Gen. Michel Aoun Denounces Those (i.e., Cheney) Who are Working to Bring "Chaos" to Southwest Asia

PARIS, May 29, 2007 (LPAC)--Lebanese Gen. Michel Aoun gave a press conference to present his new book, A Definite Vision of Lebanon: Interviews with Frederic Domont (Paris: Editions Fayard), today at the Paris Foreign Press Center of the Quai d'Orsay. At the crowded press conference, the General, whose Free Patriotic Movement represents one-third of the Lebanese population, had important remarks to make on the destabilization of the country by the Fatah Al Islam terrorist group and how to deal with it, and on his relations to France.

Christine Bierre, editor of Nouvelle Solidarite , the newspaper of LaRouche's cothinkers in France, asked whether the recent explosion of several crisis points in the area, after some months of relative calm, was due to Cheney's trip to Saudi Arabia and other countries. General Aoun responded that "certain people speak about a constructive chaos," while it is totally "paradoxical" to bring those two words together. "I don't know if we are in the phase of application of that policy, whose aim would be to eliminate the current borders of those countries, to establish fictitious borders. Is there an attempt to apply this policy presently in that region? Many rumors are circulating in this period..."

Thus he denounced the Bernard Lewis plan which Cheney is following. The aged Bernard Lewis is a top official of the British Arab Bureau, and Cheney's top advisor on the area. Gen. Aoun only neglected to mention the key role, certainly well-known to him, of Cheney's crony, Saudi Arabia's Prince Bandar bin Sultan.

Bombarded with questions about the Fatah al Islam, with some journalists claiming that the Hariri family was arming them, others that it was Syria, General Aoun's responses remained generally very prudent: "Lebanon has been subjected for a long time to a destabilization process.... It seems that the domestic means they had used before, are no longer enough to destabilize it today. So there was the intervention of a foreign terrorist force into Lebanon." However, he stated, "as responsible for this nation, I cannot go further, because the polemics are too strong.... Things are so serious that we have to face up to the direct threat."

Questioned whether the U.S. or the French weapons deliveries to the Lebanese government can be construed as "meddling" by those powers into Lebanese internal affairs, General Aoun said that "the Lebanese army has been neglected during the last 15 years. It was not equipped as it should. We lack equipment.... When one is threatened, one accepts means of defense from wherever they come from.... Is the Arab bullet any different than the American or French?" I would rather someone would ask the question: "Why are there terrorist organizations in Lebanon, is anybody occupying the country to launch a Jihad against them, for what reasons do they come?... We have had 40 years of destabilization since 1967 and that is continuing."

The General had met with French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner. He stated, there had been never a "break" with France. "There was perhaps a personal conflict, for a clearly defined reason, with somebody in France ... but with France as such, it is not possible. One cannot erase eight centuries of friendship with the people" of this country.

Rafik Hariri was a close friend and moneybags of former President Jacques Chirac, while General Aoun intended to bring Hariri to court in Lebanon under aggravated corruption charges.