Ghassan Tueni: A Description of the Day After the Withdrawal

Ghassan Tueni: A Description of the Day After the WithdrawalThe first order of business after the withdrawal of the Syrian forces from Lebanon is the dismantling of the "Police State" – the consequence of improper interpretation and implementation of the Taif Accord that gave rise to an often feuding "troika," which required the intervention of an arbitrator, Ghassan Tueni wrote in his weekly column."This arbitrator was none other than Syria, first on a president-to-president basis, before lowering the level to the Syrian security apparatus and its Lebanese agents," wrote An Nahar's editor-in-chief."Unless this system is dismantled, their (Syrian) withdrawal will be meaningless," he remarked.The "militarization" of regimes in the Arab world dates back to the era of successive coups against civilian rule and monarchies. To some extent, this was tacitly endorsed by the United States amid the spread of corrupt regimes in the Third World, leaving anti-corruption military regimes as the only viable option to enforce stability, Tueni opined.In the Arab world, this theory was buoyed by the despair that followed the defeat in the "first Palestinian war," when the armies sought to recover their integrity by blaming their leaderships for pushing them into battles they were not ready for. The result was the rise of the military to power, he said.This only led to more defeats, "as the military abandoned their efforts towards combat-readiness, shifting focus insisted to the creation of police states," said Tueni. "Neither stability was established, nor did the societies develop."Lebanon was an exception, up until the Syrian intervention. And now, after 30 years of "oppression," the Lebanese proved that they are still able to "revolt and impose their will on the international community and extract their independence under international auspices," read the column.The time has come to draw on the lessons learned to build "a new democracy, or a Fourth Republic after the Third Republic of Taif, the Second Republic of Independence and the First Republic under the French mandate," wrote Tueni.The upcoming Parliamentary elections, which he insisted that they be held on time, should usher in a Parliament that builds for a post-Syria republic after the collapse of "the Terrorist State," he said.