they will congratulate us, but not in the same way they did during the past years. Our win will mean the confirmation of our national, popular, and parliamentary legitimacy, which we obtained in the 2005 elections. This will allow us to continue our procession in the same direction, which we have adopted since then. These elections are held on the basis of an electoral law in whose drafting everybody participated. Therefore, there is no longer an excuse for anyone to say that "we have stolen this legitimacy at a moment of time when everyone was distracted after the assassination of Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri." This success will show the 8 March Forces that there is no escape from the historic transformation which has started in 2005.
Q) What is the guarantee that this will happen? You had the parliamentary majority, but you were not able to govern?
A) Now, after all the security incidents they fabricated, they returned to the dialog, and to the arbitration of the people and not of the street. This is a state from which they will not escape easily. During the 2005 elections there were some mistakes by the 14 March Forces, but now we know these mistakes, and we know how to avoid them.
Q) Mistakes like what?
A) There were tactical mistakes; things that should not have happened, a quadripartite alliance that should not have taken place, and a government that should have been formed in a different way.
Q) Do you expect calm elections?
A) This is my hope. However, when the date of the elections is near, and when these people become certain that the situation is not suitable for them, I am afraid that they might stage something. We will continue to work toward the parliamentary elections whatever happened. Whoever tries non-peaceful methods will lose.
Q) What are your fears?
A) I fear that somewhere violent means might be used when they become certain of the nature of the situation on the ground. This will not dishearten us, and we will continue.