sign in sign up
<<
Home , Boutros Harb, Detlev Mehlis, Elias Hrawi, Elias Sarkis, Elie Hobeika, Gabriel Murr

THE POLITICS AND LIBERATION OF By Etienne Sakr (Abu Arz)*

For 30 years, political events in Lebanon were dominated by Syrian occupation until 2005, when the Syrian army withdrew under international pressure. Yet the national future of Lebanon remains clouded in doubt and tension, as acts of terror against anti-Syrian elements continue, the March "" is stymied, and the country totters between freedom and political paralysis and breakdown.

Events in Lebanon in the first half of 2005 Lebanese/Maronite-Palestinian fighting in altered the political state of affairs and .3 concerning 's long occupation of that By June 1976, Syria also sent its own country. Yet the outcome of these events is army into Lebanon to dominate the country still unclear and fluid. This article analyzes and subdue it to the will of . the history of the Lebanon issue and Manipulating the complex fighting scenario prospects for creating a new, more in Lebanon, Syrian-Palestinian cooperation equitable and stable order given the against the Christian community became dramatic changes which have taken place. the major motif. For example, in February 1980, the Syrians turned over the western STAGES AND METHODS IN SYRIAN area from Damur to the Zahrani to the PLA, OCCUPATION OF LEBANON along with heavy military equipment.4 On The hegemonic notion of Greater Syria July 20, 1976, following the launching of provides the ideological and historic Syria's direct military intervention in underpinnings for Damascus's drive to Lebanon, Hafiz al-Asad gave an historic eliminate Lebanese independence.1 Among speech in which he declared that its tools in realizing this goal was the "[throughout] history, Syria and Lebanon Saiqah Palestinian faction established in have been one country and one people"--a 1968. In April 1969, in the midst of tension political melody that would continue to between the Lebanese government and accompany this foreign conquest.5 Palestinian forces, Syria moved several The Lebanese National Movement hundred Saiqah fighters to the border with (LNM), consolidated under the leadership Lebanon. 2 This was a mere prelude to the of the Jumblatt clan in 1976, became December 1975 Syrian decision to move another vehicle for the Syrian penetration of both Saiqah forces and the Qadisiyya and Lebanon. A combination of leftist Hittin brigades of the Palestine Liberation personalities and groups--including Army (PLA) to the Baka Valley and north Ba'thists and Communists--sought to Lebanon in order to contain and regulate exploit the Palestinian insurgency in and the chaos emerging from against Lebanon for their own domestic political ambitions.6 However, Kamal

86 Review of International Affairs, Vol. 9, No. 4 (December 2005)

The Politics and Liberation of Lebanon

Jumblatt, an aristocratic landlord in socialist he opposed. This included the garb, wanted Lebanon to remain of President-elect Bashir Gemayel in independent: "We do not want to be a September 1982 and that of President Rene satellite state," he wrote to Asad.7 In Moawed in November 1989. response, Syrian operatives were sent to Syrian control over Lebanon was assassinate Jumblatt in 1977, and the LNM comprehensive in three respects. First, by lost its independence, submitting to Asad the 1990s, the Syrians had achieved an and becoming a lever of Damascus against exceptional evell of domestic pacification, the Christian population. Its traditional with hardly any expressions of political platform included a demand to redistribute opposition and little popular street protest. power away from the Christian This was due to the flight of political communities in favor of the Muslim and figures abroad and also due to Syria's policy Druze communities, to equalize regional of physical elimination of anyone who government expenditures and investments, dared challenge the absolute rule of the and to move toward a secular non-sectarian Asads. The of Gemayel, political system. Kamal's son, Walid, led Shaykh Hassan Khalid, Dany Chamoun, as the LNM and its core party element, the well as those of activists Progressive Socialist Party. Ramzy Irani and Pierre Boulos The mechanism of the Arab Deterrent demonstrated that point. Force (ADF), as proposed by the Arab Second, the Syrians were very adept in League at the October 1976 Riyadh and masking Lebanon with a veneer of normal Cairo conferences, became another mode social, political, and cultural life. Beirut for Syria's emerging domination of bustled, the radio blasted, and hotels were Lebanon. Ending hostilities and collecting full. However, underneath the surface, the weapons, in addition to supervising Lebanese lived in fear of voicing their Lebanese-Palestinian relations, were the opinions. A large enough number of high- ADF's primary purposes. Syrian forces profile willingly served as an were the overwhelming military elite front to hide the national infirmity. component, and so the ADF legitimized Among senior Lebanese Forces Syria's presence on Lebanese soil in pan- personalities, gave approval Arab dress. Thereafter, the Syrians subdued to the Ta'if Accord, crossed the leftists, Muslims, Druze, , the lines from his connection to and Christian camp, each according to become a Syrian collaborator, and Fouad Syrian interests and timing.8 Syria's Malek ultimately succumbed to line up with creeping expansion became the the Syrians. Other well-known Maronites-- fundamental political reality in Lebanon. , Carlos Edde, Nayla Moawed, Already in 1976, Asad had established and Robert Ghanem--followed suit when his sway over Lebanon, which enabled him they made the pilgrimage to Damascus in to impose , then-governor of the 2004 in order to seek Bashar Asad's support Central Bank, as the president. The for their presidential ambitions. Adept Chamber of Deputies met on April 10, Syrian cooptation of Lebanese politicians 1976. Those present unanimously agreed to broadcast a message of normalcy and amend the constitution in order to move up accommodation across the national and the election and then voted to make Sarkis international airwaves. president.9 Asad became both the source of Third, Syria did allow the minimal political power and the terminator of those opposition to act as an escape valve for

Middle East Review of International Affairs, Vol. 9, No. 4 (December 2005) 87

Etienne Sakr (Abu Arz)

Lebanese grievances. Therefore, when were audible, such as that of the late Albert Member of Parliament Fares Soueid Mukheiber in the Chamber of Deputies. A insisted in an April 2004 newspaper striking example of election interference interview that Syria should withdraw all its concerned the independent-minded Gabriel troops from Lebanon, not a political ripple Murr, brother of , minister of was noticeable.10 the interior and a Syrian ally. He defeated Finally, the Syrians were very adept at his Syrian-supported opponent (Michel's preventing any international pressure daughter and Gabriel's niece, Myrna) in a against their policy. No global protest to by-election for a legislative seat in the Metn Syrian occupation of Lebanon was heard region of Mount Lebanon in June 2002.13 for over 25 years. Yet within days the election results were overturned and Myrna Murr was declared Military & Security the victor. Later, the Lebanese authorities The Lebanese national army was under closed down 's television absolute Syrian control. In an interview in station, sending scores of people into the summer of 2004, Syria's Prime unemployment. Minister, Naji Otri, defined Syria's grip over Lebanon--its political this situation as "total coordination between personnel and government decisions-- the Lebanese and Syrian armies."11 Syria's began in 1976 and continued through 2005. military presence was felt even in the In the parliamentary election period of outlying regions of Lebanon, and its September 2000, had intelligence surveillance agencies charged Syria with maintaining this system penetrated throughout society--both urban by sowing discord among Lebanese and rural. Telephone-tapping and communities, though forecasting that widespread use of informers spread a net of Syrian intervention could not last. He said, fear throughout the country. "It is not normal that [the Syrians] intervene Hundreds of Lebanese citizens were everywhere, in the labor unions, in public abducted. Among them, many were life, at the level of the press, and in the tortured, imprisoned, and transferred to the name of security."14 notorious Syrian Mezze prison, while others The eminent rector of the Universite de were sent to the Palmyra prison in the St. Joseph in Beirut, Selim Abou, explained desert, never to be heard from again. The how Syrian rhetoric was the reverse of 1992 abduction of well-known Lebanese reality. In this system of doubletalk, Syria Forces fighter Boutros Khawand was one "defends" rather than occupies Lebanon, well-known instance of Syria's methods.12 whereas were the Lebanese army to replace With five Syrian detention facilities from Hizballah along Israel's border, this would Tripoli in the north to Anjar in the west, the be said to serve Israel's interests rather than image of Lebanon as one big prison was manifest Lebanon's sovereign rule. The hardly an imaginary notion. Syrian presence was constantly justified by the formula that it is "legal, necessary and Political & Judicial temporary."15 In 2002, Selim Abou noted, The entire Lebanese political system "There was a time when our [army] officers was subjugated as well. Elections and the used to specialize in and in the choice of officials were largely in Syrian . For a decade, they have been hands, though a few independent voices completing their training in Syria with, in

88 Middle East Review of International Affairs, Vol. 9, No. 4 (December 2005)

The Politics and Liberation of Lebanon addition, a course in Ba'thist instrument of Syria's grip on Lebanon and indoctrination."16 charged political opponents of Syria's Damascus was the locus of power in control and occupation--including the Lebanon. In October 2003, for example, a present author--with crimes against the steady stream of political traffic to state. Calls for an independent judiciary Damascus included Prime Minister Rafiq expectedly went unheeded. Col. Ghazi Hariri and Deputy Prime Minister Issam Kana'an, the strongman who managed the Fares, who traveled to Bashar Asad. Hariri occupation regime for many years, was again went to the Syrian capital in January known to send orders regularly to the 2004 to announce the goal of "full judges. integration on the economic level between the two countries."17 Commander of the Society & Economics Lebanese Army, General , Syria restricted free expression of arrived in April 2004. MP Robert Ghanem political opinion in the media, the also beseeched Bashar Asad in June 2004.18 universities, and "the street." Intimidated, Syria never recognized Lebanon's the press was careful not to antagonize the independence from 1946, refusing to ruling regime and cross the"red lines" of establish diplomatic relations or to what was forbidden to say or discuss. exchange ambassadors. In 1950, when Closing seven newspapers and one Lebanon was a free country, it rejected magazine in West Beirut in 1991, and economic integration with Syria. However, arresting journalists--notably Pierre Atallah from the 1990s, it became enmeshed in the before his subsequent escape to Europe-- economic embrace of Syria. Thus was Syria's way to censor and subdue the imperialism and colonialism functioned media. The 1980 assassination of Riyad under the guise of a shared nationalism. At Taha, president of the Lebanese Press the UN, Walid Maalouf, a member of the Association who had declared that 90 per- U.S. delegation to the who cent of the support the is of Lebanese extraction, saw that Lebanese Army rather than the ADF and Lebanese diplomats only acted when Syrian Army, signified the strangulation of ordered to do so by Syrian counterparts.19 the written word. Books from abroad were Lebanese collaborators mouthed Syrian banned.23 policy as if it were an authentic expression To silence opposition voices, only pro- of Lebanese views and interests. Speeches Syrian figures received licenses to operate a and newspaper articles regularly called for broadcasting station; other stations an end to U.S. occupation of and Israeli prudently exercised self-censorship. occupation of Palestine without ever Expectedly, Hizballah's al-Manar television mentioning a word regarding the Syrian network broadcast with full Syrian occupation of Lebanon.20 In May 2004, approval. By contrast, the shutting down of Lebanese Foreign Minister even MTV television in September 2002 was an protested American sanctions imposed on act of arbitrary censorship in the country. Syria for its occupation of Lebanon, which The Syrians exploited the Lebanese he said interfered with the "continuous and economy in order to launder illegal monies, deep coordination between the two sisterly by flooding the labor pool with migrant countries, Syria and Lebanon."21 Hariri Syrian workers, and by dumping cheap expressed similar sentiments at the time.22 Syrian products in the markets. Under The military courts served as an Syrian occupation, Lebanon accumulated a

Middle East Review of International Affairs, Vol. 9, No. 4 (December 2005) 89

Etienne Sakr (Abu Arz) national debt of more than $20 billion. mandate by three years through a Another development in recent years was constitutional amendment. The United mass foreign Arab purchase of properties in States, organizations,25 Lebanon. Investors from , the and the , openly opposed United Arab Emirates, and other Arab this step which flaunted Syria's absolute countries acquired 841,506 sq. meters of control. The Church's bishops convened land in Lebanon in 2003--a new record. In under Patriarch Sfeir and issued a forthright the traditional Christian Maronite area of statement on September 1, 2004, Bikfaya, Kuwaitis secured a large stretch of complaining that Syria, "gives orders, real estate.24 appoints leaders, organizes parliamentary The Arabization of Lebanon in its and other elections, elevates and drops foreign policy, the Syrianization of whoever it wants… interferes in Lebanon in its domestic ambiance, and the [Lebanon's] administration, judiciary, Islamization of Lebanon in its cultural economy, and particularly politics."26 environment, threaten to eradicate the Nonetheless, on September 3, 2004, 96 historic identity of the ancient Lebanese of 128 parliamentary deputies approved the people. Its Christian character may be necessary amendment to Article 49 of the dissolved and its liberal enterprising spirit Lebanese Constitution that limits the numbed. When the Lebanese government presidential office-holder to a single six- agreed to issue a naturalization decree that year term. , editor of Al- awarded Lebanese nationality to 350,000 Nahar in Beirut, described the maneuver as foreigners, mainly Syrian Muslims, it was the "crucifixion of democracy." Other clear that Syria sought not only to control or dissenting domestic Lebanese voices were exploit Lebanon, but also to eliminate its also audible. Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri collective identity and existence. Lebanon, resigned in protest. The Lebanese Forces always the least "Arab" of the Arab states, Party opposed Lahoud's regime because it was an irritable challenge to the integrity of had turned the country into a "police the very notion of an Arab World. state."27 Walid Jumblatt and his Democratic Gathering faction as well as the Christian THE LAHOUD PRESIDENTIAL Qornet Shehwan group expressed their CONTROVERSY opposition to the Lahoud extension.28 As an The summer 2004 presidential elections act of protest, two hundred journalists from in Lebanon provide a good example of how various Beirut newspapers signed a petition the Syrian-dominated system worked near at the Journalists' Syndicate in Beirut its end. was to finish his term against the amendment. in November. However, the Syrian regime In contrast, the pro-Syrian al-Safir had procrastinated between choosing a explained Syria's goal as maintaining successor or extending Lahoud's presidency stability and political continuity in as it had done in 1995 when it extended the Lebanon.29 Former Prime Minister Salim tenure of President , his al-Hoss commented that the United States predecessor. Meanwhile, Lebanese opposed the constitutional amendment "not Maronite politicians visited Damascus to in defense of Lebanon's national interests, discuss with Bashar Asad their chances of but in order to exert diplomatic pressure on winning the highest office. In late August, Syria."30 Allies of Lahoud and the Syrians the Syrians decided to extend Lahoud's voiced support for the amendment, among

90 Middle East Review of International Affairs, Vol. 9, No. 4 (December 2005)

The Politics and Liberation of Lebanon them , head of the pro- Palestinians destabilized the delicate Syrian Phalange Party; Transportation political and social balance in Lebanon, in Minister ; and Labor Minister 1976 the Saudis mediation legitimized and leader the Syrian Social National Party Syria's military control of Lebanese land by Assaad Hardan. Hizballah, the militant establishing the Arab Deterrent Force as a Shi'a party, stated approvingly that cover for Syrian control. Washington Lahoud's name had always been associated praised Syria's role in Lebanon as with the national resistance against Israel.31 constructive, while coordinating with Saudi Of special interest was the joint Arabia the regional Arab balance between communique issued by the most senior and Syria.38 Muslim religious personalities calling for The United States thereby accepted the free political elections. The Sunni spiritual deterioration of Lebanon's independence, leader and mufti of Lebanon, Muhammad even proposing Christian resettlement Rashid Qubbani, and the official Shi'a abroad.39 On the other hand, Israel's spiritual leader Shaykh Abd al-Amir invasion of Lebanon in June 1982-- Qabalan, vice-president of the Higher Shi'a designed to destroy the PLO as a military Council, stressed the importance of force--produced an opportunity to change respecting the constitution and allowing the the situation in Lebanon. With Israel, election results to reflect "the will of all having radically altered the status quo, the Lebanese."32 But that communique was international community could then watered down under Syrian pressure, and demand the removal of all foreign forces the two clerical figures later commented (Syrian, Palestinian, Iranian, and Israeli). that elections do not concern the religious This became the basis of the Habib Plan of leadership.33 August 20, 1982, named after the special U.S. diplomatic emissary to -torn THE CHANGING AMERICAN Lebanon, which proposed "the withdrawal POSITION TOWARD LEBANON of all non-Lebanese forces from During the George W. Bush presidency, Lebanon."40 In the words of Lebanon's UN the United States began to alter American Ambassador , "Lebanon policy toward Lebanon that for many years should be left to the Lebanese and the had followed the line of "constructive Lebanese alone."41 engagement" with Syria.34 In the 1970's, In this spirit, the Beirut government when oil, money, and arms cemented the decided not to renew the mandate of the "special relationship" between Washington Arab Deterrent Force which had been a and Riyadh, the Saudis provided diplomatic front for Syria's occupation army since and financial support for Syria's creeping 1976. In September 1982, President Amin intervention in Lebanon. 35 The Saudi Gemayel made an official request to the regime also aided the PLO with annual demanding that Syrian (and financial allotments of approximately $100 Palestinian) troops be withdrawn. million during the 1970s.36 Thus, Riyadh Moreover, the Arab leaders who met in Fez, supported the PLO's armed insurrection Morocco on September 8 had in fact against Lebanon, in particular against the recognized the Lebanese government's Christian population and militia forces, demand to end the ADF's mandate.42 while Washington favored Syria's role in However, Syria refused to withdraw in 1975-76, especially in order to pacify the 1982 and again in 1984, despite Israel's southern areas of Lebanon. 37 While the extensive pullback. Syria persevered in

Middle East Review of International Affairs, Vol. 9, No. 4 (December 2005) 91

Etienne Sakr (Abu Arz) controlling most of Lebanon. agreement which maintained, said Husayn The political trajectory of American al-Musawi, "Maronite privilege." Similarly, policy toward Lebanon was bound to the , the head of the Shi'a Amal Riyadh-Damascus connection. The Ta'if group (Hizballah's main competitor in that Accord of October 22, 1989, which the community), condemned "political United States orchestrated with the Saudis, Maronism" because of the retention of the formalized Syrian domination of Lebanon. presidency as a Maronite fiefdom.46 Yet the Any withdrawal of Syrian forces from traditional Maronite-Sunni linkage Lebanon was conditioned by mutual appeared to withstand Ta'if. agreement and partially muted by the term A vivid illustration of Washington's cold "redeployment." The accord called for orientation toward Lebanon resonated at the national reconciliation among the various House of Representatives hearings in June communities. State Department official 1997 when Congressman Benjamin Gilman David Satterfield was at Ta'if and many finally asked Acting Secretary of State for observers believe the United States was in Near Eastern Affairs David Welch whether effect a partner in the agreement. he considered Lebanon to be an It was reported in September 1989 that independent government. Welch answered, the United States had no interest in (Syrian) "Yes," but another witness, former withdrawals. Indeed at Ta'if a month later, Lebanese president Amin Gemayel, the Saudis and Americans quickly got to declared that Lebanon was a "Syrian client work on the Christian deputies, largely state."47 He explained that a foreign leader bypassing the issue of Syria's hegemonic made the fundamental decisions of political role in Lebanon. All 31 Christian deputies importance for Lebanon. Yet this was a present voted in favor of the accord.43 From foreign leader whom the United States a strategic point of view, Washington wanted to appease, or at least to persuade to wanted to demonstrate that it could please cooperate with Washington by concessions, Syria in ways that the Soviet Union, a close and so Syria's control of Lebanon was ally of Damascus, could not. With Ta'if considered part of the price to win over defining Lebanon as having "Arab affinities Damascus.48 and an Arab identity," and establishing While the United Nations had "preferred relations with Syria,"44 the recognized the need for "the withdrawal of possibility of recovering Lebanese all non-Lebanese forces from Lebanon" in sovereignty would be dependent upon the Security Council resolution 520 (September whims of Damascus. 1982), the events of September 11, 2001 in Among Lebanese Christians, opinion on particular helped Washington to clarify the the Ta'if Accord was divided. General Aoun moral and strategic equation in the Middle and the Guardians of the Cedars opposed it, East. Congress had previously condemned while the Maronite patriarch and Samir Syrian occupation, as in 1995,49 but adopted Geagea, heading the Phalange Party, were a more compelling stance in December in favor. The Sunni and Shi'a religious 2003 with the passage of the Syrian establishments in Lebanon were pleased Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty that Ta'if equalized confessional Restoration Act.50 A specific focus of the representation by abolishing Christian act, and the primary motive for its very predominance in the Chamber of conception, was defining Syria's presence Deputies.45 Hizballah opposed the in Lebanon as illegitimate and

92 Middle East Review of International Affairs, Vol. 9, No. 4 (December 2005)

The Politics and Liberation of Lebanon unacceptable. Section 3 stated, "It is the domination."53 On July 16, President Bush sense of Congress that (3) 'the government sent a message to the Annual Convention of of Syria should immediately declare its the National Apostolate of Maronites commitment to completely withdraw its meeting in Orlando, Florida declaring that armed forces, including military, "The United States looks forward to paramilitary, and security forces, from that respect Lebanon's Lebanon.'" This was followed up in section constitution and a future for Lebanon that is 4 (5), which declared it is "The policy of independent, fully sovereign, and free of the United States that Syria is in violation foreign interference or domination."54 of United Nations Security Council Deputy Secretary of State Richard resolution (UNSCR) 520 (September 17, Armitage stated on August 6 that "it's time 1982) through its continued occupation of for Lebanese forces to take charge of their Lebanese territory and its encroachment entire country and Syrian forces to remove upon Lebanon's political independence." themselves back to Syria." He also pointed President Bush issued an Executive out that, referring to the upcoming Order on May 11, 2004 to impose sanctions Lebanese elections, this is a matter "for the on Syria due to its sponsoring , people of Lebanon to decide."55 That Syrian possessing and developing WMD, troops must withdraw from Lebanon was occupying Lebanon, and interfering in reiterated in August by Vincent Battle, American efforts to stabilize the situation in Washington's outgoing ambassador to Iraq. Following the lead of Congress, the Beirut, and also by his newly appointed president's sanctions included prohibiting replacement, Ambassador Jeffrey Feltman. the export of any items on the Munitions In mid-August 2004, following a visit to List and the Commerce Control List to Lebanon, a U.S. congressional delegation Syria, prohibiting the sale of U.S. products met with President Bashar Asad in other than food and medicine, and Damascus and called for Syrian military prohibiting any Syrian aircraft from taking withdrawal from Lebanon. Yet President of off or landing in the United States.51 Later Lebanon Emile Lahoud, held in contempt in October, Congress considered freezing by virtually all Lebanese, had shamelessly the accounts and assets of Lebanese and told the American delegation during their Syrian officials in the United States because visit that Syria's military presence was a Syria's response was not forthcoming to the "stabilizing" factor and should be initial American pressures. preserved.56 A flurry of statements from With the presidential election issue Administration officials dramatized that reaching a political crescendo, the White Lebanon would not be forgotten. In mid- House issued a statement on August 27, March 2004, National Security Advisor 2004 that repeated the need for "non- Condoleezza Rice called for free elections intervention" so that the Lebanese people in Lebanon, without Syrian interference, could "decide the fate of their nation and its though Lebanese voices serving Syrian leadership."57 American resolve left little dictates criticized American interference.52 room for doubt, and interestingly, in May While in on June 5, 2004, President 2003, French Foreign Minister Dominique Bush expressed his (and French President de Villepin made statements calling for 's) view that "the people of Syrian withdrawal in accordance with Lebanon should be free to determine their UNSCR 520, though to no avail.58 own future, without foreign interference or Then in the fall of 2004, the French took

Middle East Review of International Affairs, Vol. 9, No. 4 (December 2005) 93

Etienne Sakr (Abu Arz) a further political step on behalf of Lebanon UN embargo.61 In the course of September in the international arena. The United States 2004, Secretary of Defense Donald and France co-sponsored Security Council Rumsfeld remarked that Syria was behind resolution 1559, which called for "all the insurgency in Iraq,62 and Secretary of remaining foreign forces to withdraw from State Colin Powell repeated the Lebanon." Syria's name was dropped in the Administration's position that Syria leave final draft of the resolution, though Lebanon. 63 In late October, Deputy mentioned in the subsequent report issued Secretary of State Richard Armitage crisply by UN Secretary-General . stated that the new Lebanese government The clear intent of the resolution was for under Omar al-Karami was "made in the approximately 15,000 troops and the Damascus." Yet Syria stood its political security-intelligence apparatus of Syria's ground, and Bashar Asad offered but a occupying presence to leave Lebanon; also, cosmetic military redeployment of troops Hizballah was to be disarmed as a separate within Lebanon, but not out of Lebanon. militia unit. It was instructive that two The re-election of George Bush in 2004 months before the American presidential to a second presidential term augured well elections, George Bush refused to allow the for the liberation of Lebanon from Syrian situation in Iraq and concerns over to occupation. The president declared sidetrack him from working to end nearly principally in his inaugural address, that "all three decades of Syrian hegemony in the who live in tyranny and hopelessness can "land of the cedars." know: the United States will not ignore The confrontation between Syria and the your oppression." Two weeks later Bush U.S. revealed that Washington's resolve explicitly mentioned Syria in his State of was unrelenting. On September 13, 2004, the Union Address to Congress: "You have eleven days after UNSCR 1559, the U.S. passed, and we are applying, the Syria Congress passed yet a new resolution that Accountability Act. And we expect the called for ending the "illegal occupation by Syrian government to end all support for Syria of the Lebanese Republic." A few terror and open the door to freedom." Yet days later, Deputy Secretary of Defense the longevity and pervasiveness of Syrian Paul Wolfowitz threatened to add Syria to control demonstrated the will of Damascus, the Bush Administration's "axis of evil" list, despite increasing international pressure, to which includes Iran and North Korea.59 maintain its domination over its small Increasing American allegations against neighbor. Syria were a prominent and permanent With the political lines drawn ever more feature in Washington's political litany. sharply between Washington and U.S. officials mentioned the possibility of Damascus, the patriotic elements Syrian chemical weapons being used by representing "existential Lebanon" stood at Sudan as part of the Arab assaults on the odds with the collaborationist elements African tribes in the Darfur region during speaking on behalf of official or "legal the summer of 2004.60 Lebanon."64 On the one side, the Maronite The Bush Administration continued to Council of Bishops under the leadership of suspect that Iraq's WMD materials were Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir had called on MPs transferred to Syria during 2002-03 and that to disregard "threats" and "to place before Syria had served as a channel for illicit their conscience the future of their children" arms transfers to Iraq despite a stringent by rejecting the Syrianization of the

94 Middle East Review of International Affairs, Vol. 9, No. 4 (December 2005)

The Politics and Liberation of Lebanon country. 65 On the other side, stood Syria's East, based on democracy, rights, Lebanese proxies, such as Foreign Minister and commerce, now set the parameters for Jean Obeid, who followed the Syrian American policy toward Lebanon. Lebanon, political line and acted dutifully in the name a land of liberty, tolerance, and co- of Syrian-Lebanese brotherhood. Obeid had existence, was truly the paramount example been busy meeting with Arab and foreign of what President Bush aspires to see in the officials in order to gain their support in Middle East. Washington is united behind rejecting the U.S.-French draft resolution the demand for a free Lebanon, and Europe passed at the United Nations in early is finally supporting this cause. September.66 America's ties to Lebanon go back to the Muhammad Issa, secretary-general of early nineteenth-century and reflected the Lebanese Ministry for Foreign Affairs, religious and educational considerations. In tried to convince the UNSC not to consider the mid-twentieth-century, Lebanon the resolution at all. He defended "[t]he acquired a political importance as a distinguished relations linking Lebanon and Western beachhead against radical Arab Syria which achieved their joint interests, nationalism and Soviet expansion, before particularly the interests of Lebanon. succumbing to Palestinian insurgency, Friendly Syria had helped Lebanon to Syrian occupation, Iranian radicalism, and maintain stability and security within its Saudi penetration. A free Lebanon would borders," he claimed.67 Issa argued that be free of control by these foreign elements, elections in Lebanon were an internal and the ideas and policies it would follow in matter and rejected UN interference. its own interests would parallel those of the , leader of Hizballah, United States. railed against the UN resolution's call for If this were to happen, Lebanon would disbanding and disarming Lebanese make an important strategic contribution to militias. He claimed his militia needed American and Western interests in the "weapons for resistance" (slah al- Middle East region. Iran would lose its muqa'wama) against Israel, which had in bridgehead, unable to use Hizballah fact withdrawn its army from Lebanese to stoke the fires of warfare across Israel's territory over four years earlier in May northern border and in the Palestinian 2000.68 terrorist theater. Damascus's dream of When the United Nations reported in Greater Syria, a euphemism for Lebanon's early October 2004 that Syria had not enslavement, would finally dissolve. A free implemented resolution 1559 for a military Lebanon would mean a restricted and withdrawal from Lebanon, the Lebanese contained Syria, perhaps more amenable for Foreign Ministry affirmed that "the peace with Israel. Also, the Palestinians, question of the exit of the Syrian army is still imprisoned in the rhetoric of jihad, may governed by bilateral agreements and begin to adapt authentically to the realities relations between Lebanon and Syria."69 of politics. Syrian occupation was cast as a Beirut The United States has its own national policy stance. accounting with Lebanon but not with the Lebanese people. In Beirut, Palestinians LEBANON AND THE EVOLVING assassinated U.S. Ambassador Francis MIDDLE EAST Meloy, embassy officer Robert Waring, and The global struggle against Islamist their driver Zohair Moghrabi in 1976, while terrorism and the goal of a Greater Middle the Syrians and their Shi'a allies carried out

Middle East Review of International Affairs, Vol. 9, No. 4 (December 2005) 95

Etienne Sakr (Abu Arz) the wanton massacre of 241 U.S. Marines This executive was designed to dominate a in October 1983. These tragic events unicameral legislature with a 6:5 demand a moral and strategic reckoning, membership ratio of Christians to Muslim the likes of which Washington has and Druze representatives. earmarked for Lebanon and the entire The establishment of multi-member region. electoral districts accommodated the In 1958, President Eisenhower thought it aspirations of the various communities, important enough to send 11,000 Marines while also sustaining cooperative to Beirut to fend off a pan-Arab threat to mechanisms in the rough-and-tumble of the independence of Lebanon, and in 1982, Lebanese politics. A fixed number of President Ronald Reagan also sent a deputies belonging to different religious military force to achieve that goal. No one groups would be elected in each district. In expects President Bush, who did send far the Shouf region, for example, a larger forces to Iraq, to engage in a military predetermined number of three Maronites, intervention, per se. Yet what will the two Sunnis, two , and one Roman United States do on the diplomatic and Catholic would be elected, while voters economic plane to assure the recovery of from all of the different communities would Lebanon's full independence? choose from among competing candidate lists. The Ba'albek-Hermel constituency THE POLITICAL ORDER EXAMINED was allotted ten members, six of whose A free, post-occupation Lebanon would deputies would be Shi'a, two Sunni, one need an altered political system given the Maronite and one Roman Catholic.70 This many developments which have befallen it. multi-member multi-confessional Certainly, Lebanon has a good claim for the constituency structure promoted national uniqueness of its constitutional structure, integration via sectarian differentiation. reflecting both democratic values and This unique Lebanese model diverged from communal pluralism. a pure undifferentiated democratic system The establishment of Lebanon as a but offered stability in a fractured society. republic in 1926 arose under the patronage The Lebanese political system was of the French mandatory regime. That the republican only in part, because the election very idea of Lebanese independence was a of the president itself was not by universal victory for the Christian Maronites was popular suffrage but rather by a vote in the embodied in the custom that one of its sons Chamber of Deputies. Parliamentary would always fill the office of president. groupings were precarious and no Based on a formula for confessional power- structured "opposition versus government" sharing among the various religious developed. Presidential powers, such as the communities, the of 1943 appointing of the prime minister and the confirmed Maronite predominance along very status of the highest office, reflected with the recognition of Sunni Muslim the republican tradition. The question of control of the office of prime minister, with executive-legislative rivalry, as existed in a Shi'a serving as speaker of the Chamber the French Fourth Republic with the of Deputies. Upon achieving independence frequent fall of ministries, did not emerge in in 1946, Lebanon's basic political structure Lebanon because of the constitutional consisted of a Christian presidency, but a predominance of the presidential office. bi-cephalous Christian-Muslim executive.

96 Middle East Review of International Affairs, Vol. 9, No. 4 (December 2005)

The Politics and Liberation of Lebanon

Reshuffling of ministries was, however, harmonious conduct of government. Thus, very common. Syria was the political watchdog, and all With a trace of classical republicanism submitted to the word of Damascus. and a dose of Middle East elitism, the dual Maronite-Sunni regime identified the VISION OF THE NEW LEBANON Christians as a "political majority" even The special national ethos and cultural when their relative numbers decreased. At spirit of Lebanon differentiate it from the the same time, the Sunnis remained the Arab world. Until the Palestinian Christians' primary partner in power even insurgency of the late 1960s, the Syrian when the Shi'a began to increase intervention from the mid-1970s, and the substantially in number. The impoverished Iranian penetration from the early 1980s, Shi'a felt depoliticized, the Druze were Lebanon was rooted in its native and blocked, the Greek Orthodox could advance ancient moorings. Israel's military only to the deputy speakership, and the intervention, from 1976 until 2000, was Greek Catholics to the office of deputy- peripheral to this national question. With a Prime Minister. In these ways, the political free press, music festivals, an open system estranged many and benefited the economy, a vibrant intellectual select few. Lebanon was a democracy of its environment, and a marketplace of free own particular making. National consensus political ideas and debate, Lebanon's star was at best dormant, and local communal can rise again. A strong civil society is identities remained intense. Patronage inherent in the heritage of this vibrant reflecting narrow interests dominated the country,73 and the resilience of the political arena.71 Lebanese is apparent even after thirty years Then, the Syrian-dictated Ta'if Accord of subjugation and occupation. of 1989 reformed the political system by The new Lebanon must launch the Third equalizing Christian/Muslim parliamentary Republic, putting an end to the sectarian representation, reducing presidential first republic and the 1989 Arabizing Ta'if prerogatives, increasing the authority of the republic that imposed Syrian hegemony prime minister, and according the speaker upon Lebanon. The idea that demographics of parliament an enhanced status. This and politics now demand a small Christian troika regime instituted a new balance state enclave in Mount Lebanon as a among the senior Maronite, Sunni, and solution to ethnic rivalry is unrealistic.74 It Shi'a officials--a prescription for equality is essential more than ever before to that was a formula for paralysis. The endorse a broad and inclusive democratic Lebanese formula recalled the French agenda for all Lebanese in the framework notion of cohabitation, in which different, of the geographic unity of the country. competing parties divide and share control Lebanon must separate church from state of the senior government offices of and be released from the shackles of president and prime minister. narrow-minded confessional politics. Only In Lebanon accordingly, the result was once this has been achieved can the to be the perseverance and strengthening of Lebanese evoke communal reconciliation Syria's role as the arbiter and ruler of and national harmony after liberation. Lebanese politics.72 President Lahoud and Healing Lebanon's collective soul and Prime Minister Hariri were known for their mending its political body are the tasks personal animosity and rivalry, a problem ahead. which confounded any hope for a The Syrian occupation of Lebanon could

Middle East Review of International Affairs, Vol. 9, No. 4 (December 2005) 97

Etienne Sakr (Abu Arz) prove to be the historic crucible for the national will and foster the essential bonds shaping of a new unity among all Lebanese of national unity. religious/ethnic communities. The Lebanese hold the Syrians in deep contempt, and the ELECTIONS AND LIBERATION ongoing humiliation has strengthened the Yet just when Lebanon was preoccupied bonds of a shared national consciousness with approaching parliamentary elections against alien rule. Indeed, a survey revealed scheduled for May 2005, on February 14, that 74 percent of Lebanese citizens had 2005 a fierce explosion in Beirut shattered wanted a new president in 2004 and 84 the political scene. Former prime minister percent were of the opinion that "foreign and politician, billionaire Rafiq Hariri, was and outside parties"--namely Syria-- assassinated along with six personal "dictated the results of presidential bodyguards and over a dozen others. elections."75 Because of Hariri's growing opposition to In Kamal Salibi's historical narrative, Syria's presence in Lebanon, it was Lebanon is cast neither as an artificial state immediately suspected that Syrian nor as an integral appendage of Greater operatives had carried out the operation. Syria, but rather as an evolving and Suddenly, politicking for elections was encompassing national entity.76 The Sunnis replaced by a unified resistance to both the of Tripoli, who demurred Lebanon's Syrian occupation and the accommodating founding in 1920, and the Shi'a of Lebanese government. Hariri's funeral Nabatiyya, who were marginalized turned into a mass protest, as the tolling of thereafter, have become in their church bells merged with the prayers of the consciousness and culture the sons and muezzins in the mosques. Syrian workers daughters of their Lebanese homeland. No were attacked, and the Ba'th Party offices in one wants to exchange Lebanon for the Beirut were burnt down. Lebanese prison of Syria. True and complete opposition figures, Christians and Druze liberation will signal the beginning of the now joined by Sunni Muslims, renewed end to alien ideologies corrupting the with vigor their demand for Syria's total political climate, including Ba'thism, Syrian withdrawal from the country. Two weeks Social Nationalism, Iranian Shi'a after the Hariri assassination, Prime extremism, and Sunni Wahhabi-imported Minister Omar al-Karami's government fundamentalism. Loyalty to the Lebanese resigned in response to the large street nation and ethos must supersede any demonstrations in which the opposition competing focus of identity. called for the removal of the Syrian- Lebanon requires a revitalized appointed government in Beirut. Karami's democratic participatory spirit bound to a attempt to establish a new government in reassertion of political authority. It is worth late March 2005 failed. considering a type of Gaullist model Throughout this period, the U.S. whereby the president of the Fifth French government, with British and French Republic is constitutionally identified as cooperation, hammered away at Syria to "the protector of the independence of the withdraw completely its army and security nation, of the integrity of its agencies from Lebanon. UN Secretary- territory…."77A sagacious Lebanese General Kofi Anan added his voice in president will hopefully embody the calling for Syrian withdrawal, in addition to appointing an investigator to inquire into

98 Middle East Review of International Affairs, Vol. 9, No. 4 (December 2005)

The Politics and Liberation of Lebanon the murder of Hariri. In early March 2005, government by Prime Minister Fouad Bashar al-Asad announced a partial military Siniora, seemed to indicate a fundamental withdrawal to the Baka Valley in Lebanon, political change. Sa'ad al-Hariri led a while the Lebanese opposition and the political bloc majority of 72 parliamentary international community continued to deputies. demand a complete withdrawal. However, However, there were also very worrying by the end of March 2005, Syria had in fact developments as a wave of violence began. removed its military and intelligence It appeared that if Syria could not directly personnel from Beirut, the Mountain, and and visibly rule Lebanon, then Lebanon the north. Some 4,000 returned to Syria, would be ravaged by terror, fear, and while approximately 8,000 Syrian soldiers bloodshed directed by Syria in order to still remained in the Baka Valley. By early prove the country could not exist without April 2005, they too withdrew. Syria's military presence. Syria's Lebanese Meanwhile, mass popular political proxies, including the Syrian Social protest and national self-expression peaked National Party and Ba'th-controlled security in Beirut on March 14, 2005. One million agencies, were suspected to be behind the people were said to have participated in a subversive multiple explosions against Lebanese Independence demonstration Christian targets in late March 2005, such there. If the attendance figure is accurate, as that in Kaslik, north of Beirut. Two well- an extraordinary and unprecedented 25 known public personalities, , a percent of the entire population was journalist at al-Nahar, and , present. former head of the Communist Party, were The Bush Administration provided killed in attacks. In July 2005, resolute political support and acting Defense Minister Elias Murr was encouragement to the anti-Syrian protesters. slightly injured in a car bomb attack. In late Washington's ambassador to Syria was September 2005, prominent TV journalist recalled for consultations in mid-February lost an arm and a leg when her 2005. Furthermore, Secretary of State Rice booby-trapped car blew up in Junieh, north consistently repeated the political refrain of Beirut. Then on December 12, 2005, that Syria must remove its army and Gibran Tueni, a member of parliament who intelligence apparatus from Lebanon and as editor of al-Nahar was one of Lebanon's implement UN resolution 1559. President most outspoken critics of Syria's Bush received Maronite Patriarch Cardinal occupation, was murdered when his Nasrallah Sfeir on March 16, insisting armored vehicle was blown up in East "Syria completely leave Lebanon… so that Beirut. the election process will be free and fair."78 Meanwhile, the UN-appointed The political wheel had finally turned, investigator of the Hariri assassination, and the emerging situation was the potential German prosecutor , pursued revolutionary condition for sweeping the probe with great diligence. Despite change. Indeed, in the words of opposition Syria's lack of cooperation in the personalities, the "Intifada [Uprising] of investigation, in late August 2005, Mehlis Independence" had begun. The 30-year successfully ordered the detention of four nightmare of Syrian occupation seemed to suspects. The suspects were Lebanese be coming to an end. The national elections, generals, the most prominent being Jamil conducted without manifest Syrian al-Sayyid, former chief of the General intervention, and the formation of a new Security Directorate.79 It was later revealed

Middle East Review of International Affairs, Vol. 9, No. 4 (December 2005) 99

Etienne Sakr (Abu Arz)

that each of the four had about $150 close relations with Syria, and Iranian million in their personal bank accounts. officials continued to visit Beirut, as if it This development in Lebanon, in were still a satrap of the ayatollahs in addition to the Bush Administration Tehran. Lebanon's revolution manquee was persistent complaints about Syria's active an exceptional failure and disappointment. support for terrorism in Iraq, indicated that A free and democratic Lebanon is still Damascus would at the very least continue struggling to emerge. There are many to be the object of diplomatic protest.80 In important issues to resolve: Lebanon's a September 13, 2005 White House national identity must be restored and the statement, President Bush remarked in pan-Arab ideology preventing its existence regards to President Asad of Syria, that as a sovereign state quashed; its complete "we take his lack of action seriously." independence from Syria and Iran must be Syria was neither cooperating in the achieved; its detainees and refugees from Mehlis investigation, nor in assisting Syria and Israel must return home; the Washington in ending the gun-running and electoral system needs to be revamped; terrorist-crossings from its territory into political corruption must be eliminated, and Iraq. a new president elected. For its part, Hizballah refused to disarm In mid-October 2005, the UN in the face of UN resolution 1559. investigator Mehlis submitted his interim Nasrallah repeated incessantly that report on the Hariri assassination. He noted Hizballah leads the national resistance that, prior to the military withdrawal, Syria against Israel, specifically regarding the exercised "overall strategic influence on the Shaba'a Farms dispute on Lebanon's governance of Lebanon," co-opting southern border. Beirut did not yet have a Lebanese military and security officials in government that exercised sovereign order to serve Syria's interests in Lebanon. control over the entire country-neither in Senior Syrian officials, including Bashar's the terrorist-infested streets of Beirut nor in brother Maher and his brother-in-law Assef the south where Hizballah, rather than the Shawkat, were mentioned as suspects in the army of Lebanon, held sway. murder.81 At the same time, international The Cedar Revolution of March 2005 pressure on Syria increased when special was trapped and confined by the old forces UN envoy Terje Roed-Larsen reported that of power that had dominated the political Syria had still not complied with UNSC arena beforehand. Syria's direct political resolution 1559 either, as it continued to tutelage had been replaced by a new Syrian maintain agents in the presidential palace, reign of terror, which includes the arming the army, and the intelligence organizations of Palestinians in their camps in Lebanon. within Lebanon. On October 20, 2005, President Lahoud and Hizballah symbolized Ghazi Kana'an, former Syrian strongman the persistent role of Damascus in Lebanon. running Lebanon, reportedly committed A few new faces, such as , suicide, but it was generally suspected that were unable to launch a different political his elimination was part of the attempt by process in Beirut. The fundamental Bashar Asad to cover up his own role in the questions of Lebanon's national future were Hariri assassination. A political earthquake put on the political backburner. Lebanese threatened the Asad Alawi regime in politicians continued the habit of traveling Damascus, as Mehlis pursued his to Damascus and voicing their support for

100 Middle East Review of International Affairs, Vol. 9, No. 4 (December 2005)

The Politics and Liberation of Lebanon investigation yet further into December 4 2005. Nicolas Nasr, Faillite Syrienne au The end of Syrian occupation has not Liban 1975-1981 (Tome II, Beirut: ended Lebanon's problems. It has, however, Editions Dar El-Amal, 1983), ch. provided an opportunity to deal with them 28. seriously for the first time in three decades. 5 Yet the basic accommodations and the new Quoted in SWASIA, Vol. 3, No. 32 system necessary for real progress have (August 13, 1976), p. 1. barely begun to be shaped. 6 Tabitha Petran, The Struggle over

Lebanon (New York: Monthly *Etienne Sakr, known as Abu Arz, was born Press, 1987), pp. 119-141. in the village of Ayn Ebel in south Lebanon. Sakr founded the Guardians of the Cedars 7 Najib Alamuddin, Turmoil: The Party in 1975 and initiated the Lebanese Druzes, Lebanon and the Arab- Front in 1976. From 1989-90, he was Israeli Conflict, (London: Quartet, associated with General Michel Aoun and 1993, p. 179). the "war of liberation" against Syrian occupation, founding the Broad Front for 8 Reuven Avi-Ran, The Syrian Liberation and Change. His Guardians of Involvement in Lebanon Since 1975 the Cedars Party was, however, not (Boulder: Westview, 1991), ch. 4. involved in the military struggle that ensued between General Aoun and Lebanese 9 David Holden and Richard Jones, Forces commander Samir Geagea. It was a The House of Saud (London: Pan sacred Guardians principle not to engage Books, 1982), p. 443. in fighting against fellow Lebanese. Since May 2000, Etienne Sakr has been in exile. 10 , April 10, 2004.

11 NOTES France - Pays Arabes, Juillet- Août 2004, No. 302, p. 7.

12 1 See Daniel Pipes, Greater Syria: U.S. Department of State, The History of an Ambition (New Lebanon Country Report on Human York & Oxford: Oxford University Rights Practices for 1998, January Press, 1990). 27, 1999, p. 3. Also, Lebanese citizens illegally detained: a list of 2 Daniel Dishon (ed.), Middle East 261 persons at http://www.syrian- Record 1969-1970, Vol. 5 prison.com/texts/listdetainees.htm; a (Jerusalem: Israel Universities personal testimony of a former Press, 1977), p. 905. prisoner, November 2000, on http://www.freelebanon.org/testimo 3 Yezid Sayigh, Armed Struggle and nies/t49.htm; a privately-circulated the Search for State: The nine-page study "Torture in the Palestinian National Movement Dungeons of the Lebanese Ministry 1949-1993 (Washington, D.C.: of Defense," (Yarze, Beirut), by a Clarendon Press and the Institute for former prisoner. Palestine Studies, 1997), pp. 376-77. 13 Al-Anwar, June 3, 2002; Lebanon Foundation for Peace website

Middle East Review of International Affairs, Vol. 9, No. 4 (December 2005) 101

Etienne Sakr (Abu Arz)

www.free-lebanon.com, June 4, Organization, Lebanese Canadian 2002. Coordinating Council, National Patriotic Current, Lebanese Forces, 14 L'Orient-Le Jour, September 13, New England Americans for 2000. Lebanon, United Australian Lebanese Movement, and the 15 Selim Abou, "Le processus est Guardians of the Cedars. irreversible," L'Orient-Le Jour, March 20, 2001. 26 Naharnet.com, Beirut, updated

16 August 31, 2004; Middle East Annual address by Rector Selim International Online Edition, Beirut, Abou, "The Wrath of the September 8, 2004. University," March 2002, site http://www.freelebanon/org/articles/ 27 The Daily Star, September 7, a238htm. 2004.

17 The Daily Star, June 15, 2004. 28 Ibid, September 22, 2004.

18Damascus SANA, English, 29 Lebanonwire, August 28, 2004. October 4, 2003; Syria Radio, October 2, 2003; Damascus 30 The Daily Star, Beirut, September SANA, English, June 8, 2004. 7, 2004.

19 "US Renews calls for Syrian 31Mohalhel Fakih, "Pulling at Pullout from Lebanon," Middle East Lebanon's Strings," Al-Ahram, Online, updated August 16, 2004. September 28, 2004.

20 Al-Safir, September 24, 2003. 32 Imam Musa al-Sadr, whose disappearance in 1978 has never 21 Damascus SANA, English, May been confirmed as his death, 17, 2004. remains the official president of the Higher Shi'a Council. 22 MENA, English, April 19, 2004. 33 23 Middle East International Online This is the case for the book by Edition, News Analysis, September Mordechai Nisan, The Conscience 8, 2004. of Lebanon: A Political Biography of Etienne Sakr (Abu-Arz) (London: 34 Gary C. Gambill, "American Frank Cass, 2003). Sanctions on Syria: A Diplomatic Masterstroke?" Middle East 24 Daily Star, July 27, 2004. Intelligence Bulletin, Vol. 6, No. 5 (May 2004) (internet). 25 Based on Internet sites of the

United States Committee for a Free Lebanon, World Lebanese Cultural Union, World Lebanese

102 Middle East Review of International Affairs, Vol. 9, No. 4 (December 2005)

The Politics and Liberation of Lebanon

35 J.B. Kelly, Arabia, the Gulf and reality," Third World Quarterly, the West (London: Weidenfield and Vol. 21, No. 5, 2000, p. 742. Nicolson, 1980), pp. 261-63. 46 Ami Ayalon (ed.), Middle East 36 An-Nahar Al-Arabi W'al Dawli, Contemporary Survey 1990, Vol. 14 Beirut, September 30, 1979, and Al- (Boulder: Westview, 1992), p. 182; Jazirah, Riyadh, October 30, 1980. and Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS), October 13, 1989, 37 Yair Evron, War and Intervention Voice of the Mountain, in Arabic, in Lebanon (Baltimore: the Johns October 16, 1989. Hopkins University Press, 1987), p. 56. 47 United States Policy toward Lebanon, House of Representatives, 38 David Holden and Richard Johns, Committee on International The House of Saud (London: Pan Relations, June 25, 1997, Books, 1982), pp. 440-44. Washington, D.C., p. 45.

39 Nicolas Nasr, Faillite Syrienne Au 48 Gary C. Gambill, "US Mideast Liban 1975-1981, p. 613, note 219. Policy and the Syrian Occupation of The author knew personally of this Lebanon," Middle East Intelligence proposal at the time, and has Bulletin, Vol. 3, No. 3 (March 2001) mentioned it in his Guardians of the (internet). Cedars communique of October 15, 2004. 49 United States Policy toward Lebanon, pp. 8-33. 40 Yearbook of the United Nations 1982, Vol. 36 (New York: United 50 Ziad K. Abdelnour, "The Syria Nations, Department of Public Accountability Act and Lebanon," Information), p. 447. Middle East Intelligence Bulletin, Vol. 4, No. 10 (October 2002) 41 United Nations Security Council, (internet). th 2394 Meeting, September 16, 1982. 51 The White House, Office of the Press Secretary, May 11, 2004. 42 Letter from Lebanon, Vol. 9, No. 1 (November 1984). 52 Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, London, March 17, 2004. 43 Ami Ayalon (ed.), Middle East Contemporary Survey 1989, Vol. 13 53 Office of the Press Secretary, Joint (Boulder: Westview, 1991), pp. Press Conference of President Bush 520-21. and President Chirac, Paris, June 5, 2004. 44

textalmashriq.hiof.no/Lebanon/300/ 54 The White House, Washington, 320/327/taif.txt July 24, 2004.

45 A. Nizar Hamzeh, "Lebanon's 55 U.S. Department of State, August Islamists and Local Politics: a new 6, 2004.

Middle East Review of International Affairs, Vol. 9, No. 4 (December 2005) 103

Etienne Sakr (Abu Arz)

World Lebanese Cultural Union, 56 Naharnet, Beirut, August 15, September 22, 2004 (WLCU web 2004. site).

57 The White House, Statement by 68 An-Nahar, September 5, 2004. the Press Secretary, August 27, 2004 (http://usinfo.state.gov). 69 Al-jazeera net. News Arab World, October 7, 2004. 58 Reuters report from Paris appearing on http://www.free- 70 See Farid el Khazen, Lebanon's lebanon.com, May 1, 2003; Al- First Postwar Parliamentary Hayat, London, May 12, 2004; and Election, 1992: An Imposed Choice, "Intelligence Briefs," Middle East Centre for Lebanese Studies, Intelligence Bulletin, Vol. 5, No. 5 Oxford, February 1998. (May 2003). 71 For an early analysis, see Malcolm 59 Report from Beirut in The H. Kerr, "Political Decision-Making Post, September 21, in a Confessional Democracy," in 2004. Leonard Binder (ed.) Politics in Lebanon (New York: John Wiley & 60 Die Welt, September 15, 2004, Sons, 1966), pp. 187-212. and MENL, Washington. 72 Elizabeth Picard, Lebanon: A 61 Los Angeles Times, December 30, Shattered Country (New York and 2003. London: Holmes & Meier, 1996), p.

62 158. The New York Times, September 19, 2004. 73 See Samir Khalaf, Lebanon's

63 Predicament (New York: Columbia The Daily Star, September 17, University Press, 1987), ch. 12. 2004, based on September 16 satellite interview with Al-Arabiyya. 74 The view of significant Christian

64 demographic decline has been Terms from Eric Voegelin, The challenged in a recent study, Les New Science of Politics (Chicago: chretiens sont-ils minoritaires Au The University of Chicago Press, Liban? Fause Rumeur, Global 1952). Studies & Services, December 2004,

65 Bauchrieh/Beirut. Naharnet.com, Beirut updated, August 31, 2004. 75 Alan M. Dershowitz, "End the occupation," The Jerusalem Post, 66 The Daily Star, September 2, September 21, 2004. 2004.

76 Kamal Salibi, A House of Many 67 Comments by Professor Walid Mansions: The Phares, Secretary-General of the

104 Middle East Review of International Affairs, Vol. 9, No. 4 (December 2005)

The Politics and Liberation of Lebanon

Reconsidered (London: I.B. Tauris, 1988); also Meir Zamir, The Formation of Modern Lebanon (London: Croom Helm, 1988).

77 David Thomson, Democracy in France Since 1870, fourth edition, (New York: , 1965), pp. 269-70, 308.

78 The White House, Office of the Presidential Secretary, March 16, 2005. For examples of Secretary of State Rice on this point, see her March 10 and March 13, 2005 statements.

79 New York Times International, August 31, 2005.

80 The Washington File, Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Dept. of State, September 12, 2005.

81 Report of the International Independent Investigation Commission Established Pursuant To Security Council resolution 1595 (2005), Detlev Mehlis, Commissioner, Beirut, October 19, 2005. On December 12, Mehlis submitted his second report, which mentioned 19 senior Syrian and Lebanese suspects, called for the investigation of Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk a-Shaara, and indicated that Syria had destroyed relevant documents on the Hariri assassination.

Middle East Review of International Affairs, Vol. 9, No. 4 (December 2005) 105