August 15, 2007
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

EDITORIAL

Say no to army candidates for president

The unfolding events in Lebanon has added to the roaster of presidential candidates yet another army general as Army Commander Michel Suleiman, empowered by the army’s performance during clashes in the north, implicitly pushed forward with his candidacy.

Suleiman met Maronite Patriarch Mar Nasrallah Burtos Sfeir and later gave a speech in which he talked about the necessity of implementing the Taef Agreement. Political analysts interpreted Suleiman’s speech as his platform for the presidency.

But over the past couple of decades, the Lebanese experience with generals acceding to power has not been impressive, to say the least. Since the first Army Commander General Michel Aoun took over power in 1989, his best recorded achievements have been wars that sent an already shattered nation into ruins.

After Aoun, came another Army Commander General Emile Lahoud, who with his arrogance and propaganda (like Aoun), displayed the worst performance of a president. It was under Lahoud that former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and a dozen other politicians and journalists were assassinated. And still Lahoud takes pride for presumably keeping Lebanon in “safe hands.”

The army belongs in barracks and that is where generals should stay. There is a myth in Lebanon that the country needs strong rulers. This is a fallacy. Lebanon needs humble rulers and honest ones who understand modern life, not generals who are used to giving orders and taking orders.

Alternative