Thoughts for October 13th
By: General Michel Aoun
12/10/02

On October 13, we remember the fall of the free bastion to the Syrian occupation. On that day, the heroes of the "Park Hotel – Shtaura" Republic signed their act of treason, invited a foreign army claiming to be a brother and a friend, and mounted a coup against the legitimate government entrusted with the continuity of the nation.

And where the Israeli Army forbade itself from entering, the Syrian Army went further, invading and violating the sanctity of the Ministry of Defense and the Presidential Palace, burning and looting them under the protection of Elias Hrawi, his government, and his Army Chief Emile Lahoud. They thought nothing of the war crimes committed by the Syrian Army against the soldiers of the Lebanese army, after the latter had abided by the cease-fire under orders from the new coup regime. Officials of that regime indeed played the "wise monkeys" who saw no evil, heard no evil, and therefore said nothing, as if this would absolve them of their shared responsibility in the crime. By their silence, they are accomplices in the execution of prisoners and the disappearance of all the evidence pertaining to the fate of the missing soldiers and civilians.

There is no statute of limitation on these crimes. Officials of the Lebanese regime ought to learn from the examples of Papon, Pinochet, Touvier, and the long list from Bosnia and Kosovo of the names of those who committed war crimes and crimes against humanity, and who will be hounded until the last criminal among them is brought to justice.

Twelve years after October 13, every Lebanese has the right to ask what has Lebanon gained from that operation.

Was October 13 the end of a nightmare? Or the beginning of one?

Was October 13 a historic day? Or a day of infamy?

Was the Taef Agreement a genuine solution for the return of sovereignty? Or a ploy to liquidate the nation?

And if there were perpetrators and victims on that day, then who was the perpetrator and who was the victim? Is there a place for either in the building of a nation? And since when are nations built on a victimizer-victim relationship?

Where are the Arabs who swore on their honor that they are committed to the implementation of the Agreement? What happened to the words of honor they gave? Were they simply words in the sands given one night in Taef, only to be erased in the morning by the evildoers in Damascus?

What happened to national unity? Is it built by men of the cloth who recite Intelligence Services communiqués inciting sectarian hatred? Or by secular political thinkers free from religious dogmatism and who define people through their universal humanity? Where is the culture of national unity? What prototypes for national unity do we see in the regime itself?

Where are the dialogues and debates of intellectuals on television?

Are children brought up today on the worship of God or the worship of rulers?

And are people today still born free?…

By the way, what happened to the children? Can their parents still pay for their schools? Why are young people still leaving the country in droves, some for good, carrying with them open wounds in their souls?

Who bankrupted the country? The occupation? Its agents? Or both? What about the selling of institutions and the allocation of projects to cronies? Is it true that the Lebanese economy is not broken, just stolen?

And before we forget, what about the judiciary? Has it really become a tool in the hands of a repressive government? Is it true what they say? That justice has become anything but justice? Relative, selective, preventive, and yet another sensationalist media outlet?

Is it true that a dissident in the Syrian democracy deserves all the accusations brought against him and all the penalties imposed on him? And then, only then, his trial begins in newspapers and on TV screens?

The regime in Lebanon has managed in a mere twelve years to erase the advances made by humanity during two thousand years in the field of legislation. Great accomplishment and a record in the elaboration of modern oppressive governments!!

The well of questions and thoughts never tarries. These are questions we do not ask of ourselves, but of those who adopted Taef as a solution, whether they are tricksters or fools whose egos prevent them from admitting their mistake. They go on justifying the crime with worst crimes. Some of them even make vows to the “Saint of Lost Things” to bring back sovereignty and independence to the nation, revive its economy, and bring back its sons and daughters!! They are oblivious to the fact that miracles are a two-way street, a meeting ground between a seeking human and a willing God, and cannot come from the avoidance of reality or deadly waiting games. Nor are miracles a denunciation and a denial of the actions of others, or bowing and retreating in the face of evil.

Long Live Free LEBANON

General Michel Aoun

Paris, 12 October 2002