Democratic Palestine : 33 (ص 18)
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- Democratic Palestine : 33 (ص 18)
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leader and I am going to carry on.»
Aoun’s populist demagogery is clearly
only a cover for his savage war to im-
pose his authority, since it is clear he
would not be elected as president. More
than ever it is clear that what is going
on is neither a «war of liberation» or
simply a war over the ports; it is Aoun’s
war, his drive for power and _ his
suicidal, sectarian project.
SHELLING THE ARAB
LEAGUE COMMITTEE
The meetings held by the Arab
League committee with the various
Lebanese parties to the conflict in
January and February, made it obvious
that the committee would deal with the
Lebanese crisis as an internal problem
connected to the nature of the political
system and the privileges which some
sects enjoy. This approach annoyed
Aoun and the other sectarian forces,
since it means focusing on the need for
political reform. For this reason, Aoun
chose to escalate the military confron-
tation and direct it against Syria, just as
the Arab League committe should hold
its concluding meetings. Aoun aimed to
accentuate the question of Syrian
withdrawal in order to portray the
conflict as stemming from external not
internal causes, and thus divert the
discussions of political reform into
discussions of what he calls «Syrian
occupation.» This was confirmed by his
statement that the «war of liberation is
more urgent than reform...»
By focusing on Syria, Aoun aimed at
marginalizing the role of the Lebanese
nationalist forces who have _ been
pushing for reform of the sectarian
system for more than a_ decade.
Simultaneously, the general aimed to
besiege Syrian and force it to abandon
its opposition to the reactionary forces’
sectarian project. On this level, Aoun’s
war is closely connected to the regional
situation, and fits into the US and
Israeli plans for isolating Syria in order
to break its opposition to Camp David.
At the same time, Aoun’s provoca-
tion of a new, relentless war provides a
cover for all the Lebanese reactionary
forces that want to avoid political
reform in order to secure the privileges
accorded to the Maronite Christians by
the prevailing sectarian system. This
was apparent in the statement of
18
Phalangist Party President George
Saadeh, who is also a major figure in
the Lebanese Front which groups all the
Lebanese reactionary parties: «The
Front is not opposed to political
reforms, but we cannot turn to political
reforms at a time when a shower of
shells are falling on us...» Thus, Saadeh
hopes that the Lebanese will forget that
it was his Phalangist Party that
unleashed the bloody civil war 14 years
ago, to break the power of the Lebanese
nationalist forces and their Palestinian
allies, in order to ward off democratic
popular change.
For these reasons,Aoun is determin-
ed to continue his war to the end,
because any backing down on his part
would defeat his presidential aspira-
tions. Initially, Aoun attained partial
success on this level, for the urgency of
stopping the fighting replaced the
urgency of political reform. Thus,
Aoun’s shelling of the Lebanese people
was also a shelling of the Arab League
committee, converting it into a cease-
fire committee rather than a body
searching for a more lasting solution.
INTERNATIONALIZATION
Since they represent a minority of the
Lebanese people, the Lebanese reac-
tionary forces have never been capable
of imposing their project in all of
Lebanon, as Aoun now tries to do. This
was even the case when Israel staged an
all-out invasion of Lebanon in 1982,
thinking this would bring about a pro-
Israeli government. Nonetheless, Aoun
began his war based on the assumption
that he could rally external support
from the imperialist powers for his
drive against Syria. It became obvious
that he had surpassed the limits of
reason in his calculations. When his
expectations were not filled, he put
himself in the awkward position of
Castigating his potential allies, even
attacking the US for its refusal to
become involved in a new adventure in
Lebanon. «The US secretary of state
says that the US is incapable of doing
anything to help Lebanon. This is a
plot. America is not incapable, but
America is taking part in a conspiracy
of silence regarding the destruction of
Lebanon by Syria.» So said Aoun in
response to US Secretary of State
Baker’s remarks: «We make a lot of
statements and sometimes it is
frustrating to think that is really about
all we can do... We have scant influence
with the Syrians.»
The US is certainly not involved in
any conspiracy to protect Syria as Aoun
says. In fact, itis the US that has armed
and trained the part of the Lebanese
Army which is fighting for Aoun. Aoun
himself is the type of leader the US
would like to see heading a strong cen-
tral government which controls all of
Lebanon. In this light, one can under-
stand Aoun’s tirade as a plea for more
aid, rather than a criticism of US
policy.
The point is that the US is deeply
convinced of the futility of getting
directly involved in the Lebanese con-
flict, especially after the failure of its
earlier efforts to bolster Amin
Gemayel’s presidency in the wake of
the Israeli invasion. Moreover, US
priorities in the Middle East at present
focus on bailing its top ally, Israel, out
of the dilemma imposed on it by the
Palestinian intifada. The US is not
ready to go out on a limb to help lesser
allies like Aoun, but prefers to let the
Lebanese crisis boil on its own, in hopes
that this will sap the energies of Syria,
the Palestinian resistance and the
Lebanese nationalist forces. In this
light, the US prefers to express support
to the Arab League efforts. «The US
supports the Arab League initiative to
bring an early end to the fighting, so
that negotiations can begin to resolve
the problems at the roots of the
Lebanese crisis,» said the US am-
bassador to Lebanon, John MacCar-
thy.
The Soviet Union also refused to
respond to Aoun’s blackmail that if in-
ternational efforts were not forthcom-
ing, he would destroy Lebanon. The
Soviet leader Gorbachev stated, «The
Soviet Union will do its best to help the
Lebanese people, but the Lebanese
crisis has to be viewed from the angle of
the Middle East problem.» The Soviet
Union’s refusal of internationalization
is based on awareness that it is difficult
to solve the Lebanese crisis in isolation
of the Arab-Israeli conflict and its core,
the Palestinian cause. Accordingly, the
Soviet Union supports the efforts of the
Arab League Committee, and thinks >
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