The International Tribunal is Up-and-Coming despite Tradeoffs and Assassinations
Raghida Dergham Al-Hayat - 24/11/06//

Istanbul - The train of the International Tribunal has begun to roll and will not be stopped by more assassinations, or ambitions for tradeoffs with the US in Iraq, or the conspiracies to overthrow the legitimately elected government in Lebanon, or even a civil war sparked by Damascus and its allies in Lebanon. Those behind the 15 terrorist crimes, the last of which was the assassinations of Lebanon's Minister of Industry, Pierre Gemayel, have actually condemned themselves to death. Their trial is undoubtedly imminent, even if they blocked Lebanon's sanctioning of the international tribunal, either by the assassination of cabinet ministers or through the president, who is still at the helm of power thanks to Syrian-imposed constitutional amendments during the phase of Syrian hegemony over Lebanon.

The United Nations Security Council has endorsed the blueprint of the International Tribunal and its statute, both of which have been approved by the legitimate Lebanese government following its expanded negotiations with the UN Secretariat General. This constitutes a historical precedence and a monumental achievement. However, even if that arrangement was to fail, the Security Council will act again to set up an international tribunal of a different character and type, and which will not require the approval of the Lebanese government, as the Security Council will not allow the internationally-led investigation fall to the ground or be rocked back and forth by different wars and repeated political assassinations aimed at evading accountability.

If the trial model implemented in Sierra Leone was doomed because it required the approval of its government, the Yugoslav model for trying war criminals and which does not require political permission from anyone still holds.

Let the innocent recall. Let politicians take bold decisions and drink from the 'poisonous chalice', which is the salvation of Lebanon and its people. Let the people of Lebanon stop pretending that there is always room for maneuvering in the gray area, for it is time to choose between white or black, where it will not be possible to reconcile 'pro-tribunal' with 'anti-tribunal', or between those "in favor" or "against" the return of Syrian hegemony over Lebanon; or between those "in favor" or "against" a democratic Lebanon from which the Arab renaissance will rise and through which it will pass - not a Lebanon led by Iran to join its revolutionary ideology, hostile to modernity.

Arab masses that see in Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a model of leadership and courage in defying the US are the same that yesterday saw in al-Qaeda's leader, Osama bin Laden, a model of 'machismo', that appealed to their sentiments and brought them popularity, since they would achieve what they were asked to do themselves. They are the same lazy masses that watched Iraq being oppressed by Saddam Hussein, calling their attitude an act of Arabism and nationalism. They are the same masses that declined to make real, tangible and sustainable objections to the US invasion of Iraq while it was in the making. Had these masses acted accordingly, they would have surely been able to influence US plans.

To this kind of Arab people, since not all of them belong to this shameful category, we say today from Lebanon, and from wherever the Lebanese people stand: "We do not want your sympathy or your opinion from now on. If you opt for resistance against Israel, go ahead and carry it to the longer and easier Syrian front. Keep your hands off Lebanon. It has already paid a heavy price, and was truly the workshop for Arab thought and capability of democracy, nationalism, renaissance and any other kind of experiment. We shall no longer shed our blood to pay for your inability, as we shall no longer defend you in international fora. You have chosen the revolutionary Iranian model of Ahmadinejad and Osama bin Laden, while our choice is anything but that. Go ahead and teach your children hatred, lying and bending; we will teach our children modern thinking, freedom of choice, respect for the opinion of others, and civil opposition away from bloodshed, militias, incitement and arms."

The Arab masses are certainly divided, just like their leaderships and countries. At this juncture, there is no longer room to pretend that things are fine between the two main camps.

We must also say to the State of Qatar, which holds an Arab seat at the UN Security Council, that it should not exploit Lebanon for any of its ends, for Lebanon is not a commodity, and its people shall not accept turning its cause into a trump card by anyone.

It is Qatar's right to maintain the best relations with Israel, politically and commercially. It has the right to allow the US to have on its soil its most important military base in the region. But it is not proper for Qatar to exploit popular Arab sentiments to absorb the rage of the masses, or to allow for media incitement and political mobilization in the service of extremism in order to downgrade the intelligence of these masses. Should Qatari policy-makers believe that they can always succeed in performing on the trapeze, they must then keep in mind that the danger of falling is an intrinsic part of the adventure. We hope the Qatari leaders will opt for the safety and moderation of their country and for constructive roles in the Arab region and internationally so that they would become pioneers of goodness and reform, and rescue Iraq, Palestine, and Lebanon from the claws of the destructive plans made against them.

The Lebanese, Palestinian, and Iraqi issues have become intertwined by virtue of those who feed the flames in these countries and impede the solutions to these issues. Iran and Israel are converging by virtue of their common interest in dwarfing the Arabs and exploiting their issues through destruction and fragmentation.

Today, Palestine is paying the price for the Iranian-Israeli truce, denied by Ahmadinejad, who pretends he will liberate Palestine if the Muslims pay him homage for his taking the reigns of the Palestinian Cause and reclaiming Jerusalem.

Today, Iraq is paying the price of Iran's exploitation of its bloodbaths, after the neo-conservatives avenged Iran by carrying out their plan to invade Iraq, to the benefit of both the Iranians and Israelis.

Today, Lebanon is paying the price for proxy wars that Iran has sought for numerous reasons; among them, dodging accountability for policies and terrorist aspirations in which Iran's friends, associates, and allies have been implicated.

Iran's ambitions, however, go beyond these hot spots. Iran has ideological ambitions molded in well thought out strategies which it wants to become a school of thought in order to impose a gradual hegemony over the Arab and Islamic region through the politicization of religion. The defeat of democracy is a fundamental aspect of such Iranian strategy, so is the defeat of reformist tendencies and denying women their rights with the aim of subjugating them and so transforming half of the Islamic societies into 'appendices'.

In the first-ever meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Conferences held in Istanbul this week to discuss the issue of feminism, and on the sidelines of the conference, Ibtissam Aziz, an Iraqi physician, said the democratic reprieve in Iraq has improved opportunities for women, but added that Iraqi women are today caught between the "democratic reprieve and the increasingly dominant religious tide."

Aziz, imprisoned by Saddam Hussein for six years for treating a dissident, and who chose to wear the veil, stressed her opposition to women wearing the veil out of fear or oppression. She said Iraqi women "will not follow the Iranian model; we are even 'allergic' to this model and reject Iran's provincial control in Iraq, and have strong reservations about the provincial concept out of concerns of Iran's domination of these provinces on the account of their Shiite composition."
She added: "Iran is not the origin of the Shiite sect in Iraq, and it is the Iranians who should be affiliated to us, not the other way around." She reiterated: "Do not fear for the women of Iraq, for Iraqi women are strong and resourceful."

A member of the Palestinian delegation to the conference, Nagat Abu Bakr, who is also a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council and a religiously devout woman, also spoke on the sideline of the conference about the "negative influence" exerted by the Hamas women on the progress of the Palestinian Cause. She reiterated the importance of "steering clear from a politically motivated religiousness," as it hurts and undermines the accomplishments of causes, rather than serving them.

The benefit from such remarkable stances exceeded the basic aims for holding such conferences, and due to the historical significance of the Organization of The Islamic Conferences organizing them, more and more is being expected from the organization, as Islam is on the political and strategic agenda in many regions and continents. OIC Secretary General Professor Akmal al-Din Ihsan Oglo fully understands the challenges and expectations. It is he who radically transformed the OIC to its new status, shaking it out of its slumber and neglect, enabling it to respond to events and influence them, and to make it at once a link and player in international politics. OIC became a destination for the UN and the EU for counseling on political issues, from Dafur, Iraq, Palestine, Lebanon, Somalia to whatever may come next, after the failure of the dialogue between civilizations and religions.

Accordingly, an extremely important role is being played by the OIC in identifying and defining the challenges faced by the Islamic World, from human rights and the revision of its charter to dealing with the problem of Muslim minorities in Thailand and the Philippines and mediation efforts carried by Oglo behind the scenes as he brings together divergent opinions in a prelude to reaching understanding that would turn confrontations into reforms.

No doubt, the significance of the OIC secretary general's call to "free the religious element from the futile entanglement with solutions" and his rejection of the Iraqi model, unanimously adopted by leaders of Iraqi sects to use religion as a pretext or cover, is of equal importance to the significance of the broader dimension provided by the 57 member States of the OIC to any political issue, from Palestine, to Iraq, to Lebanon.

This freeing of the religious element is a key part of the ideological battle in the Arab and Muslim region as a whole. Accordingly, the solutions to what is taking place in the hot spots of this region are becoming increasingly connected, and all point to Iran.

The Islamic Republic holds the means of setting ablaze the battle fronts in Iraq, Palestine and Lebanon. But at the same time, it does not have exclusive access to the means that could extinguish the blaze in these countries, because it seeks its own satisfaction and pursues its regional and international ambitions.
The Syrian leadership, for its part, chose to ally itself with Iran, as it sees in Iran its means of escaping accountability and a safety net to cushion its fall. The Syrian leadership has run out of tricks, as it has exhausted all of its other options. It is in a race against time to seize the opportunity it believes will arise from the Iraqi situation to forge a possible deal with the US. This opportunity would make it immune against accountability, especially to the International Tribunal.

This leadership reestablished diplomatic ties with Iraq, while at the same time refusing to do the same with Lebanon because it opposes the demarcation of the Syrian-Lebanese border and the recognition of Lebanon as an independent State beyond its control.

But all this is in vain, for the International Tribunal is up-and-coming, despite Damascus' willingness to barter with anything or any Cause in exchange for aborting the tribunal.

The tribunal is imminent and will try all those behind the terrorism ruling the Lebanese arena through politically motivated assassinations and murderous tactics aimed at overturning the verdicts of the tribunal.
Nonetheless, the tribunal is imminent and will try both the leaders and subordinates connected with all the past and future assassinations alike.

President Emil Lahoud now has no choice but to abdicate before it is too late, for now it is his last chance to submit an urgent resignation that he could later claim was for the good of Lebanon.
Since Lebanon is on the verge of a difficult and decisive stage, perhaps it is also time for the Lebanese leaders to start thinking of a revival for their sake, and for Lebanon and their popular base of supporters. By taking such a step, these leaders would later be able to announce that they had opted for their country's interests instead of Syria's, or the ambitions of Iran and Israel's benefiting from each and every war, battle, or politically motivated assassinations it orders in Palestine, or the assassinations of Arabs or Persians in Lebanon.

It is high time to embark on what is new and qualitatively radical before the devastation that will precede the tribunal. Accordingly, the spiritual Christian leaders in Lebanon must think of what is new and qualitatively radical. It is high time for the Patriarch, Cardinal Nasrallah Sfeir to forego his tendency to strike balances, since these balances have become destructive. It is high time for Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah to drink from the beautiful Lebanese cup of revival, for he holds in his hands the key to spare it needless wars, the outcome of which would only be the death of the innocent. For in such wars there are no winners. There are no winners in the battles for power and hegemony through assassinations. It is trial time, and the train of the International Tribunal has left the station. It is never going to turn back.
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