[WCUSP] "History Will Judge Us All On Our Actions" (Michel Aoun - WSJ)

[KATHARLOW at aol.com]

_http://www.tayyar.org/tayyar/articles.php?article_id=16171&type=GMA_ 
(http://www.tayyar.org/tayyar/articles.php?article_id=16171&type=GMA)  
     
History  Will Judge Us All On Our Actions  

     
July  31, 2006   
Michel  Aoun- Wall  Street  Journal 

     
RABIEH,  Lebanon -- While  aircraft, sea-craft, and artillery pound our 
beloved Lebanon, we Lebanese are  left, as usual, to watch helplessly and pay a 
heavy price for a war  foisted upon us due to circumstances beyond our control.   
  
 (http://www.tayyar.org/tayyar/ccount/click.php?id=44) Considering  that this 
crisis could have been avoided, and considering that there  is -- and has 
been -- a solution almost begging to be made, one  cannot but conclude that all 
of this death, destruction and human  agony will, in retrospect, be adjudged as 
having been in  vain.

No matter how much longer this fight goes on, the truth  of the matter is 
that political negotiations will be the endgame.  The solution that will present 
itself a week, a month or a year from  now will be, in essence, the same 
solution as the one available  today, and which, tragically, was available before a 
single shot was  fired or a single child killed. Given this reality, a more 
concerted  effort is required sooner rather than later to stop the death and  
destruction on both sides of the border.  
>From the  outset, this dispute has been viewed through the differing prisms 
of  differing worldviews. As one who led my people during a time when  they 
defended themselves against aggression, I recognize,  personally, that other 
countries have the right to defend  themselves, just as Lebanon does; this is an  
inalienable right possessed by all countries and peoples.

For  some, analysis as to this conflict's sources and resolutions begins  and 
ends with the right to self-defense; for others, Israel's claimed  
self-defensive actions are perceived as barbaric and offensive acts  aimed at destroying 
a country and liquidating a people. Likewise,  some view Hezbollah's capture 
of two Israeli soldiers as fair  military game to pressure Israel to return 
Lebanese prisoners; yet  others perceive it as a terrorist act aimed at 
undermining Israel's  sovereignty and security.

These divergences, and the world's  failure to adopt different paradigms by 
which Middle East problems can be fairly analyzed  and solved, have produced, 
and will continue to produce, a vicious  cycle of continuing conflict. If the 
approach remains the same in  the current conflict, I anticipate that the 
result will be the same.  This, therefore, is a mandate to change the basis upon 
which  problems are judged and measured from the present dead-end cycle to  one 
which is based on universal, unarguable principles and which has  at least a 
fighting chance to produce a lasting positive  result.

My own personal belief is that all human life is  equal and priceless -- I 
look upon Israeli life as the same as  Lebanese life. This belief stems not from 
my Catholic religion, but  rather, from basic human values which have their 
historic home in  Lebanon. It is no  coincidence that a leading figure in the 
drafting and adoption of  the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was Charles 
Malek, a  Lebanese citizen.

I ask, will other Arab countries and  leaders have the courage to acknowledge 
that Israeli life is equal  to Arab life? Will Israel have the courage  as 
well to acknowledge that Lebanese life is equal to Israeli life,  and that all 
life is priceless? I believe that most Israeli and Arab  citizens would answer 
in the affirmative. Can we get their  governments and their leaders to do the 
same?

Acknowledgement  of equality between the value of the Lebanese and the 
Israeli people  can be a starting point and a catalyst. The universal, unarguable  
concept of the equality of peoples and of human life should be the  basis upon 
which we measure and judge events, and should provide the  common human prism 
through which the current conflict, and old  seemingly everlasting conflicts, 
are viewed and resolved. This is  the only way to peace, prosperity and 
security, which is, after all,  what all human beings desire, regardless of their 
origin.

The  ideological, political and religious differences between the party  that 
I lead, the Free Patriotic Movement, and Hezbollah, could have  been 
addressed either through confrontation, or through internal  dialogue. Recognizing the 
value of human life, the obvious choice  was the second option. We sat down 
with Hezbollah to discuss our  differences.

After many months of extensive negotiations, we  came up with an 
understanding that included 10 key items which laid  down a roadmap to resolve 10 of the 
most contentious points of  disagreement. For example, Hezbollah agreed for the 
first time that  Lebanese who collaborated with Israel during Israel's 
occupation of south  Lebanon should  return peacefully to Lebanon without fear of  
retribution. We also agreed to work together to achieve a civil  society to 
replace the present confessional system which distributes  power on the basis of 
religious affiliation. Additionally,  Hezbollah, which is accused of being st
aunchly pro-Syrian, agreed  for the first time that the border between Lebanon 
and Syria should be finally  delineated, and that diplomatic relations between 
the two countries  should be established.

We also agreed that Palestinian  refugees in Lebanon should be  disarmed, 
that security and political decision-making should be  centralized with the 
Lebanese government, and that all Lebanese  political groups should disengage 
themselves from regional conflicts  and influences.

Last but not least, our extensive  negotiations with Hezbollah resulted in an 
articulation of the three  main roadblocks regarding resolution of the 
Hezbollah arms issue:  First, the return of Lebanese prisoners in Israeli prisons. 
Second,  the return of the Shebaa farms, a tiny piece of Lebanese territory  
still occupied by Israel. And third, the  formulation of a comprehensive 
strategy to provide for Lebanon's defense,  centered upon a strong national army and 
central state  decision-making authority in which all political groups are 
assured  a fair opportunity to participate.

This structure, if joined  together with international guarantees which 
forbid the  nationalization of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon and which protect 
Lebanon from Israeli  incursions, and if tied on the internal level to a new, 
fair and  uniform electoral law, is the best hope for peacefully resolving the  
Hezbollah weapons issue.

This is the essence of the  comprehensive solution we seek. Because it 
embodies a shift from a  policy based on military force to one founded upon human 
values and  reconciling the rights of parties, it would stand the test of time.  
If rights are respected, and if parties are treated with the  deference that 
they implicitly deserve as human beings, then the  long-term result will be 
not only physical disarmament, but also a  disarmament of minds on both sides.


Our party presented  this solution internally to all Lebanese political 
groups, the  Lebanese government, and the international community -- including  the 
U.S. administration --  repeatedly, for an entire year before this crisis  
began.

Rather than help us to resolve the weapons issue  peacefully and avoid the 
current agony our country is now enduring,  the international community and 
Lebanese government flatly ignored  the proposed solution. Many of Lebanon's main 
political  players cast us aside as "pro-Syrian" "allies" of Hezbollah. No  
matter. These are the same individuals who -- only a year before --  branded me 
a "Zionist agent" and brought treason charges against me  when I dared to 
testify before a Congressional subcommittee that  Syria should end its  occupation 
of my country.

You see, after Lebanon was  liberated from Syrian occupation, the 
international community  (apparently enamored by the quixotic images of the Cedar 
Revolution)  demanded that the Lebanese elections take place immediately and "on  
time"; it brushed off our grave concerns about the electoral law in  force, which 
had been carefully crafted by Syria and imposed upon  Lebanon in the year 
2000 to ensure re-election of Syria's favorite  legislators.

This flawed electoral law -- initially imposed  upon us by Syria and then 
reimposed  upon us by the international community -- has had disastrous  results. 
It brought to power a Lebanese government with absolute  two-thirds majority 
powers, but which was elected by only one-third  of the populace. With a 
legislative and executive majority on one  side, and a popular majority on the 
other side, the result was  absolute gridlock. Currently in Lebanon, there is no  
confluence of popular will with government will, and therefore the  government 
cannot deal effectively with this or any other  problem.

History will judge us all on our actions, and  especially on the unnecessary 
death and destruction that we leave  behind. The destruction currently being 
wrought upon Lebanon is in no way  measured or proportional -- ambulances, milk 
factories, power  stations, television crews and stations, U.N. observers and 
civilian  infrastructure have been destroyed.

Let us proceed from the  standpoint that all human life is equal, and that if 
there is a  chance to save lives and to achieve the same ultimate result as 
may  be achieved without the senseless killings, then let us by all means  take 
that chance.

Mr.  Aoun, the former prime minister of Lebanon and commander of its  armed 
forces, is currently a deputy in the Lebanese  parliament.  
Printed from _http://www.tayyar.org_ (http://www.tayyar.org/)  
 



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