Teetering under 23 years of Syrian occupation, Lebanon is today on the verge of bankruptcy. All that is left is the official announcement. The Syrians and their appointed puppet regime have pillaged the country and burdened it with a national debt that surpasses its Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Billionaire Rafiq Hariri, a Saudi citizen (with dual Lebanese citizenship) has been appointed Prime Minister by the Syrian dictatorship. He has been the primary instrument in the destruction of Lebanon. Hariri started his reign by forming a government made up of the militia warlords who collaborated with Syria. He then launched a local and international media (propaganda) campaign that proclaimed a major reconstruction plan while effectively serving as a façade to official corruption and the theft of billions of dollars from public projects. A new class of millionaires emerged consisting of the Troika regime families, their cronies, the Syrian construction firms, as well as the Syrian ruling class.

Hariri’s actions have caused the systematic impoverishment of the Lebanese people to the point of physical starvation. In order to eat, dress and pay for basic necessities, the Lebanese are now selling their lands to real estate companies owned by Hariri. These companies actually represent Arab buyers mostly from the Gulf.

The Hariri government has multiplied the national debt 10 folds to twenty one (21) billion dollars. At that cost it has managed to clear the rubble from few square blocks in downtown Beirut as well as lay few electrical lines and roads. In 1997, the deficit reached 59% of the total budget. The central bank has spent 35% of its reserves shoring the local currency. It is being kept afloat through massive deposits by Arab Gulf nations. Hariri’s "Solidere" company confiscated land in downtown Beirut at a fraction of the market price and is now selling its shares in the stock market to the highest bidders, local and international.

The middle class has been wiped out and poverty is widespread. Business bankruptcies have skyrocketed. Crime waves fueled by the presence of 1.5 millions undocumented and illegal Syrian workers have reached every neighborhood. Thousands of cars are disappearing from Lebanon and then reappear in Syria with official Syrian registration papers. Unemployment rose to double digits. Public freedoms have been suspended. Arrest, torture, and jail of citizens are common practices as per the US STATE DEPARTMENT and Amnesty International reports. Demonstrations have been banned. Unions were split by the government and persecuted. The Lebanese Press has just been classified as "Not Free" by the latest study from Freedom House as reported by the Associated Press. Scores of Syrian intelligence agents have invaded most social institutions and all government bodies. 40,000 Syrian occupation troops keep order in the country with an iron fist. Lebanese foreign policy has been eliminated as witnessed through the latest rejection of Israel’s offer to withdraw from South Lebanon as per UN resolution 425.

These are the great accomplishments of Syria’s dictator Hafez Assad, the Butcher of Damascus. The Lebanese shall remember for a thousand year how the world abandoned us.