THE LEBANESE CANADIAN
COORDINATING COUNCIL (LCCC)

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E.Mail lccc@10452lccc.com
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19/10/2001

An Open letter to President George W. Bush
Mr. President may God give you the strength, wisdom and guidance to combat this new evil sweeping the world today. The Lebanese people fully support your desire to eradicate terrorism from the ground up.  We are sure that you will never allow terrorists to claim our beloved Lebanon as their prize for participation in the war against terrorism, nor to be used as a bargaining chip to lure any nation to negotiations, as was the bitter reality in 1990 when the Syrian regime was given a free hand in Lebanon as a prize for Assad's fig leaf cooperation in the Gulf war.

At this time, Lebanese live in fear every day.  We remain hostage to the very terrorists that threaten freedom and every shred of Lebanese culture; all we hold dear. The USA, a great and freedom-loving nation, is at war to preserve the same freedoms and democratic values that we too cherish. We know that your administration will never allow our identity, deeply rooted in 6000 years of civilization, to be extinguished and supplanted by another. We know that the US values and champions democracy and will not allow ours to be sold to the highest bidder, or used as collateral in exchange for barrels of oil.

The Lebanese have suffered tremendous terrorism at the hands of the Syrian hegemony: enslavement in their own land, arbitrary arrests, imprisonment and torture in notorious Syrian jails. There are no charges. No warrants. No trials, their crime? Nonviolent manifestations of their beliefs. They are patriots. They love their land. They cherish their freedom. The same freedom championed by the United States, and safeguarded by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Deprived of basic human rights, the Lebanese are oppressed, impoverished, humiliated and muzzled. They have become strangers in their own country hostages to a brutal and repressive occupation. Mafia style operations orchestrated by Syria and its installed Beirut regime are running the entire country; controlling every facet of Lebanese life from the kindergartens to the parliament. Lebanese schools and universities who once taught how to think are now, infiltrated by secret agents, attempting to teach students what to think. Phones are taped all over Lebanon. Oppression has become the norm in daily Lebanese life. This terrorism against the peaceful people of Lebanon has to stop.

Mr. President, Lebanon urges and implores you, your administration and the freedom-loving people of the US and the whole free world to speak with one clear, strong and united voice: insist upon the implementation of UN Resolution 520, which calls for the unconditional withdrawal of all foreign forces from Lebanese soil and for the respect of Lebanon's international borders and sovereignty.  This resolution is as important, and some would say more important, as UN resolutions 242 and 338 for stability and comprehensive and lasting peace in the Middle East.

Mr. President, support our quest against terrorism and hegemony against an oppressive regime that has occupied and persecuted innocent Lebanese for the last 25 years.  Resist the empty promises of our oppressors, who dream of annexing Lebanon and are using our country as a 'reward' or 'prize' to elicit their support in assisting the war against terrorism.  Please do not forget that it was the hand of Haffez Assad in the bombing of Pan Am 103, as well as in the killing of 243 US Marines in Beirut, as well as a host of other crimes against innocents Americans.

The whole world must be aware of the Syrian regime's cunning and deceptive tactics. This regime should be watched very carefully. It must be brought to task and put to the real test: is it for terrorism or against it? The free world cannot afford not to take a clear stand. The free world must encourage and support the peaceful, legitimate struggle of all those who oppose terrorism, tyranny and oppression. When freedom is at stake, there cannot be any double standard. Stand with us. Help Lebanon reclaim its independence. We know that you will do the right thing, for Lebanon, for the prevention of terrorism, and for just and lasting comprehensive peace in the Middle East.

Long live freedom forever.
Foreign Affairs Chairman
George Khoury