USCFL - A Plea to America - Clean Lebanon from Syria, Hizballah and their Lebanese puppets

Cleaning Lebanon from terrorists should not stop with the disarming of Hizballah. Frankly, it will only stop with freeing the Lebanese land from the 26 year-old brutal Syrian military, intelligence, economic and political occupation.

It is a fact that both Syria’s current regime and Hizballah are liabilities to the world in general and to the small Lebanese nation trying to exist in a region of rising Islamic extremists. It is equally clear that the acts of terror that Hizballah has committed in the past 20 years were not only committed against Israeli and American interests, but against Lebanese interests as well.

Every illiterate in the most remote corner of the world knows today that 95% of Lebanon’s territory is occupied by none other than Syria's 30,000 army troops and the more than 5,000 secret service agents deployed across the land along with 800,000 Syrian workers working and living on Lebanese soil and sucking dry the country's economy. And why such a large number of troops, agents and workers? Is it because Syria cares about Lebanon, or is it because Syria is trying to protect Lebanon from Israel? The answer to both questions is NO. After all, Syria has not fought a direct war in over 30 years, and the wars they fought prior to that were all lost.

The simple answer? Syria considers Lebanon as part of “greater” Syria. Which brings us to the conclusion that the Syrian military and intelligence infrastructure is not likely to withdraw from the "land of the cedars" unless one of two scenarios occur: Either they are given clear and specific instructions from the United States to "get out of Lebanon" or they lose another war against Israel; anyone of the two scenarios likely to happen, in my opinion, within the next 12 months.

Coming back to Hizballah; who do these "terror cells" represent anyway? First off, they do not represent the voice of Lebanon. Second, they do not and will never represent the voice of the couple of million Americans of Lebanese descent living in the United States. Third, they do not and will never represent the voice of the more the 13 million Lebanese in the Diaspora. Fourth, they do not and will never represent the voice of the more than one million Christians living in Lebanon. Fifth, they do not and will never represent the 30,000 Americans of Lebanese descent living in Lebanon (by the way, that is the largest American community (outside of Israel)) in the Middle East). Yes, they may represent the voice of some Shiite Muslims of Lebanon; but then there’s the Druze and the Sunni Muslims.

It is a well known fact that Hizballah represents the voice and interests of its two only masters: Syria & Iran. Yes, they have convinced a tiny fraction of the Lebanese population, and through a very well-orchestrated public relations campaign led by puppet Lebanese president Emile Lahoud, that they are a group of good-doers though it is clear that action speaks much louder than words.

Bottom Line? Time has come for Hizballah to either put down their arms with dignity, or vacate Lebanon immediately. Syria's occupation of Lebanon is a much bigger threat to the silent majority of the Lebanese than the occupation of a 1 square mile of a disputed piece of land in Southern Lebanon called the Shebaa Farms.

It is during the Gulf War of 1990-1991 that the Lebanese cause was deserted by America. I’d like to think that the reason for that was not because Lebanon is a non-oil-producing nation. Let’s face it, Kuwait is an oil-producing nation and it received the attention and support that Lebanon deserves. Never mind the fact that there are only 50,000 Americans of Kuwaiti ancestry compared to about a couple of million Americans of Lebanese origin. Where’s the national interest in here? Unfortunately, the national interest is summed up in one word……….viscosity (and sadly enough, Kuwaiti oil is thicker than Lebanese blood). So from a cost-benefit standpoint, America weighed its options and felt that Kuwaiti oil yields a better return than the establishment of a free, democratic, and multi-cultural nation in the Middle East.

In the short term, that might have been the case, but in the long term, America is today paying a big price because it created a monster second to none, by allowing the current Syrian regime, which is on its list of nations sponsoring terrorism, to occupy, destroy and humiliate one of the greatest allies of America in the region; Lebanon. America let down the freedom loving people of Lebanon when it gave up on their cause, after the tragic terror attacks on the Marine barracks and the US. embassy bombing in the 1980’s.

It would thus be safe to say that Lebanon’s messy political and economic system today is mostly but the consequence of unfinished and failed American foreign policy in the Levant. Maybe the Lebanese people weren’t ready for self-governance at that time, but they sure are now. There is indeed today more Lebanese and Lebanese American opposition to the current situation in Lebanon than the Iraqi, Iranian, Libyan, Saudi, and Syrian oppositions to their respective countries combined. The Freedom loving people of Lebanon deserve a second chance, and my plea to American policymakers is to wake up, do the right thing and wrap-up the unfinished business.

Time has indeed come for America to prove to the world that promoting democratic regimes and institutions throughout the region including Palestine, Lebanon, and, in due time, the rest of the Arab world matters to us at least as much as protecting our "access to oil". America will and should clean Lebanon from terror and occupation because America stands for the weak, oppressed and occupied. America stands for Justice, Freedom, Independence and Liberty. My plea to American politicians is to act immediately and pass the “Syria Accountability Act of 2002” (HR 4483).

Lebanon is under Syrian occupation, and desperately yearns for peace and freedom. Lebanon values the western culture, and has much better potential to regain its democracy, promote the great American values, and be a model for every Arab nation to follow suit. Lebanon wants peace with both of its neighbors (Syria as well as Israel). Neither the Syrian-installed government of Lebanon nor Hizballah represents the Lebanese cause. Please give this occupied nation hope. This is a golden window of opportunity not only to focus on the symptoms of terrorism, but to dig much deeper, go beyond the surface and root out this terminal disease from its root cause forever. And I frankly cannot think of two better places to start this process than Syria first and Iran next.

Lebanese Americans are deeply rooted in this country. They have produced and continue to produce riches by intelligence and labor. It is no coincidence that there are more than 25 American towns and cities named Lebanon. My plea to America is: Pay it forward and help rebuild the true spirit and solid foundation of Lebanon, that endangered nation. The Lebanese people, both in Lebanon and abroad, are ready to reclaim their sovereignty. It is true about what they say: “don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone”. The Lebanese and Lebanese Americans want Lebanon back, and they want to model it after America. But Lebanon cannot do it without your help America.

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Article:	A Plea to America - Clean Lebanon from Syria, Hizballah and their Lebanese puppets
Author:	Karim Akl
Date:	July 2002