I am surprised at the selectivity in the historical knowledge of many Lebanese these days…

A short trip down memory lane (for those who care to remember) would show how the Syrians are playing their favorite game of divide and conquer… what they could not achieve through the cannon, they are trying to achieve through simple politics…and alas, I see many many so called men of politics who fall for these tricks…

A simple example…back in the 70s, after they saw that the Lebanese Front was going to be a major hurdle in their path to realizing the Assad ambitions in Lebanon, how did Syria split the Front?

By taking Slaymen Franjiyi Sr. out and making him an ally…

In 1985, when they saw that they could not defeat the Lebanese Forces militarily, they tried to break it by opening 101 with HK through the Tripartite agreement…

In 2005, when they saw that the members of the Bristol congress were becoming a serious threat to their presence, they brought Aoun from his French exile.

Today, four years later, they are doing the same thing again. When assassinations did not do their work, and when Aoun was “resized” by the 2009 elections they are reverting to their age old political tactics…divide and conquer…

This time they went for the weakest link, Junblat…May 7th 2008 set the scene…

Hezbolla was the fer the lance…by this, Syria hit Junblat right where it hurt…the Druze community.

The 2009 parliamentary elections, landed Junblat another blow: the results from the Shouf region (as well as other regions where the LF were coordinating the electoral campaign) showed him that the Christians, namely the Lebanese Forces were becoming stronger and stronger and could become a major threat for his power in the future.

Other politicians as well saw the danger of the Lebanese Forces which were growing steadily and regaining their strength, proving that 15 years of marginalization were not capable of destroying the will of the people to be independent and free. This is where Syria reverted back to its old tactics: use the politicians’ greed and lust for power to manipulate them…

And I strongly believe this is the title of the Syrian offensive…build bridges with those politicians or try to at least…promise to guarantee them their “privileges” and their powers…to do this, they would have to isolate Geagea … try to weaken him…

The coming days will show more “reconciliations” popping up… Would this tactic bear fruits? I hope not…

A part of me still wants to bank on the sense honor and determination of my fellow countrymen to live free and independent in a sovereign Lebanon…a part of me still believes that my fellow countrymen will not fall victims to historical amnesia…

A part of me still wishes to believe that the spirit that brought the Lebanese together on the 14th of March 2005 is not dead….and is still very much alive and kicking. Should this part of me be proven wrong, I would be very sad and disappointed but I would not be worried…why you would ask…a very interesting question…

Quite simply because I know that the Lebanese Forces would still be here…doing what it has been doing since the dawn of time: RESISTING and FIGHTING to keep Lebanon free.

I know that if ALL the politicians sold out, regardless of their motives, be they justified or not, one man will refuse to give up the fight…this man did not hesitate for one instant and chose to go to jail rather than become a pawn in the hands of the Syrians.

And this man, along with the rest of us, will keep fighting and resisting to the last drop of blood and so will all the generations that will come after.

Lebanon will remain free.