Victory Or Cease Fire?
The Lebanese media is filled with news about the Army’s “upcoming victory” against Fateh Al Islam. Was that just a face-saving cover for a pragmatic deal that would end up deporting the fighters and giving back control to the Palestinian factions?
To many of us Army supporters, we can’t help getting all cheesy when we see pictures like the above (from Annahar, H/T AKais) and read headlines like “Army To declare victory soon”, but are we being duped? Did the Army really “crush” Fateh Al Islam?
Aljazeera’s fly in the ointment:
وقالت المراسلة إن الاتفاق يتضمن وقفا لإطلاق النار من جانب تنظيم فتح الإسلام وموافقته على ترحيل مقاتليه العرب إلى خارج لبنان وتسليم سلاحه إلى فصيل فلسطيني إسلامي يعتقد أنه الجهاد الإسلامي.
وأشارت إلى أن الاتفاق يتضمن نشر قوة أمنية فلسطينية مشتركة في المخيم القديم والسماح بدخول خبراء لتفكيك الألغام وإزالتها من المخيم تمهيدا لإعادة النازحين.
Translation mine:
Aljazeera’s Lebanon correspondent reported that the initiative of the Palestine’s Association Of Scholars to end the fightings in Naher Al Bared reached its final stages, and it estimates reaching a ceasefire by tomorrow evening.
The Correspondent said that the agreement involves a ceasefire from Fateh Al Islam’s part and its agreeing to deport its Arab fighters outside of Lebanon and handing in their weapons to a Palestinian faction thought to be the Islamic Jihad.
She pointed out that the agreement also includes the deployment of Palestinian security forces in the old camp and allowing explosives experts to defuse the bombs in the camps before the refugees can come back.
Although this seems short of a complete victory, it is not as bad is it sounds on Aljazeera, which after all, has its strong biases. For example, Instead of writing “handing all the Lebanese terrorist members to the Army”, Aljazeera chose to write “deporting Arab fighters outside of Lebanon.”
The Army has still not officially approved the initiative, but at the same time, it didn’t post its usually prompt strong rebuttal of “any solution that does not involve the complete surrender of the militants” on its website.
Another question begs to be asked: Will the deported fighters be hosted by countries like Qatar, or will they end up in their country of origin’s legal systems?
I would appreciate your thoughts on this.
**update**
Aljazeera: The Lebanese Army’s leadership said that the only way to stop fighting is the handing over of the leaders of Fateh Al Islam
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Hello, my name is Mustapha and I blog in The Beirut Spring about Lebanese society and politics. I started in February 2005 after the killing of P.M. Rafik Hariri.
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If they let them loose, they’ll end up in Iraq, killing more innocent people.
Al-Jazeera story is a test baloon to check the reaction of the officials and the people. Several levels must approve the agreement (military, government and March 14) but short of full control of the whole “new camp” is not acceptable. Also, all fighters “terrorists” must give up their weapons and surrender and Lebanon will arrest everyone who fought against them and the ones who did not fight but were there (who were mislead) will be sent to their countries to be taken care of! The Lebanese will be taken care of by Lebanon. NONE will be left to go freely to anywhere they want to go to!!!
The old camp will have new arrangement (until now nothing is clear what kind of arrangement).
It would be so easy to “just deport” the people you consider rebellious to some other country, but is this country in fact willing to accept this scum?
(Not to mention the principle aversion I personally have against forced deportations)
I waited for this day!
Whata disapointment. It’s not even on the News?! Where is the end of the skirmish?
How will it end?
Who’s out? and who stays? After 72 Lebanese national soldiers dead… where the light at the end of the tunnel? SHOU??
Mon Cher Mustapha,
Anyone who’s concerned about “accomodotion” should recall your previous few postings, one of which you stated that you were one Sunni who could not be taken for granted.
The same apply to Druze, Christians, Buddhists… We’re all tired of half-baked, Cairo-style compromises.
This better be nothing more than a test balloon. And I for one, hope to see the government and our military reject anything half-baked like this.
I am pretty sure I speak for most of us here when I say that we are tired of these half-assed agreements and backdoor understandings that save face for X,Y or Z, while trampling all over the rule of law and the state sovereignty.
While I normally have nothing against dialogue and peaceful conflict resolution, there are a few things that I deem non-negotiable: Sovereignty over every square inch of Lebanon. And the rule of law (i.e. arresting anyone who breaks it, with no exceptions).
Thanks for the updates, Mustafa. I agree with everyone else whose disappointed with the half-baked and easy-way-out solution. When Hezbollah was left totally intact following Israel’s punishing war, it took it less than a month to declare that its weapons had been restocked. If we “deport” these terrorists, there’s no guarantee that they won’t make their way back through our fluid borders. Moreover, do we really trust “Islamic Jihad” with the caches of weapons ? Let the army keep them. The only way this soft solution will work is if the Palestinian security forces will be held 100% accountable next time something like this happens…no more “we-thought-they-were-just-here-to-spread-Islam”
It seems that the slogan “no winner no looser” that is the bases of lebanon’s tragedies applies to this war as well. It is ‘customary’ and ill-rooted lebanese tradition that no victory ought to be declared even if it involves lebanese army forces. Apparently declaring victory in Lebanon is a ‘taboo’ why? because it awakens sensitive emotions around the arab world in general and the islamic comunities in particular. Believe it or not, there is no overwhelming consent over the support of the lebanese army in its war with fateh-al-islam in lebanon! some fighters within this gang are lebanese detainees that were released as part of an orchestrated deal with the government paralelled with the release of Samir geagea. The ’sanctified preacher’ Fathi Yakan negotiated numerous attempts to stop the ‘carnage’ in the camp. Furthermore the islamic resistance which benefited of the overwhelming support of the lebanese, it its war against Israel, bald-facedly attempted to protect the assasins by drawing red lines and again reminding the lebanese one more time that in lebanon the Slogan ” no winner no looser” still stands. The ongoing tragedies are lebanon’s fate. What is happening in the nahr-el-bared is a cheap theatrical play where the hero fools the audience and declares victory, the applauds fill out the auditorium, the spectators are tricked one more time, the show is a success and the illusion prevails. Just for the record, there is one person among the audience who attends the play everyday, he’s addicted to it, still does not grasp the trick, he applauds everyday!!!!!!
The “no winner, no loser” slogan is my one most HATED slogan. EVER. (and i hope that says a lot).
That is the dumbest, stupidest, most idiotic, retarded, did i say idiotic already thing ever.
I agree that it has been the root cause for a large chunk of what has befallen Lebanon, not only these days, but going back to the origins of the Republic.
There is no such thing as “no winner no loser” in democracy. Democracy has a clear winner that is determined by elections and mandated to govern until his term expires. When people vote for option A in any normal country, over option B, it means they want option A (at least until the next elections).
By its very definition, the “no winner no loser” formula guarantees that neither option A nor option B ever get implemented. It guarantees that no governance of any kind is possible, because all it takes is ONE faction opposed to the consensus for policy to be shelved. And there’s always SOMEONE who’s unhappy with something.
This “Tous le monde a gagne” approach guarantees that nothing ever gets done and no one is ever held accountable for anything.
If the Lebanese armoured divisions do not invest the whole place, and the remaining survivors are not shown through the media channels waving their underwear at the tip of their rifles in surrender, then there is no victory.
And if the photo of a convoy of army trucks filled with the rest of the hideous scoundrels who decapitated the Lebanese soldiers in their sleep, shown with their hands cuffed behind their back, on their way to a military prison awaiting to appear before military court, does not appear on the front page of the morning papers, then our soldiers would have died in vain.
And if the commander in chief of the army along with his staff of officers are not shown inspecting on foot the entirely conquered place, then neither the army’s Honor or future, nor Lebanon’s are safe.
Ibrahim.
Deport them? Where to, Syria? So they can come right back for round Two? My advice to the Army & March 14…
JUST SAY NO
Arrest the criminals, give them a fair trial, then send them to prison for life. I’m OK with the death penalty for the ones who attaked the soldiers in their sleep. Anything else would be business as usual, and that is not acceptable.
I told you, Al-Jazeerah story was a test balloon! The news are our brave Lebanese Army is in control of the new camp and is surrounding the old camp. The Army told the Palestinians in the old camp that they will hit back if they got hit at! And demanding that the weapons of Fateh Al-Islam even the small arms to be given to the Army in addition to everyone involved in the killing of the Lebanese soliders. God bless our soldiers!