Is Lebanon Getting Larger?

I wonder if the actual square km of Lebanon is going to change with the propsed changes of the lebanese map, especially fi the other town (forgot what it is called) is also going to be condisered Lebanese. My take on this whole issue is if Syria wants to give up it land to Lebanon so be it, I am glad to grab more land, it is not like the SYria has demonstrated any respect for its own land with they way they are treated Golan. Let me know if you know the answer, will geography books have to be re-published after if we grow??

A Year Ago

This is an email I wrote a year ago about how I see things will play out. It is unfortunate that we are still discussing the same things today without any concrete resolutions. Wonder where we will be in a year from now...


The movement's soul purpose is to restore dignity and legitimacy to the Lebanese government, in no way is this a movement to weaken Hezbollah and in no way is it to undermine the Shiite population in Lebanon. That being said, the opposition movement in Lebanon wants to see Hezbollah dis-armed and included in any new government that is formed in the future. The problem with Hezbollah now is that they need to figure out how they can become an effective party that deals with Lebanese issues and not regional issues. Their main political topics have always been the isreali/Palestinian issue, although they offer a lot in terms of civil services, they never really spearheaded any internal Lebanese issues, this is their new challenge. If they make the wrong choice then possibly there will be some bloodshed that you referred to but on a very minimal scale. The notion that every Lebanese has an AK47 stacked underneath their mattress loaded and ready to fight is not true, the major social and economical factors that were the catalyst to the civil war in the 70s and 80s no longer exist, therefore I do not see any vulnerability to the disintegration of the fabric of Lebanon now. And if anything the two major military powers in Lebanon after the Syrians leave will be Hezbollah and the army, I don't think Hezbollah will confront the army in any way shape or form. In any case this is a topic that cannot be summed up in one email, in terms of Hezbollah, I am of the opinion that they will be wiser than that and will accept to play a more streamlined role in Lebanon for fear of loosing their support on the street if they keep on playing the Syrian card. And by the end of it they will disarm.

In response to your claim that the Lebanese are under an illusion that things will become heavenly after the Syrians leave, my answer to you is Ofcourse things will become heavenly :). For the first time for more than 29 years there will be no foreign troops on Lebanese soil
(Sheba 'a farms are Syrian, no question about it) it is time to rejoice and embrace the country as our own.

The upcoming parliamentary elections will be the the tell all sign on how will the Lebanese are united to work together to achieve the goals of the opposition movement in the country, as long as the elections are held in a fair manner. If the opposition wins majority I think it will be easy to remove all pro-syrian officials from rule which range from ministers, judges, and officers in the army, especially if Johnny A'abdo is elected as President. Although I am not so sure if its in the oppositions plans to sack Emile after the elections; there will be no point of sacking him now cause the pro-syrian parliament will elect a new pro-syrian president and he will be around for another 6 years instead of Emile's 3 years...
Plus you will find very few Lebanese that do not want a good relationship with Syria, I believe in a strong relationship with our neighbor, but as long as its not under the current regime or at least the current ideologies of this regime. I would like to see the majority rule in Syria, it's next.

The Shackles of War

When will we be able to unlock the dreadful weight of the civil war, when will we be able to walk hand in hand as Lebanese? I do not proclaim to have the answers but I would like to have a self reflection session and hopefully come to a conclusion.

Our political leaders are mainly the same ones that we had during the civil war and we are torn between the same demagogue that placed the shackles so tightly around our ankles. They proclaim a new way and we flock to them like sheep flock to their shepard. Lebanon's problems are in its politicians just as much as they are in its people, the problems cannot be solved by the ones that are themselves the problem.

Some of these politicians have been able to adapt to change better that others, let us take for example our number 1 politicians that has the ability to morph with the seasons, Jumblatt. In my opinion he is has been able to do an outstanding job in reflecting what many Lebanese would like to hear our politicians say. I was having a discussion with a Lebanese during my visit in December and he told me a joke that was his closing argument of our discussion which goes something like this a Fox walks up to a Lion and says I will fight you as long as you have one hand tied to the pole, the lion agrees with the fox's condition without hesitation, once the lion was tied up to the pole the fox left him there, the lion was pissed he is tied to a pole and cannot free himself, he ended up having to beg a mouse to free him. Once the mouse did free him, the lion started sprinting away, the mouse screamed out asking the lion where is he going, the lion replied back I am leaving the f'ed up land where a fox complicates things and a mouse solves the problem (I am afraid that some elements of the joke have been lost in translation) but basically the reference to the mouse was Jumblatt where now he is trying to solve Lebanon's problems by trying to paint himself as the true champion of Lebanon's problems. So far he has me convinced, my true Lebanese champion has always been Hariri and will continue to be Hariri. Some do not trust Jumblat due to his past, but political pasts in Lebanon have little weight, just because Jumblat dealt with the Syrians previously does not mean that he cannot be trusted now. Many true Lebanese politicians dealt with the Syrians because I truly believe they had no other choice. Unlike Aoun, who many proclaim that he is anti Syrian and the notion that he is not power hungry and that he would not do anything to become president are absolutely wrong, dead wrong. The argument that he could have been president in 1990 where all he had to do is say YES, but said NO is a flawed argument; the fact that he said NO and decided to start a war which its sole outcome if he had succeeded would have been a canteen state and not the country that we want in the future. He said NO not because he wanted the Syrians out, he said also said NO because he wanted to be president on his own terms at any cost even if it meant segregating Lebanon, that is what is so scary about the "lunatic" as he is known by many people that used to be close to him.
I have the following questions to the Aoun supporters, let us say that he was the commander of the army in these times like he was under Jemayel, do u think

• Would he have pandered to the Syrians and HA in hopes he becomes president one day?

or

• Would he have joined the March 14th movement?

Also I would like the Aoun supporters to respond to a famous quote of his which he said a while back in today's climate "Wayloon le omatoon todedhy be shababiha min ajlee shibaha"