Analysis from the Guardians of the Cedars in France

The last declaration of Dr. Bachar Al Assad concerning the Syrian presence in Lebanon shows the son is following in the steps of his father, and that peace in the Middle East will not be forthcoming. Syria has occupied Lebanon since 1976, and although Syrian soldiers were in Lebanon before the beginning of the war in 1975. Syria leaders have justified the presence of their army on our sacred land Lebanon by pretending to stop the civil war between the Lebanese and to halt the partition of Lebanon. Also, for a certain time, Syria justified the presence of its army in Lebanon by pretending to help the Lebanese against Israeli aggression. Now, Israel has left but Syria is still maintaining 35,000 soldiers in Lebanon, and is still the de facto ruler of Lebanon because the Presidency, members of the government and parliament are selected and controlled by Syrian leaders. Because of these facts, we publish this statement concerning the history of Syrian presence in Lebanon.

On the 20th of July 1976, the late dictator of Syria Hafez Al Assad announced during a speech he gave in Damascus the following:

1. "On the middle of January 1976, the Aramoun summit was held in the presence of the (Palestinian) Resistance Fronts and the Lebanese political parties who called themselves the Nationalists. Our minister of foreign affairs was asked to intervene urgently with President Sleiman Frangié to ask him to stop the fighting. Half an hour later, they send us a new directive. I rejected their requests because they had to resist and I knew that they were prepared. Their call astonished me because the Palestinian resistance had more weapons than the Lebanese army, and the latter was not even participating in the battle. Thus, the political effort and all the arms they are receiving were not sufficient for them to hold and the only choice left to us was to intervene directly. We send men under the cover of the Army of Liberation of Palestine."
2. "After the Aramoun summit, Kamal Joumblatt came to see me and we explained to him that we are already with him, since the Army of Liberation of Palestine and other forces have already entered Lebanon"
3. "During the conversation with M. Joumblatt, the president Sleiman Frangié phoned me and told me that there are Syrian soldiers who have entered Lebanon. I answered him that there is a red line concerning the Palestinians, and it's unacceptable for you to cross this line".
4. "Our soldiers were present in the Palestinian camps in Beirut and Tripoli, since at least three years, to help these camps to resist their enemies".

The speech of Hafez Al Assad reveals clearly that Syria invaded Lebanon not because some president asked her, but to assist the so called Palestinian resistance. Also, the speech indicates that Syria was already involved in the war against Lebanon since she had troops fighting with the Palestinians, Syrian soldiers who were present in Lebanon since 1973, two years before the beginning of the Lebanese-Palestinian war. Therefore, Syria was manipulating the Palestinians and some Lebanese as she had been doing for the last 25 years in order to maintain its control over Lebanon. Syria has no legal rights over Lebanon or any legal presence in Lebanon. She should simply leave Lebanon, and the sooner will be better for all the Middle-East area.

The guardians of the cedars.