SYRIA'S INTERVENTION IN LEBANON This research p

This research paper discusses the reasons behind Syria's interventions in Lebanon since 1976, its justifications therefor and the consequences of the Syrian presence there.

As instructed by Syrian dictator Hafez al-Asad (r. 1970-2000), Syria intervened militarily and politically in Lebanon's civil wars. On a number of occasions, it played an influential and at times decisive role in 'settling' communal conflicts in Lebanon which nevertheless persist to the present day. Syria did so for a variety of geostrategic and other reasons. As a consequence by the time civil order was largely restored in Lebanon in 1990, Syria emerged as the ultimate arbiter of the affairs of Lebanon, which the Syrians increasingly treat as a colony. Lebanon has made a remarkable comeback economically from the devastation wrought by its civil wars. That progress is inhibited by the continuing involvement of the Syrians in Lebanese affairs. As Syria's statist economy has continued to languish, despite some efforts to introduce market-oriented reforms, Syria continues to prey on Lebanon in a parasitic fashion. Following Asad's death in 2000, protests against Syria's presence in Lebanon have mounted, mostly from Maronite Christian and Druze sources; however, any restoration of full Lebanese political and economic independence would appear to be stalled unless and until the successor regime of Bashar Asad either makes peace with Israel or otherwise feels compelled by int

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to have had Kamal Jumblatt assassinated in early 1977 after he challenged Syrian dominance. Syrian efforts to maintain the peace between the PLO and Christian Phalange militias in West Beirut and elsewhere failed. The Maronite Christians under new leadership, Bashir Gemayel and his Lebanese Front (LF), sought to expand the territory under its control. The Phalange in 1980-1981 became involved in inconclusive outbreaks of fighting with the Syrian 'peacekeeping' force. Finally, on June 6, 1982 Israel invaded Lebanon, destroyed one third of the Syrian air force in battles over the Bekka Valley and captured Beirut. Intervention by the Western powers, led by the United States, resulted in the expulsion of the PLO from Lebanon; however, the French, British and American Multi-Lateral Force (MLF) failed to maintain peace in Lebanon. Syria allied itself with radical Shi'a militias, who were armed by Ayatollah Khomeini's Iran, and who caused the assassination of Bashir Gemayel on September 14, 1982 on the eve of his election as President, took numerous Westerners hostage and organized the October 23, 1983 suicide attack which killed 241 American Marines in Beirut. Israel Defence Force Commander Ariel Sharon went too far in sanctioning Pha

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