June 24/08
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing," (Edmund Burke, 17th century philosopher and author )
The free world is apparently turning a
blind eye to the threat to Lebanon, the land of the historic cedars, the
home of the great Phoenicians, and the unique mosaic and multi-cultural
country of the Middle East. This tragedy has been unfolding without a
decisive deterrent stance from the free world.
Lebanon, the land, entity and country, was
cited more than seventy two times in the Holy Bible with reference being
made to it of reverence, power, beauty, tranquility, peace and divinity.
Lebanon, referred to as the ‘Land of Milk and Honey’, has a deeply
rooted 7000 years of history, marked by freedom and tolerance.
Lebanon’s ancestors, the Phoenicians, were the architects and craftsmen
of the great Temple of King Solomon in Jerusalem. The ‘Temple of the
Cedars of God’, was constructed from the valuable, fragrant wood of the
Lebanon Mountains. These ancestors worked in tandem with the ancient
Jews and forged strong familial and cultural bonds. These seafarers
explored the whole world in their ships, trading culture in the form of
the alphabet, mythology, religion, knowledge in sciences and art and
other exotic goods for riches of gold, silver, gems and many other items
of value. In addition to the color purple, the great North Star, the
art of navigation, Lebanon has left history with the great men of
Hannibal the General, Astarte, Cadmus and Pythagoras.
More recently, Lebanon has given the world the
revered Christian saints of Charbel, Rafqa, Hardini, Yacoub and many
others.
Lebanon's "Cedar Revolution" is being
abandoned and its followers are being starved of independence, freedom,
sovereignty and peace. These words which hold much power are being
emptied to be mere rhetoric and hollow slogans in the face of the axis
of evil namely Syria, Iran and Hezbollah.
Lebanon is being forced through terrorism,
murder, and political intimidation into a subservient regime that is
modeled on the backward and repressive system imposed on the Iranian
people by the Shiite Mullahs, under what is known in Islam as,
"Wilayat al-Faqih." [Guardianship of the
Jurists]. Wilayat al-Faqih is a religious theology that is
divisive amongst the Muslims themselves. It is a bizarre, autocratic
concept created and tailored by the late Ayatollah Khomeini in the early
seventies. The basis of this system provides all the ruling powers and
authorities with unlimited vetoes on every aspect of life and governance
into the hands of one man, the Highest Shiite Imam, whose headquarters
is located in the Iranian city of Qom.
Hezbollah, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard proxy in Lebanon, has been
entrusted by the Iranian Mullahs to topple the Lebanese Free State and
erect in its place an Iranian satellite state, in order to complete the
sought after Shiite Crescent. This militant theocratic group fully
controls 40% of the Lebanese territories and has in effect established a
state within a state. They have been devouring the country piece by
piece in a well thought out diabolical plan. Last month's attempted
armed coup was the straw that broke the camel's back that put the entire
majority of Lebanese and with them the moderate Arab countries, Israel
and the entire free world at the front step of Iran's dreadful and
criminal scheme.
So what did the standard bearers of democracy, the free world and the
spineless Arab countries do? Sadly and pitifully, they threw to the
media more empty slogans of support for Lebanon and weak condemnation,
empty of substance.
They did not move a single finger while the leaders of the Cedar
Revolution, the democratically elected government and pro-western
politicians were rounded up and herded to the Arab Emirate of Qatar with
Hezbollah's guns pointed to their heads. All the while, predominantly
Sunni, west Beirut, remained occupied and under siege by Hezbollah, the
Iranian-Syrian Army in Lebanon.
One may wonder why Lebanon had rejected the Israeli call for direct
negotiations last week. This call was declared officially twice in a bid
to reach a peace agreement between the two neighboring countries?
The answer is simple; the Lebanese government could make an independent
and patriotic decision on the Israeli call because it is held captive
and hostage to the Axis of Evil. Hezbollah is like a cancer that has
penetrated and crept into all Lebanese governmental institutions from
the Army to the Airport to various primary ministries. The Hezbollah
state was erected and given a free hand during the devastating Syrian
occupation that lasted for almost 27 years and ended in 2005.
The Western world and in particular Europe, Canada, Australia and the
United States, need to prioritize as primary the Hezbollah dilemma
before this cancerous militia lands and spreads in their own sovereign territories.
Proof of this infiltration can recently be seen in the report of
Hezbollah operatives canvassing the Israeli embassy and various other
unidentified locations in Canada! They need to understand that Hezbollah
is a serious threat to their national security and interests not only in
the Middle East, but in the whole world. Based on this terrifying
reality, they need to act immediately.
These beacons of freedom and democracy need not fool themselves by hoping that the UN Resolutions or the Lebanese government will handle Hezbollah's weapons and tame its schemes that aim to topple the Lebanese democratic system. The Western world ought to immediately eradicate and finish Hezbollah's military capabilities by all means available to them. Needless to say that the UN Resolutions will remain toothless, ineffective and useless unless the needed full scale military power backs fully their implementation.
Hezbollah is devouring Lebanon piece by piece and if the Western world
does not come to the rescue of the Lebanese people, Lebanon will very
soon be lost as an independent and free country and transformed into an
Iran satellite state.
Hezbollah is not a Lebanese party by any criteria, but rather a foreign
army in Lebanon. Its decision-making process, financing, ideology,
training, supplies and weapons all come from the Iranian Revolutionary
Guards headquarters and leadership. It has been well documented by
several informed resources that Iran annually pays Hezbollah billions of
dollars. This group was founded in Lebanon by the Iranian mullahs in
1982 and it is worth mentioning that Hezbollah's main mission was and
still is to export, advocate and spread the Khomeini religious ideology
to all Middle Eastern countries. Hezbollah's Iranian mission has never
been a secret and each and every Lebanese is reminded of this Iranian
agenda daily with signs of Hezbollah’s divinity on every street.
Hezbollah is purported to be the most dangerous terrorist organization
in the world. The organization is trained, heavily armed and very well
equipped. It is operationally supported by Syria and heavily funded by
Iran. In fact, Hezbollah is so dangerous in terms of its global reach
and influence, that the US Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff
recently warned that the Hezbollah organization “makes Al Qaeda look
like a minor league team.”.”(according to military analyst W. Thomas
Smith Jr.)
Needless to say that force and deterrence is the only language that
Hezbollah and its masters in both Iran and Syria understand.
And so the question remains; is the West ready to finally face with
force and firmness that premier terrorist organization of the twenty
first century?
Elias Bejjani
Chairman for the Canadian Lebanese Coordinating Council (LCCC)
Human Rights activist, journalist & political commentator.
Spokesman for the Canadian Lebanese Human Rights Federation (CLHRF)
E.Mail
phoenicia@hotmail.com
LCCC Web
Site http://www.10452lccc.com
CLHRF Website http://www.clhrf.com