The Lebanese Sovereign Current
By: Charles Jalkh
August 10/06
During its journey towards a better and freer humanity in Lebanon, the Sovereignty Flame was carried by many patriot arms who paid dear prices in Lebanon and the Diaspora in their struggle for Free Lebanon. Throughout our modern history from the first republic, the Free Lebanese who defended it, unto Michel Aoun, and then finally to the great coalition of the Cedars Revolution; the Flame of Free Lebanon persisted across the ages and transcended all the temporary politicians and servants. Free Lebanon is the New World example nation that we wish to build. One based on the natural rights of the human being, on democracy, and on a warm and compassionate peace with our neighbors.
We have watched with scrutiny the rise and decline of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) in Lebanon and the Diaspora where many independent Free Lebanon media and political organizations distanced themselves from the FPM due to its intimate relationship with Hezbollah and its unwarranted truce with the Syrian dictatorship. Many organizations are today very critical today of the FPM stand on most national issues.
We do of course acknowledge and honor the historical stands of PM Michel Aoun between 1989 and 2005. His energy was inspirational to many Diaspora organizations which joined ranks together working for Free Lebanon. It is true, that in that historical era, PM Aoun was a symbol of our resistance to the Syrian occupation. We also acknowledge the FPM’s fresh injection into the Lebanese political arena a modern secular, progressive, and democratic party with internal elections, accountability, balance of decision making between a legislative ad executive bodies, and for being open to all Lebanese regardless of gender, religious, or ethnic background. This may be a good example to the other aging Lebanese parties and feudal groupings to follow. But no one person or party owns the Flame of Free Lebanon, we are all servants carrying it through a limited portion of the journey.
But the Michel Aoun that we knew has become a stranger to us since 2005. The single but most important point in our disappointment with the FPM is that we have witnessed its abandonment of the struggle for a Free, Sovereign, and Independent Lebanon by declaring that the conflict with the Syrian dictatorship over as of April 2004, ignoring the works of the Syrian murder machines which continued to assassinate and bomb us through their intelligence agents on the ground. For an organization that prides itself with “strategic thinking”, the FPM seems to have gone blind to the fact that Hezbollah is simply and purely a Syrian/Iranian agent in the Lebanese body.
Furthermore, the FPM has even allied itself electorally with what itself used to call; collaborators of the Syrian occupation, such as Michel Murr, Sleiman Frangier, Talal Arslan, and the Syrian Nationalist Socialist party.
The FPM even dropped its previously-unwavering support for Security Council resolution 1559, and drew closer to Hezbollah, and thus exited itself from the track of a rapid Peace Treaty with Israel, in other words, delayed the end of the conflict.
Its stance may have protected the national coexistence between Shiites and Christians, but at the same time, may have emboldened Hizbollah into further intransigence.
The Free Lebanese come from all the colors of the Lebanese family. We have fought many wars for the Sovereignty and Independence of democratic Lebanon. The Flame was carried by many serving hands in its journey towards a better and freer humanity in Lebanon.
We bid farewell with sadness to Prime Minister Michel Aoun who fought an honorable historical struggle between 1989 and 2005 for Free Lebanon.
We have seen him however, since 2005, lay down the Flame and leave the stage to the other founders of the Cedars Revolution, namely; the Socialist Progressive Party, the Future Current, the Kornet Shehwan gathering, the Lebanese Forces party, as well as progressive members of the Shiite community.
The Lebanese Sovereign Current lives.