Thursday, August 24, 2006

I hurt the feelings of the commander-in-chief of the Lebanese Army. So I was talking to my mother on the phone. She did not like my appearance (via phone) on New TV. She thought that I was not analytical, and that I was merely criticizing, "right-and-left" as she put it. I had to explain to her that it was my exact purpose. During my appearance on New TV, I, among other things, criticized and mocked the Lebanese Army. I talked about what happened in the Marji`yun barracks, and how the army presented tea to the Israeli occupiers. I asked if the Army's official policy is to offer cookies and tea to Israeli occupiers. So my (cell)phone rang, and the director of the Directorate of Guidance in the Lebanese Army was on the line. He said that Gen. Michel Sulayman, the commander-in-chief of the Lebanese Army was hurt by my remarks and by my criticisms of the Lebanese Army's role. He said that they would like to explain the situation to me. He said that there was no Lebanese Army in the barracks, and that it was Internal Security forces. I told him that there was the elite mukafahah troops there too. He said the only a small number of them were there but as a support (musanadah--auxiliary?) force. He said that the entire force in the barracks was under the command of the Minister of Interior and not the Lebanese Army. He said that the Lebanese Army has a "patriotic doctrine" and that they would never ever serve tea to the occupiers. I told him that my view that there is a very suspicious role intended for the Army by UNSC 1701. He said that they are only directed against the Israeli enemy and that they "will never fire at the resistance fighters" in South Lebanon. He also said that he liked my article in Al-Akhbar about the Arab TV media during the war.