It’s painful enough to listen to Michel Aoun preach about the alleged failure of the American model, and how he allegedly made all the successful choices in the past. But now Sunni Mount Lebanon mufti, Mohammad Ali al-Jouzou has sailed into the Aoun-Hizbullah twilight zone:
The Mufti of Mount Lebanon Sheikh Mohammed Ali al-Jouzou said he approved of the position of Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun with regard to broadening the culture of resistance among the Lebanese population, especially among Christian factions. Jouzou said in a statement issued on Sunday that having Muslims and Christians carrying weapons to resist Israel, in cooperation with the army, would be “the most honorable battle” and a “great achievement and historical event.”
Jouzou said he was ready to even go further and ask for the immediate implementation of Aoun’s “great” defense strategy, starting with the training of all youth in the use of weapons and establish mixed Christian-Muslim military bases. He also encouraged spreading weapons among all citizens so that they could integrate themselves with army brigades in order to become a parallel army.
“That is why I call for distributing weapons to all youth trainees, and giving licenses so that weapon carriers are not attacked, as is currently happening. No citizen of the North, Beirut, or Bekaa would be arrested for carrying weapons, in the same way as citizens of the South, Dahiyeh, and Ramil al-Ali are allowed to carry weapons and roam with them everywhere without any objection,” he said. “General Aoun’s request is fair, because we all become one [equal] before the army and security forces. Our youth will not be imprisoned if weapons are found on them, whether they carry a license or not, while others roam with their weapons freely because they are weapons of the Resistance,” he said.
Jouzou said that justice in the country was seen from only one perspective, because all those accused of terrorism were Sunni. He called on March 14 to approve Aoun’s defense strategy proposal which “transforms the Lebanese population into a resisting population; accordingly, our weapons become resistance weapons like Hezbollah’s weapons.” (Now Lebanon)
I don’t believe this was sarcasm. And for the record, I expected nothing enlightening from that man. But what we have here is a prime example of why, one day after Lebanese independence day, this nation is doomed thanks to the prevalence of such trash. Although on the opposite end of the political spectrum, they embody the failure of the Lebanese model, where religious clerics play dangerous politics, and MPs behave like de-facto presidents, or prime ministers, dictating policy, and threatening violence, as Aoun did if elections don’t go his way.
So it’s really rich for Aoun and others like him to claim that the American model “failed”. The only failure I see is what they exhibit day after day in Lebanon. Despite the harsh economic conditions we are living, and the effects of the Iraq war, the United States has not collapsed. The election of Obama, whether you like him or not, and the hope that is driving so many, including those of us who just began to live the American dream, stand in sharp contrast to Lebanon’s pathetic political class, lack of democratic spirit, and the abject subservience to foreign agendas at the expense of national interests. Look no further than John McCain’s concession speech to understand what America stands for. Contrast with the above examples, which, though not representative of Lebanon's potential, are nevertheless the reason why so many of us have stopped looking towards our country of origin for inspiration.
