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The White House to Receive Convicted War Criminal Samir Geagea ?
Washington, D.C., 2008 -
The George W. Bush Administration is set for an official meeting in March
with a convicted Lebanese warlord, widely recognized for planning, ordering
and committing war crimes that left permanent scars on the minds and bodies
of thousands of Lebanese citizens. Mr. Samir Geagea was the leader of the
"Lebanese Forces militia" during the Lebanese war that lasted from 1975 to
1990. His bloody history against the people and the national army of Lebanon
has shaped Lebanon's modern history, leaving behind thousands of widows,
orphans, handicapped and displaced people, as well as destroyed public and
private property. If for any reason Samir Geagea should be in the United
States, it should be to stand trial for his war crimes against the families
and friends of many Lebanese-Americans who either lived or witnessed the
Lebanese war.
As of 1994, Geagea was tried and convicted for four crimes - only a small
portion of his long list of war crimes that we have listed below for your
reference. He was convicted for:
1. The assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister, Mr. Rachid Karami
2. The assassination of a former leading figure in the Lebanese Forces
militia, Elias Zayek
3. The assassination of Christian leader Dany Chamoun with his wife and two
young children (ages 5 and 7)
4. The assassination attempt against Deputy Prime Minister/Minister of the
Interior Michel Murr.
[5. The cold blooded murder of Tony Frangieh, his wife and baby daughter and
35 hapless Lebanese***]
[6. Murder of Ghaith Khoury (head of the kataeb militia in Jbeil) and Emile
Azzar (LF fighter)... And the assassination attempts of Fouad Abou Nader (LF
commander) and ... Elie Hobeika.****]
[7. Geagea also killed Brigadier General Khalil Kanaan (Army officer) and
Rizkallah (Razouk) Atik (LF fighter), brother of Hanna Atik (Hanoun, chef of
the former Saddem elite LF unit) and tried to kill Assaad (Asso) Shaftari
( Deputy to Mr. Elie Hobeika). These names are also very important.****]
[8. He also hanged,killed, murdered, maimed, imprisoned, tortured, with
instant expeditious "justice" made to measure for his opponents, whereby
thousands of them where put in cement and dumped at sea.
He is also responsible for extortion, kidnappings, drugs and guns trading
in Lebanon and overseas, collecting forcibly undue taxes from every home and
business in Lebanon's areas where his thuggish Militias reigned with direct CIA
support for over 5 years, acting as a Proxy Militia for CIA, funded and paid for
with US Tax payers Dollars...and more...
But you need to know that Geagea did all this killings and attempts via
Nader Sukkar (opposition MP of Baalbeck Hermel), Ghassan Touma (who lives in
the US), Tony Obeid (who lives in Australia) and Raji Abdo, Naji N. Najjar,
Walid Phares, Ziad Abdelnour, (who live in the US).****]
Zayek was a Christian leader who posed a threat to Geagea's dreams of the
militia leadership. Dany Chamoun, son of late Lebanese President Camille
Chamoun, was one of the most active and independent Christian leaders during
the Syrian invasion of 1990, and was also a threat to Geagea's ambition of
being the sole Christian leader. In 1990, Geagea commenced his collaboration
with the brutal Syrian regime at the expense of the Lebanese people.
Although he was not convicted, Geagea was suspected of bombing the Maronite
Catholic church of Saydet Najat in Jounieh, in which tens of worshipers were
killed in 1994. The judges could not convict him "for insufficient evidence"
as per the official verdict. Geagea was sentenced to death for his
assassination crimes, and the sentence was later reduced to lifetime in
prison.
Geagea only spent 11 years in jail, and was pardoned in a special bill
passed by the Lebanese parliament on July 18, 2005. An interesting condition
about this "special pardon" is that it not only included Geagea, but also
included a score of Al Qaeda-inspired extremists who were captured after
conducting terrorist attacks against the Lebanese army and civilians in
2001. Geagea's release is perceived by many people as a cover up and
distraction for the release of these Islamist extremists.
A leader of a relatively insignificant political party, Geagea holds no
public official or representative status. This criminal and insignificant
party leader holds no official title or position in the Lebanese government
to be received by the Bush Administration or the Republican Party.
To grant a US entry visa to a convicted war criminal such as Samir Geagea,
and to permit him to defile the land of the free is not only against US law,
but is also an unacceptable deed, and a great insult to the American people
and to the values inherent in the American Constitution (Please see note
below from Department of Homeland Security). Criminals such as Geagea should
not set foot on the soil of the United States, not to mention that of the
White House or the Capitol Building. The eyes that enjoyed gazing coldly at
the grief of hundreds of thousands of mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters,
sons, daughters, grandfathers and grandmothers from all over the world,
should never be allowed to look toward the home of the brave.
We trust that the Congress and the Administration of the United States will
take the proper measures to put an end to this ill-conceived visit.
Lebanese Americans for Justice
NB: Comments received on this letter;
*** Butchers and blood thirsty Geagea, and Jumblatt, lived by the sword
and WILL eventually die by the sword.
It is a common tendency among fascists and extremists to think they
represent the whole community and disregard other opinions.
A minority of fanatics (Kataeb, & Geagea killers) who discredited our
whole community and brought shame and dishonor on us by their crimes
(Tony Frangeih, Dany and thousands more, being only the tip of the iceberg)
According to these guys, exposing the crimes and butcheries of Amine
Gemayel, and Samir Geagea is "being an obscene loud-mouth" ! What
is obscene are the crimes these thugs committed while pretending to
defend the Christians...
Geagea's sect...were nothing but hordes of illiterate
outlaws who made fortunes through drug smuggling
when they controlled the ports of the Christian
areas...and buying Toxic waste to dump it in our
mountains...collecting undue taxes by force from
every home, cars and institutions...Their crimes
are well documented in any serious book about
Lebanon's war, [ The secrets of the Lebanon War,
by Alain Menargues for example.]
They slaughtered thousands of innocent civilians,
Christians and Muslims alike. They live in a world
of delusions and engage in criminal Romanian type
cult of the personality of their thugs-leaders like
Samir Geagea, a convicted war criminal and mass
murderer.
They do not in any way represent Lebanon's Christian
community of which I am a proud member.
Jumblatt's crimes are too many to even begin to
recount them, and all Christians know them quite well.
