Submitted by Paul Fadoul, Nov 4, 2006 06:03

The alliance and 10-point Agreement of Understanding between General Aoun's party and Hezbolah should be interpreted as a sing of both political maturity and political realism.

Lebanese Christians must have come to realize that they must live with their Muslims counterpart. The latters' aspiration cannot be ignored nor can it be changed except through decades of trust building and a positive future.

In addition no foreign power can help any Lebanese faction hold on to power. Regardless of commitment Israeli or international forces must one day go home. It is therefor wise of the Christians to recognize this fact and build ties with their Lebanese Muslims countrymen.

At the same time Lebanese Christians have come to realise that it is not so bad to share the power with the Muslims. Equality among the Lebanese is the surest way to insure each community's right. The massacres carried out against Christians in Lebanon and which brought about the creation of Lebanon as a Christian haven were caused, instigated or encouraged by the Ottomans. The Christian Lebanese must have come to realize that today no Lebanese Muslim or any Muslim in the region wants to eliminate them. This historical evolution allows for the Christians to lose much of their fears of the Muslim power in Lebanon and permits their alliance with the Shiah.

It is to be noted that the Christians have become a minority in Lebanon and are no longer seen as a threat to the Muslims (including the Druzes). They may no longer have all the powers they used to hold at the inception of the Lebanese Republic. They remain numerous enough to be the "king maker". No single Lebanes community has enough members to rule alone. Any Lebanese Muslim party that wants to rule must be allied with the Christians.

General Aoun's alliance does not mean he is pro-Syrian and anti-Lebanese. It reflects a statesman's understanding of the current political reality in Lebanon. The Christians are better off in a non-Christian Lebanon where they must be courted to form a government and as a result their security and interest must be provided for by any aspiring Muslim party. At the same time no Muslim Lebanese can any longer resent Christian hegemony in Lebanon.

General Aoun has taken pains to try and form a national party and not just a Christian party. He is trying to lead Lebanon with a vision adapted to the realities on the ground which include mostly what I already stated above: we Americans, or the Israelis or Europeans must one day go home and leave the Lebanese to live among themselves. So why try the impossible which is to ally a small state with foreign forces that will one day drop Lebanon and their Lebanese allies when they can make a deal with Iran and Syria or when their geopolitical interests change?

All Lebanese would do well to remember their History: a Lebanese party trying to side with one foreign power or another in order to stay in power has always been at the root of all Lebanon's evils. To prove this point I will call as witnesses Emir Fakreddine, Emir Bashir II Shehab, Sheik Bashir Joumblatt, Sheikh Kamal Joumblatt, President Chamoun, President-elect Bashir Gemayel, etc.

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