 Written By A Lebanese Freedom Fighter We hear today a variety of opinions on how to achieve peace in the Middle East. While being a casual subject on American Sunday morning news programs, the tragedy is paid daily in blood and tears back in the Middle East. We people of Lebanon have been subjected to bombardment, occupations, assassinations, appeasement, exploitation, and Mafia rule. As stated in the New Testament; Martha, Martha.. the objective is one. Why treat symptoms when we can solve problems at their roots. Problems do follow a tree structure, all endlessly relating to a common root. What is the root of the problem in the Middle East today? Some say; there exist one more people (the Palestinians), and one less state. The conspiracy against Lebanon has indeed attempted to create the extra state in Lebanon to settle the Palestinian refugees. Such objective would seem to benefit Israel in the first place. Numerous other evidence implicate Syria as the reason of our demise. After all Syria has never recognized Lebanon as an independent state, and refused to establish diplomatic relations since the birth of our nation. Syria has also conducted a direct war of aggression against Lebanon for the past 23 years, and today totally occupies the country with 35,000 troops on its soil. Syria rules Lebanon through a puppet regime that acts as a thin disguise to fool the world into believing that Lebanon has today a government and exists as a state. Were Israel and Syria the only benefactors from the destruction of Lebanon? As a result of the 1973 Arab-Israeli war and the ensuing oil embargo, oil prices quadrupled overnight on the world markets. We witnessed the most massive and rapid transfer of wealth in history, from western nations into the hands of OPEC. Large amounts of these OPEC dollars were deposited in Beirut banks, then, the Switzerland of the Middle East. By destroying Lebanon as the financial capital district of this part of the world, wealth shifted to safer grounds; European and American banks. During its second phase in its war against OPEC, the Iraq-Iran war was instigated and nurtured for eight years, during which the West took possession of the oil funds, by selling arms to the combatants and by maintaining a stalemate. Thus the West seem to also have benefited from the destruction of Lebanon. Since 1975, the date of collapse of the cohesive Lebanese government until today, International and regional Mafias have ruled the underground economy. A Myriad of Israeli, Syrian, and International mafias currently operate and cooperate in Lebanon, with the Syrians acting as local bosses. These mafias have expanded from their core drug and counterfeiting business into legitimate economic sectors. They have been institutionalized with the advent of Billionaire Mafiozo Rafiq Hariri and the installment of the Troika regime. Mafia influence is pervasive now in every aspect of the economy from banking, construction, to industry, and agriculture. The Mafias also bought controlling interest in the entire local the press, and constitute now the backbone of the Lebanese political echelon, from the Syrian-appointed President down to administrative appointees. The Lebanese state today is filled with Mafia bosses, their lieutenants, war lords (Walid Jumblat, Nabih berri), war criminals (Jumblat and Hobeika), and Syrian collaborators. As a result of the Mafia rule, the middle class has been wiped out, and poverty is now widespread. There is a total absence of legislative oversight, no independent judiciary, an executive appointed by and subserviant to Syria, security forces (trained-rehabilitated in Syria) that specialize in the kidnapping, arrest, and torture of the citizens. Under the Syrian occupation, Lebanon can now be classified as a Mafiozo Banana Republic. The traditional logic presumes that when we resolve the Palestinian problem, then peace will reign in the Middle East. The answer is an obvious and resounding No! The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is completely unrelated to the Syrian-Lebanese conflict. Israel's problem with the Palestinians started in 1948. Lebanon's problem with Syria dates back to 1921, when the state of Greater Lebanon was declared. Solving the Palestinian problem will not solve the problems of Lebanon. Since Israel has already accepted UN resolution 425, it is now time for Syria to accept UN resolution 520 and withdraw from Lebanon. But let us be realistic, what are the chances of the Assad dictatorship willingly and peacefully withdrawing from Lebanon? I would submit that these chances are next to nil. Eventhough the parties that benefit from the destruction of Lebanon are many, they all strive because a single reason; the Syrian occupation of Lebanon which allows all abnormalities to exist, coexist, and strive. Peace will come to the Middle East only through the total destruction of the Syrian dictatorship, and the installment in Damascus of a democratic regime. With, or without Israel, there will not be peace in the Middle East as long as the Arabs continue to be ruled by dictatorships, which violate their own people's human rights and occupy and slaughter their neighbors. Today, there is not one single democracy in the Arab world. From the Pacific Ocean to the Persian Gulf, the Arabs are ruled by Dictatorships, absolute Royalties, and/or Mafias. It is time for Evil to be extracted at its root and destroyed. True Liberty and compassion must rule the Middle East. Down with dictatorships and compromise. We must muster the courage and fight against tyranny. We must give the Lebanese people their legitimate rights that are denied today by the Syrian dictatorship. Treat the problem at its roots and not the symptoms. Hafez Assad is the head of the snake. Long Live Free Lebanon |