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<h2 style='margin-bottom:6.0pt'><b><font size=2 color="#999999"
face="Trebuchet MS"><span lang=EN style='font-size:9.5pt'><a
href="http://lebop.blogspot.com/2005/11/lebanese-poles-of-strength-mehlis-is.html">http://lebop.blogspot.com/2005/11/lebanese-poles-of-strength-mehlis-is.html</a></span></font></b><font
color=black><span lang=EN style='color:windowtext'><br>
</span></font><span lang=EN>Thursday, November 03, 2005</span></h2>
<h3 style='margin-right:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:0pt;margin-bottom:
.0001pt'><a name=113102106706760379></a><b><font size=5 color="#cc6600"
face=Georgia><span lang=EN style='font-size:17.0pt;font-family:Georgia;
color:#CC6600;font-weight:normal'><br>
Lebanese Poles of Strength - Mehlis is Lebanon's Backbone </span></font></b></h3>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:19.2pt'><font size=3 color="#333333"
face=Georgia><span lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Georgia;
color:#333333'>As the fine citizens of the Gulf pour into Beirut to celebrate
the Muslim Holiday of Eid al Fitr and clog the streets of Hamra asking
pedestrians where to find the nearest brothel (this happened to me four times
last night in a ten minute period), Lebanese politicians are back to their old
tricks.<br>
<br>
Lebanese politicians are unfamiliar with accountability. They believe that the
job of the politician is to bend and sway with every issue. They have no set
ideology, and few have red lines that cannot be crossed - besides getting
themselves elected to their next term. If you think the politicians where you
live are bad, meet the luminaries we've got here.<br>
<br>
<strong><b><font face=Georgia><span style='font-family:Georgia'>The Three Poles
of Political Strength</span></font></b></strong><br>
<br>
The three groups below are not typical Lebanese political groups. They are much
more powerful and have far more credibility precisely because they do not bend
on the most important issues to them. That is their primary source of political
power.<br>
<br>
1) The Maronite Patriarch<br>
<br>
The Patriarch will always exercise more power than a politician. The same could
probably be said about Muslim religious leaders. <br>
The Patriarch serves at the behest of the Pope, and can only be removed by him.
He is not elected. His power emanates from Rome, and no one in this country can
undermine that (not even supporters of Michel Aoun during wartime).<br>
<br>
The Patriarch is a partisan figure. He makes no claims to representing all of
Lebanon. He has little interest in the needs of Sunni and Shia. He is the
leader of the Maronite community, but also the leader of any Catholic and any
other Christian group in communion with the Pope in the region. His religious
authority spans continents.<br>
<br>
The Patriarch is not a Lebanese leader. He is a spiritual leader who resides in
Lebanon. His duty is to care for his flock, and to such extent he defrays
battles within his community. He protects the interests of his people and
involves himself in politics because politics guides Lebanon more than
spirituality. The Pope tried to assert influence on the EU Constitution.<br>
<br>
Pope John Paul II chastized Latin American priests for their involvement in
politics. The very same Pope created the position of Cardinal for Patriarch
Butrus Nasrallah Sfeir. The Pope changed his plans to visit Lebanon after Samir
Geagea was imprisoned, as noted in William Harris' Faces of Lebanon.<br>
<br>
The Patriarch will not allow Maronites and Uniate Christians to be undermined
in the chaos of Lebanon. He does not involve himself in the minutiae of
Parliamentary debate. His red lines are broad and general, but firm.<br>
<br>
<br>
2) Hezbollah<br>
<br>
Hezbollah refuses to negotiate. They're strength isn't so much in their
anti-Israeli rhetoric as much as it is in their refusal to negotiate about removing
their weapons. As long as they refuse to broach the topic, the majority of
Lebanese politicians will appease them, and Hezbollah will remain in a skewed
position of power.<br>
<br>
Hezbollah's weapons also prevent debate on other issues. The threat of violence
prevents groups from speaking publicly in favor of stabilizing relations with
Israel, removing weapons from Syrian backed Palestinians, and foreign policy
amongst other issues.<br>
<br>
Hezbollah's weapons are targeted by the international community, thus their power
is constantly checked - unlike the Patriarch. Hezbollah also operates at the
behest of two countries that do not serve the interests of Lebanon. Hezbollah
is not serving a flock that independently chooses to follow a leader. Hezbollah
is serving leaders that want to command the flock.<br>
<br>
In doing such, Hezbollah undermines their own community, even if they maintain
their own strength. Ayatollah Fadlallah, a man with the respect of the flock,
has been moved aside because he does not subscribe to every political view
emanating from Teheran. The people endowed Fadlallah with his title, but he
cannot fully exercise his role because of the political games being played by
Hezbollah and Amal in the name of Syria and Iran.<br>
<br>
<br>
3) The Hariri Family<br>
<br>
This is the least stable pole of the three.<br>
<br>
Rafiq al Hariri was a billionaire politician. That put him in the same league
as Silvio Berlusconi, Michael Bloomberg, and Thaksin Shinawatra. But unlike the
others, his power was always tied to the interests of Syria and Saudi Arabia.
Those two nations exerted actual power on him that he could not resist, despite
his massive wealth.<br>
<br>
The Hariri family is currently freeing itself from the burden of Syria. The
process of doing this has gained them increased authority, not only from
political resolutions, but also a sense of moral authority.<br>
<br>
However, like all other Lebanese politicians who lived under Syria, the Hariri
family is unfamiliar with governmental accountability. The Hariri family,
including Shaheed Rafiq, are not a bunch of wise politicians. Neither are
Berlusconi and Bloomberg. However, unlike the former, the Hariri family does
not have a specific agenda it is interested in enacting. Rafiq Hariri wanted to
rebuild Lebanon and make it Singapore on the Mediterranean (ie, one of the best
countries in the world). But his family has not shown similar desires.<br>
<br>
However, unlike other Lebanese political families, the Hariri's employ an army
of brilliant advisers. The Hariri family is not only waging a political war.
They are waging wars on many fronts, from making the advertising market fair
(ie, into a market) to breaking diamond and jewels monopolies.<br>
<br>
The problem is that the family has not attacked politics in post-Feb. 14
Lebanon with the same aggression with which they attack the private sector. The
learning curve is steep, and there aren't too many Lebanese political advisers
advocating a shift. In fact, the biggest players in Lebanese politics are all
telling Saad Hariri - the leader of the family - to negotiate. Druze leader
Walid Jumblatt (who is somewhat of a pole, but the dynamics are changing
quickly in the post-Syrian Druze community) and members of the Future Movement
are frightened to take any risks. They've never really done so before. Jumblatt
and An-Nahar editor-in-Chief Gebran Tueni have taken the most risks of any of
them, but even they are more cautious than they should be.<br>
<br>
The Hariri family has learned the hard way that other political groups and even
other politicians within their own parliamentary bloc (like Walid Jumblatt) are
not on the same page about the most crucial issue to the family: finding out
the truth about the assassination and prosecuting the criminals. This is the
only red line for the Hariri family, and yet members of their own coalition are
crossing it. Now, Lebanese Forces Commander Samir Geagea is negotiating with
Hezbollah.<br>
<br>
The problem is that the Hariri family has not codified a specific agenda. The
agenda was Rafiq's, and it partially died with him. His vision was not
presented in policy papers because Syria would not have allowed that. We have
to believe his closest aides to find out what his plan was. Saad Hariri and
Nazek Hariri - the former Prime Minister's wife - might not even know.<br>
<br>
This leads to another problem: different factions within the family and within
the Future Movement use Rafiq Hariri's legacy in different ways. There isn't
one set agenda.<br>
<br>
<em><i><font face=Georgia><span style='font-family:Georgia'>Mehlis' influence
on the Hariri family</span></font></i></em><br>
<br>
The Mehlis Commission investigating the assassination is keeping the Hariri
family and the Future Movement in line during a troubling time. Saad Hariri had
a tremendous amount thrown on him. He is not the perfect politician by any
means, but he has learned a lot in a short amount of time. Bahia Hariri - the
former prime minister's sister and sitting parliamentarian - has still not
gotten over the death of her brother.<br>
<br>
The Mehlis Commission is entirely setting the agenda for the Hariri family.
Mehlis is defining their enemies and creating a political agenda for them -
like reforming the security apparatus and removing all of the spying tools they
and Syria implanted all over this country.<br>
<br>
The Hariri family is no longer just another political family in Lebanon
(although they never were). They are Lebanon's family. UN resolutions and
international declarations are made to bring peace to them, but also to bring
stability and peace to Lebanon. Lebanon's independence is being built on this
family's sorrow. And everyone in Lebanon believes that they should have the
truth. Even Syria and Lebanese political parties allied with it have declared
that they want the Hariri family to have the truth. The issue is not
negotiatiable.<br>
<br>
The Hariri family has an agenda for all of Lebanon unlike the Patriarch and
Hezbollah. The repercussions of Hariri family actions effect all of us, and for
the better.<br>
<br>
The Hariri family must recognize its strength and allow the technocrats within
the organization to unleash their wrathe against Syrian apologists and the
constructors of terrorism.<br>
<br>
<br>
<em><b><i><font face=Georgia><span style='font-family:Georgia;font-weight:bold'>Widening
the debate</span></font></i></b></em><br>
<br>
The debate in Lebanon must be widened. We cannot stand by and say that everyone
is okay simply because they are Lebanese.<br>
<br>
Hezbollah likes to assert that some Christians are negotiating with Israel.
Well, let's put a face to an assertion. Instead of convicting the entire
Lebanese Christian population, let's have a Lebanese politician held
accountable for his views. Let him loudly advocate his support for Israel, and
then the debate can begin.<br>
<br>
It is often claimed that Christians want to ally with France. Where are all of
the French advocacy groups?<br>
<br>
We are hiding in Syrian shadows. Our voices should ring loud now.<br>
Once the voices are made clear, most conspiracies will shatter. </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:19.2pt'><font size=3 color="#333333"
face=Georgia><span lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Georgia;
color:#333333'> </span></font></p>
<p class=post-footer><font size=3 color="#cccccc" face="Times New Roman"><span
lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt'>posted by lebanon.profile at <a
href="http://lebop.blogspot.com/2005/11/lebanese-poles-of-strength-mehlis-is.html"
title="permanent link"><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
9.5pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS";text-transform:uppercase;letter-spacing:1.2pt'>2:55
AM</span></font></a></span></font></p>
<p class=post-footer><font size=3 color="#cccccc" face=Georgia><span lang=EN
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Georgia'><a
href="http://lebop.blogspot.com/2005/11/lebanese-poles-of-strength-mehlis-is.html">http://lebop.blogspot.com/2005/11/lebanese-poles-of-strength-mehlis-is.html</a></span></font></p>
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