Michel Samaha or Michel Aoun... search for the role

Names are not important in Lebanon. What is important is for anybody to accept playing the role he is asked to play under the predetermined terms. The latest plot against Lebanon's security could have seen the involvement of another name than the former minister Michel Samaha. It could be Michel Aoun or even Elie Hobeika if the latter was still alive. It also could be anyone belonging to the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP),or any other Syrian regime-associated party in Lebanon. Regardless of the names or titles, what is important is that whoever was chosen out of the Christian Lebanese citizens to serve the Syrian strategy in Lebanon, must stick to what he is assigned to do. This strategy has been applied constantly throughout the last four decades, or since Hafez al-Assad was appointed a defence minister in Syria in 1966, to be declared a president four years later. This strategy was always spiteful to Lebanon and all the successes that could be achieved in this small country, or even in Syria itself. It was based on the concept of defeating Lebanon as a compensation to failure in defeating Israel, this concept is what that strategy is all about. People go but the strategy remains, and keeping the Lebanese Christian community divided is always the goal. Whoever has doubts over this can just recall the efforts exerted by the Syrian regime and its associates in the years 1989 and 1990 to erupt Christian-Christian fights in Lebanon, between the Christian brigades led by Michel Aoun, commander of the state's army then, and the Lebanese Forces, which was still a partisan militia at the time. Is there anybody who remembers that Aoun -who once claimed hostility to Hafez al-Assad and alliance with Saddam Hussein- was actually receiving military and oil suuplies from the SSNP , Elie Hobeika and others, only to prolong the war he was involved in against the Lebanese Forces in order to cause the maximum damage possible in Lebanon as a whole and in the Christian neighbourhoods in particular? It is always useful to go slightly back into history and recall certain events, if one need to make sure that the Syrian regime has been always working on dividing Lebanon by using various methods. Amongst these methods is finding a Christian figure who seeks power regardless of any harms he would cause to his people on his way to power. The Syrian regime has been always ready to support any Christian figure, or Lebanese in general, who has no problem in being a tool in the Syrian regime's hands. Who could believe that Damascus will one day open its doors for Elie Hobeika, who was known to be a close friend to the Israelis? Who could believe that a man who believes in nothing of what he says like Michel Samaha could be dealt with as the most important Lebanese figure by the Syrian regime, as well as being one of Syria's men in France? Of course we can't forget Michel Aoun who had beaten all Syria's men in Lebanon in kneeling to the Syrian regime, only for the sake of being named as Lebanon's president one day. We can jump over listing the details of the story of the late Lebanese President Suleiman Frangieh with the Syrian regime, when the latter decided to close the Lebanese-Syrian borders in 1973 as a response to the Lebanese army's move to impose control over the Palestinian camps and prevent the spread of arms outside them. At this time, the Lebanese move was just essential to the Palestinians' safety, as well as to protect civil peace in Lebanon. But Frangieh could do nothing as Damascus was keen on using the Palestinians' arms in inciting a civil war in Lebanon, in which the Muslims and Christians killed each other, only to serve the Syrian agenda. We can also jump over the dreadful crime of assassinating President Frangieh' son, Tony, along with his wife and children in order to deepen the rift within the Christian community in Lebanon. This made it easier for the Syrians to keep their control over Lebanon. Each crime in Lebanon has its own story, and every sect, city, region in Lebanon has its own story with the Syrian regime as well; the regime which enabled Iran to have a major influence on the Shiite community in Lebanon, and the regime which had always targeted the Sunni community, even before the Sunnis have raised the slogan of "Lebanon First". This proved that the late Rafiq Hariri was not the Syrian regime's last enemy amongst the Sunnis, as his son Saad succeeded him in leading the Lebanese struggle for freedom, sovereignty and independence. Saad Hariri is one of the Lebanese voices expounding that the Arab, free and sovereign state of Lebanon will always resist all sorts of occupation and censorship. Finally, we will also jump over the details of the Lebanese Druze' story with the Syrian regime; starting with the assassination of Kamal Jumblatt and ending with forcing his son, Walid to be involved in the Hezbollah-controlled government led by Najib Mikati, after putting all the Druze villages under military threat. I reiterate that Michel Samaha as a person doesn't have great significance, regardless of the services he delivered to the Syrian regime. What is important is that Lebanon looks to be on the verge of a new era. Arresting Michel Samaha after charging him of such serious crimes is a sign that the Syrian regime's influence is over in Lebanon. What happened shouldn't be considered as the end of Michel Samaha or Michel Aoun (no big difference really). What happened has put an end to a strategy based on dividing Lebanon and keeping it under the censorship of a Syrian regime which is not capable of carrying out either peace or war with Israel. This strategy is what I have referred to before as the strategy of "escaping to the front". It is a strategy that ignores the core crisis of Syria and seeks delusive victories to be achieved by ill-minded leaders who know nothing about the region's history. As an example, those leaders don't know that defeating Lebanon will never compensate the failure in defeating Israel, and that all the repressive regimes that depend on these kinds of "victories" will end only at history's dustbin. Thus, all the names and tools used by this regime are not even worth mentioning, and all that can be said about them is that they were actors whose roles are over, and it is time for them to step down from the stage. --- The views expressed by the author do not necessarily represent or reflect the editorial policy of Arabstoday.