Far from our internal politics and daily concerns, I think the Piracy acts on the rise in Eden Gulf and Somalia’s shores represent an important issue to talk about.

Who could ever think we will see this kind of Piracy again, we are in the 21^st century

for God’s sake, meaning more than 100 years after the last act of such piracy occurred.

I mean we’re more familiar with E-Piracy, Music Piracy, or the one related to intellectual property, but living in an era of sea piracy, the original one and in real not in the movies, is something so strange in my opinion.

With all this development and progress, one should ask how the hell this is happening again, and how these new pirates are moving that easy without any serious action to curb them so far.

In my humble opinion, I think the international community is guilty of not reacting fast and enough against this new-old phenomenon.

I also think that the late respond was deliberate at first, maybe because the developed countries felt that leaving these people solve their poorness issues through these acts is better than providing them with financial assistance which will cost them more, or maybe because they were planning a military intervention in that area, so they waited a little further to justify it.

On the other hand, maybe some regional countries are supporting these acts in order to benefit from the outcomes.

In anyway, the increase of acts (about 200 ships high jacked till now, the biggest was the Saudi Oil Tanker, and the Ukrainian ship) represents a dangerous development that should be taken care of, and the late international naval missions to be in place by next month, are the best response to that, since they are expected to protect the vulnerable vessels off the coast and help ensure a safe traffic in that area, as well as the delivery of material aid to Somalia.

What is amazing also the level of technology those pirates achieved, since they managed to acquire the latest technology and weapons, as well as the best communication and satellite equipments, which should raise many question marks!!!!

After all the sufferings, the wars, the sacrifices, all the hurts, the hates, the miseries, and above all after all that long hope and patience, the Lebanese people became HOSTAGES.

They became hostages to politicians, since most of the Lebanese are following them, and many are doing that blindly unfortunately, so they forget their own concerns of daily life, and they tend to agree with those politicians in nearly everything, even if the latter actions are wrong and contradict with all the followers’ beliefs.

Example for that, the nearly 2 years, where people spent their time in the street in DT, forgetting about their works and families etc…, and those who followed Aoun at first for his patriotic thinking as they say, and they are still with him despite his 180 degrees shift.

The Lebanese people became hostages to a bunch of politicians who are supposed to find solutions to the country’s mess, while they are not able to hold 2 successive meetings in this so called dialogue, so they disappear for about 2 months between each session, to come again and meet for only 2 or 3 hours, half of it on lunch and telling jokes, without achieving anything (KATTIR KHEYROUN 3AM YA3TOUNA MIN WA2TOUN).

Our people fell hostages to the mood of our politicians, who represent a national unity Government!!!!!!!

This government is the worse thing that happened to Lebanon, and I clearly state that I’m against a national unity government, since it isn’t and won’t be achieving a single thing, and please can someone tells me what this government achieved so far?? Nothing, the Lebanese people are living on their own, no one is responsible for their safety, security, well being, for their lives, their economies, nothing.

The 8 of March people killed themselves (ATALO HALOUN) to enter the government, they blocked the country and made troubles and wars, and now after entering the government, their ministers are trying to see what is left to steal, it is the case for of Zoubran Bassil who will definitely kill the mobile network in Lebanon, and Abou Zamra who’s spending his time calling for his position rights, while others, mainly Nabih Berri’s ministers are completing their domination on their respective ministries bringing their own people, and the rest are traveling with President Michel Sleiman or elsewhere.

This government can’t even take a decision, it is helpless, since each time they try to come up with something, someone stands against it, just for political or religious purposes.

I’m not saying the previous government was fantastic or even very good, but at least it did achieve something, they took many decisions, they were more active and effective.

The Lebanese people want a government to take care of their affairs, to resolve their problems, not to cause more problems, so please let this government go to hell, we prefer one sided government, at least we can feel that something is working.

At last, the Lebanese people fell also HOSTAGES once again to the Syrians and their renewed attempts to control Lebanon, so we started to give them what they want, by forming mutual committees, and inviting them directly to interfere in every decision we make, and that’s what happened lately with the arrests of some Palestinians in the camps, and the Lebanese who was mentioned on the Syrian TV in the clearly manipulated confessions.

What have we done us the Lebanese to deserve all that???  

I have decided before not to write any post about Michel Aoun, even though I’m sure it could serve as awareness for those who are still believing this guy or believing in him.

But this little general keeps on amazing us with his statements and acts, until it is not certain to which low level he will get.

Anyway, I just want to talk about his latest shocking statement last Monday, when he was answering a question about his coming visit to …. Syria??? Yes to Syria, his favorite country, of course after Iran.

He said: “During my visit to Syria, I will have the chance to know them and they will get to know me also, since they know everybody in Lebanon except me, they know all those who are criticizing them now, and I’m the only one they don’t know. Today things have changed and we’ll meet”.

“إنني خلال زيارة سوريا، سأتعرف اليهم وسيتعرفون إليّ. هم يعرفون الجميع في لبنان إلا أنا، يعرفون كل من ينتقدونهم اليوم، أنا الوحيد الذي لا يعرفونني. اليوم الأوضاع تغيّرت وسنتلاقى”

First of all, mon petit general, they know you very well, in fact they know you better than all the rest, since you are their best friends, you were always, since before 1988.

Also You know them, You know well that you’re their best “soldier” in Lebanon, this “little soldier in Hafez Al Assad army” who has made the best achievements for them, who has implemented their plan perfectly, but your plans and aspirations were denied, because in Lebanon there are still people who didn’t and couldn’t believe your “Shaab loubnan Al Azim” slogan.

Second, “Things have changed and we’ll meet”, which things and what have changed?? The only thing that changed is that the Syrians are military outside Lebanon, but not politically, not anything else, you didn’t change, you are still the same insane and mad soldier, who unfortunately had luck and compromised a lot to become general and then Army chief and later a so called leader.

Maybe Aoun thinks the Syrians have changed and may accept him as president, but we say let them put him president to a Syrian association, or maybe their president, cause here in Lebanon the presidency for him will stay a dream, and in the future, even the love of some people who are still supporting him, will become also a dream, and likely a nightmare, cause history doesn’t lie and will put Michel Aoun into the trash can.

This picture was taken yesterday during the demonstrations organized in Damascus against the American attack on the Syrian border town of “bou kamal”.

When I saw this picture i felt so angry, I mean of course I don’t mind anyone to raise our flag, especially if he is Syrian, but to raise the Lebanese flag in Syria while stepping on the US flag, has another background, and I see it as a deliberate involvement of Lebanon in this conflict without any permition, which is something the Syrians are used to do, and this is the core of our problem with them, they consider themselves as our spokespersons and they do many  things on our behalf.

Now I will hear some people here saying that i’m exagereting and that this is an innocent act. NO it isn’t, because somehow i see it as a deliberate act, or if it wans’t, at least it is something the Syrians got used to do, which is wrong. others will say maybe they are Lebanese who went to demonstrate there, i will tell them: is it a coincidence to have Lebanese and Iraqis in the same picture, and are they Iraqis also who raised their country’s flag??

So in conclusion, We don’t want anyone to involve us in any act, we don’t want anyone to speak or act or decide on our behalf, we are an independent country able to act and decide, but it seems the Syrians are still have the same ideas that Lebanon is only a district of Syria, regardless their latest approval on establishing diplomatic relations.

What I want to say in this post may disturb some people, and others may not like what I have to say or may not agree with me, but I decided to talk about this issue to see other people’s opinions in this and to have a sane trade of ideas (please).

Before I say what I have in mind, I should emphasis that I’m a Christian Maronite and very proud to be, so I’m not trying to undermine any of the Maronites rights here.

BUT, and in time people are asking why we have that much of traitors among the Christian politicians in Lebanon, and mainly on the Maronites scene, I find in my humble thinking that the main reason for that is the Presidency chair, and the dream which invades nearly every Lebanese Maronite head since his birth of becoming President (including myself), and we have many samples to prove it, unfortunately bad ones.

LOOK AT OUR HISTORY, it was and still full of differences between Maronite leaders, if anyone still remember the “Nahej” and the “Hilf” (النهج والحلف) in the 50s and 60s, and later in the 70s and 80s (Sleiman Frangieh vs Lebanese Front leaders), passing on to the late 80s and 90s with Michel Aoun and le petit Sleiman, arriving to Elias Hrawi, Emile Lahoud and Michel Sleiman among others.

All those named here and others were and still are ready to do anything, whatever it is, to become Presidents, or even to extend their stay in Baabda.

They have launched wars after wars (aka Aoun), destroying the country (aka Aoun, Lahoud), dividing the Christian community (Aoun, both Frangieh the grandfather and le petit), selling themselves and their people to anyone who can help them to get the chair (Aoun, Frangieh, Hrawi, Lahoud, and more than 1000 others), change their beliefs and principles (Aoun, Lahoud, Sleiman), and to commit murders (Lahoud), everything for the chair.

So, and as a result, I Rodge the Lebanese Maronite from Mount Lebanon, clearly ask everyone concerned to take away this position from Maronites for God sake, or else we will keep on killing each others.

In fact, we should ask ourselves what our former Presidents have achieved for us by sitting in that chair?? Nothing, most of them haven’t done anything special for us, in fact they hurt us a lot, look what Lahoud did, see what Aoun did and still doing, both Frangiehs, Hrawi, and maybe Sleiman in the future.

Personally I prefer a Kurdish coming from anywhere in this world to be President IF he will make my country better and serve it with loyalty and faith and ensure us a better life, and make me and other immigrants think of coming back to Lebanon.

Eventually maybe it is better for us to have another chair, maybe PM or speaker of the Parliament, they are more effective, look at Berri for instance, he was ruling the country for the past couple of years, refusing to open the parliament and keeping the key of all the solutions with him.

In conclusion, I want, and I think you all do, what is best for Lebanon, no matter who will bring it, because IF we can’t have a GOOD and STRONG and POWERFUL Maronite president (like BASHIR or maybe DSG or anyone who could be strong enough), a president that we can elect with our own will and not by the others’ agreements, why would we need that position?? Let us refuse it, maybe we’ll live in peace and unity after.

Last week, I had some discussions with many people who know well the area of Tripoli in particular and the Sunni areas in North of Lebanon in general, among them journalists and experts in Lebanese and Arab Politics from different religions.

And before saying what they’ve informed me, I would like to emphasis that none of them is a Hariri fan, in fact 2 of them were among the most severest opponents of the late Rafic Hariri, and they are so open minded in terms of religions, so they are nowhere close to being fanatics Sunnis.

What I want to say, and without going into details, is that what has being said these days about the extremists Sunnis in north Lebanon is anything but the truth, since those extremists are considered as an isolated case and are so few and represent no one on the Sunni political scene, and yet they are not armed and have nothing to do with Al Qaeda or other terrorist organizations.

This would take us to the reason why Syria and their allies in Lebanon (strangely Aounists on top) are promoting this idea, and why now?

In this regard, I think the answer for that is their desire to create a certain threat facing the Christians, only to have a balance with the threat coming from Hezbollah.

The elections are coming soon, and there have been a big shift in the Christian society towards the true Lebanese principles still being represented by the Christians of 14 March, despite many mistakes in implementation, after the Christians realized what kind of threat and danger Hezbollah and company are representing, and of course Aoun and his choices, so the Syrian wanted to create something that could change this curve and support Aoun once again, and at the same time find a way to return to Lebanon, whether military (and I doubt that), or politically through the elections’ results.

So in conclusion, there is no real Sunni threat in Lebanon, and what we saw on TV lately are all there is, unless people will keep on believing these stories of the OTV, Manar, Al-Akhbar, Syria’s Media and others, which will only help in consolidating the extremists’ case.

Believe me, I live in Kuwait where Islamists are very strong, I work with many of them, of course they have their own beliefs which in any case I don’t agree with, but they are still peaceful and not violent, and also the ones living in North Lebanon, or most of them at least, still are peaceful, and they can only become violent if they will feel threatened by Syria, Hezbollah or others.

Except that, the Future movement, and as I realized from the discussions I had, is still the strongest among Lebanese Sunnis who prefer to support the principle of non violence and moderation.  

2 days after the explosion in Damascus, and about 45 days after the first one of its kind, here they are again, this morning an explosion hit a mini bus transporting Army soldiers and some civilians, some 10 killed or injured are reported, and I’m confident the same people planned and executed the 3 explosions.

Now the question should be what is the relation, and I think many of you girls and guys have already answered the question, cause it seems, and since the summer of 2007, the Syrians are trying all they can to return to Lebanon through the north gate, mainly Tripoli, and at the same time they are implementing there own part of the deal done with the Americans and Israelis, so they are assassinating some of the officers involved in Hariri’s death, while blame it on the extremists.

I can say they are playing it so smart, so for us to be aware and abolish the plan.

I see a real danger up in the north, but again innocent civilians and soldiers are paying the price. 

Yesterday, the “Transparency International” organization (a global organization which takes Berlin as headquarter) issued its latest “Corruption Perception Index” for the year 2008, in which our dear Lebanon was sadly ranked 102^nd among 180 countries included in the report. This rank considers a retreat from last year’s position (99^th) as well as the 2006 classification where it was ranked in the 63^rd position. But even though the position is getting worse, the grades given saw some improvement since 2005 (after the end of the Syrian occupation), since Lebanon earned an average of over 3 points in the last 3 years after scoring only a poor 2.7 points in 2004.

Of course nothing to be happy with this ranking, and it isn’t a surprise for anyone, since we already knew that we suffer from corruption in Lebanon on all levels, but what is sad about the issue is that we came in a really late position among Arab countries (11^th among 20), with only Mauritania, Egypt (both 115), Libya (126), Comoros (134), Yemen (141), Syria (147 – the only good news in the report), Sudan (173), Iraq (174), and Somalia (180) coming behind.

Maybe it shows how much we are losing, but also how much others are gaining on us, and not only regarding corruption, but concerning other signs of civilization, education, culture, and others.

This reminds me of lots of things we are losing in Lebanon, mainly our lifestyle that others were envying us for having, and were trying and still to do the same.

We are losing our education level, and here I remember a while ago hearing that Lebanese students used to score more than 95% in the Toefel test, but lately they couldn’t manage to score more than 73%.

It is a sign of backwardness caused by corruption in everything in Lebanon, and that’s why we are lacking the simplest services, such as electricity, water, telephones, medical, educational (we were the best in the last 2), good social security, and security as a whole.

Obviously we have our whole sectarian, policitical, and administrative system to blame, but we should not only hold our governments and politicians responsible for that, we should also blame ourselves, because we the Lebanese people have been contributing a lot in this regard, since we still have the culture of “Wasta”, “Tozbitat” and Bribery among others, so to help our score to improve in corruption, let us first try to abolish that culture, and do something without seeking “Wasta” first, and without trying to bribe the public servants.       

Before saying what I came here to talk about, I would like to apologize in advance from all of you dear colleagues and friends for any inconvenience that you may feel towards my opinion. Some of you will even consider that I’m being arrogant for what I will say, but believe me I’m not.
I went for one week to Lebanon (and I’ve missed the Blog like hell), so I just came back to Kuwait with a dark picture in my mind on the situation in Lebanon, and I’m not talking here about the security or political or social situation, but about the Lifestyle, the ethics, about the Lebanese as a community, as individuals, and simply as humans.Lebanon has changed a lot, and unfortunately to the worse. The Lebanese have changed and started to move backwards, life in Lebanon is not what it used to be.
You walk or drive in the streets, and you will be lucky not to be hit or insulted or else, it’s like you were on the road to hell, finding cars with insane drivers on the steering, with the absence of any order and organization.
You go to any place to find people staring at you like you’re an alien or an enemy, and if you dare to talk to someone, you feel as he or she could finish your life only if they have a gun. (Of course I’m talking in general, not the Rabieh one).No electricity most of the time, and humidity may kill you. There is a lack in providing water, and in many other initial and basic services, while people are paying twice for everything, with the costs taking a giant stride from about 30 or 40 USD per 10 Amper to 120 and beyond.
Minimum Salaries are still standing at 300.000 LBP, while everything is being monopolized, and eventually taking an upward path in terms of prices.
You will say it was always like that, and you are right, but what has really changed is love and familiarity between Lebanese, which is missing to a big extent, since you will only divided people, whether politically, socially, in terms of ideology, or because of their own interests, and killing each others for any reason is not forbidden anymore, in fact it is the best thing they can do, only for the sake of a leader, a politician, or any silly matter.
I bet that a massacre will happen in Lebanon as soon as an order will be available to allow it, few are the ones who are still thinking well.
Our problem is so big that we are not able to see it. People, we’ve been in war since 34 years, we should be happy not to lose it all until now, but our nerves cannot afford more, the environment is not healthy at all, Lebanese from all parties are becoming (General Aoun) in his insanity and absence of any sense.
This is so dangerous for the future, and the main cause for this is that we’ve been ruled by a bunch of retarded, and we still are, we lost most of our best men and leaders, best youth, best brains, and best hope, Lebanon is suffering, the Lebanese have changed, yes they are still strong and can handle the war, they are still going out and living the way they desire, but their ethics are deteriorated, and I’m sorry to tell you that we’re losing our values and traditions, the good ones.
Even in our villages we lost this that unity, now everybody are busy with their own interests, and rarely you will see someone helping his compatriot or neighbor or friend.
We need to get our Lebanon back, we need to save the Lebanese living in our country from a disaster, whether socially, politically, or else, we need to recognize that Lebanon has changed and for the worse, only then we could try to save the country, not by considering that everything is normal, because it isn’t, we must get our Lebanon back, not the Lebanon of Hizb Shitan (war and moukawamat), not the Lebanon of Aoun (attacking everybody and dividing all parties and religions), not the Lebanon that Syria wants (Copie conforme d’elle), not the Lebanon of Iran (being the only territory to fight US and the west), not the Lebanon of the US (to try all the experiments of the Middle East), and of course not the Lebanon of 1943 pact, we want Lebanon of life, festivals, peace, love, and cool nerves.

First of all, I would like to thak N10452 for giving me and others the chance to post here, and I hope we will not disappoint him or any of the Guys and Ladies posting and commenting on this Blog.

I also thank you everyone for accepting me and trading the best ideas and comments, hoping you will like the issues I will talk about.

For my first post, I’ve chosen to write briefly about a topic that i’m sure many of you will agree with me.

It’s about “Agreement”, which is known in Lebanese terms as “La ghaleb wa la maghloub”, and in my opinion it’s more a compromise than an agreement.

Frankly I think the worst thing our politicians in Lebanon can do is to follow this concept or principle, because it will lead only to freezing everything in this country, from the timy detail to the most important isues, why? because everybody will still be waiting for an “agreement” based on that concept.

In our recent history, we saw that this concept has done nothing but problems and disasters for the future.

We waited 6 months to elect a President by “agreement”

we also waited about 2 months to form the Government, and one additional month to agree on its statement (bayen wizari)

and now, the appointments in some security posts are still waiting for an “agreement”, which could not come in the near future, while Lebanon needs security stability at the moment more than ever.

So in conclusion, I can say i’m totally against this concept, I rather support more firmness in the Government and Presidency decisions, and that’s why I prefer to have a Governement including one side only, a Government of majority, whatever this majority is, which will allow its members to take firm decisions without any delay.

Don’t tell me this is Lebanon, it wasn’t like that from 1990 till 2005, under the Syrian influence, where Governments used to take decisions without any “agreement”, and although I’m against most of those decisions, but i’m talking here about a process. Let the majority rule, while the minority should wait for their chance,

This is Democracy. I don’t want any more “la ghaleb wa la maghloub” thing, it only contibutes in deteriorating the situation and making Lebanon worse.