13th of October 1990, the day of the heinous crime
By: Elias Bejjani
13/10/03
On the 13th of October 1990, the invading Syrian army launched a vicious attack against the legitimate government of free Lebanon and completed its conquest of the whole country. That day will be remembered in history as "the day of the heinous crime". Local collaborators, traitors, leftist and rightist militias, drug traffickers, mercenaries, thieves, Mafias and imposters, all put their differences aside and joined forces with the Syrian invading troops, marching towards the presidential palace in Baaba to assassinate Lebanon's independence and democracy.

As the Syrians and their collaborators seized power in the bloody attack, executing Nazi-style several hundred Lebanese Army soldiers with a bullet in the back in the head, Lebanon began its descent into the deep-freeze of the Syrian occupation, with all the attributes that it has as a vulgar imitation of the Soviet Gulag. Lebanon's free decision-making process was eliminated, its sovereignty surrendered, and its freedom assassinated. They occupied the country by force while the whole world watched silently. Lebanon was handed over to Syria on a silver platter as booty for its superficial participation in the Gulf war under the umbrella of the Western coalition.

The West sacrificed Lebanon and betrayed all principles to appease Syria. It willingly agreed to the crime and gave Syria full control over the country. In the aftermath of the battles, hundreds of military personnel and civilians were arrested, tortured and brutally mutilated and/or murdered. Thousands others were transferred to the infamous detention centers of Syria, including priests and high-ranking army officers. Most of the detainees were never heard from since, and to date files for about 250 of them suggest they remain alive in the stalinist jails of Syria, languishing without due process, trial, or any semblance of charges ever brought against them. Whereas history has seen similar atrocities committed by other dictatorships, it is the criminal wantonness and vulgarity of the Syrian regime and its practices that add so much more insult to injury.

The Lebanese army, supported by the people, stood up to the invaders and tried heroically to stop the aggressors. Unfortunately they were outnumbered. Moreover, the red line imposed by Israel on Syria preventing the latter from flying its airforce over Lebanese airspace was lifted by Israel and the US for just that day to allow the Syrian regime to bomb the Lebanese government into submission and exile. This gave the Syrians the edge to get the job done. This is ironic as we see both the US and Israel, now after three decades, finally target the real source of terror - Syria.

On October 13th, 1990, hundreds of innocent heroes offered their lives happily to save Lebanon's honor and dignity. Thousands others were persecuted, arrested, humiliated, assaulted, displaced or forced into exile. In spite of all the oppression and transgressions inflicted on the people of Lebanon, they kept their heads up, never bowed, and refused to lose hope or give in to helplessness. The head of the government Prime Minister General Michel Aoun rose with the slogan, "We shall by God's will continue with those who remain" and the people followed in his step.

Thirteen years have passed and the massacre remains vivid in the memories of the Lebanese people who, in their vast majority, still refuse to recognize the Taif Accord, the accord of humiliation and shame. They are now, more than ever, convinced that this agreement imposed on Lebanon was a poison pill prepared by Lebanon's enemies in a bid to destroy its unique multiculturalism, coexistence formula, freedoms, democracy, sovereignty and independence.

We the people of free Lebanon have lost many battles, but we shall win the war. For who said patriotic struggles for liberation are determined by one battle? Yes we lost the battle, but with dignity and honor we fight on peacefully in all forums that are available to us because we are on the right side of history and the law. The legitimate rights of Lebanon are those of a nation that was a charter member of the United Nations, long before the majority of today's UN member states even existed. Lebanon's ambassador to the UN, Dr. Charles Malek co-wrote the Charter of Human Rights and the Universal Declaration.

We did not betray our country, or had petty ambitions for political office;
We maintained Lebanon's dignity and refused to sell our conscience to foreigners;
We loudly and courageously said: "NO" to the occupiers and to their local installed puppets, and still we refuse to recognize their illegal 'legitimacy';
We rejected and still reject the status quo of occupation and humiliation;
We extended our hands in peace to all regions and communities of Lebanon, and to every Lebanese;
We requested a national dialogue among all Lebanese;
We endeavored to make every Lebanese a free person, but they muffled our voices and tried to drown us into submission;
We spoke with logic, justice and rationality for Lebanon's future, and they smashed us to erect a state of outlaws and collaborators who reduced Lebanon's vibrant middle class into poverty, humiliation, emigration, and crime.

All we did, and still do, is to reject the "Taif Accord" because we refuse subservience and collaboration. We strive to preserve the prosperity and dignity of the great people of Lebanon and its 7,000-year old history and civilization. All they did under the guise of the "Taif accord", and still do, is destroy the country and turn it into a haven for terrorists, a wheeling-and-dealing state for embezzlement, robberies, drug trafficking, and cronyism. They mortgaged the next generation's future through foreign debts, destroyed every ethical and moral code, betrayed the distinct Lebanese identity, and displaced the people of Lebanon to replace them with foreigners and change the demography of the country.

To those who sold the country and still do under the "Taif Accord" camouflage: Don't be too happy with the riches, power and positions you stole from the people. Always remember that you rose on the backs of innocent and decent citizens, and at the expense of the increasingly poor people of Lebanon. You are where you are because of the occupant's rifle and cannon. Your public status is fake and transient, as are your riches and fortunes. Your punishment for your crimes is within you, for there is no humanity in your soul, and you have no conscience, no remorse, and no genuine feelings. Your greatest punishment is that you are void of everything that is righteous and ethical. All you have stolen will be lost once the occupation is over. You will answer to the people and the people shall have no mercy on its traitors.

Judgment day is imminent and you shall pay for your crimes and Lebanon shall be again an oasis for freedom and an asylum for the persecuted.

Long Live Free Lebanon.