"Assassinations, Military Withdrawals and Massacres"
By: General Michel Aoun
(Translated by: Elias Bejjani)
3 April 1998

It is not acceptable for an official to lose both his memory and his vision simultaneously and still remain in office, except in Lebanon. Such inadequacies are currently major prerequisites for officials to be appointed in the Syrian installed lebanese puppet regime.

We don't want to believe that politicians in the international community in charge of lebanon's affairs are unaware of what has already happened, what is happening and what shall happen very soon in our country. We also don't want to believe that any of these officials (in the international community) have any part in the ongoing conspiracy against Lebanon... God forbid! At the same time, we are positive that they are ignoring Lebanon's disasters and are dealing with those who create them in a very smooth manner. This kind of international indifference might be interpreted by the Lebanese as actual involvement in the conspiracy.

What we are saying applies to those who are close to us as well as those who are not, because we have all lived through the massacres that have taken many innocent Lebanese lives, destroyed villages and towns, and displaced thousands of citizens. Most of these massacres occurred immediately after an assassination or a miliary withdrawal. For example: The El Qaa (a village in Baalbek area near the Syrian border) massacre took place after Toni Franjieh's assassination; the first Mount Lebanon massacre happened after Kamal Jumblat's assassination; the Sabra and Shatila massecare (in Palestinian refugee camps outside Beirut) occurred immediately after president-elect Bashir Jemail was assassinated; the second Mount Lebanon massacre started hours after the first stage withdrawal of the Israelis from that area, while the Eqliem Al Karoub and East Sidon massacres followed the second stage of the Israeli withdrawal towards the security zone in the south. The question is: What are the Lebanese going to face when Israeli troops withdraw from the "security zone" in south Lebanon?

The Lebanese people recognize well the masterminds who planned and orchestrated the massacres, as well as those who executed them. The horrible memories are very vivid and the Lebanese can envisage the kind of massacres that will be repeated against them in south Lebanon following the withdrawal of the Israeli troops. The same bloodbath will be inflicted on them due to the fact that the same players still control Lebanon and their criminal behavior has never changed.

This scenario is well known to the Lebanese people. The intent of this article is to refresh the memories, so no one will claim ignorance of them. The scenario always starts with an Israeli proposal that the Lebanese regime rejects under Syrian pressure. As a result, Israel protests. Then, Syria offers guarantees, channeled to the militias which deliver them to the Lebanese Army command through ministers representing the militias in the government (as was the case with the "National Government of 1985"). Then, the Israelis withdraw and the massacres ensue: killing, destruction. displacement etc. When the massacre is over, we go back to the rhetorical slogans of "national unity" and "coexistence" as if nothing has happened.

We want to say loudly to all those concerned in Lebanon, or elsewhere that Israel does not need any security guarantees or agreements to withdraw its troops from South Lebanon, it has all of the necessary military means to secure its own security. In fact, the Lebanese people of the South are the ones who desperately need security and political guarantees.

Successive Lebanese governments have failed to find an appropriate solution to the south Lebanon crisis because of the 1975 events. Since then, the regime has adopted irresponsible stances and fallen short of assuming its national obligations and duties in this regard. Instead, successive governments have been dealing with the residents of south Lebanon as if they were traitors and Israeli agents.

Based on all of these bitter facts and bloody experiences, we refuse to be given any kind of "Syrian-guaranteed" security in the South (after the withdrawal of the Israelis) or anywhere else in Lebanon. How can we trust those who infringed on our lives and property and under the guise of "protecting" us? What we are asking for, is a joint Lebanese-International security arrangement to provide real and accountable protection for our lives and land. This has to be carried in accordance with all relevant UN resolutions--in particular, Resolution 520, which calls for the withdrawal of all foreign military forces from all of Lebanon. We also ask that other resolutions be taken to ensure the enforcement of international law in Lebanon. Accordingly, the Lebanese crisis must again be entrusted to the auspices of the international community, for all other solutions have failed and lead to its further deterioration.
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