12.07.2015 Views

By Way of Deception

By Way of Deception

By Way of Deception

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS
  • No tags were found...

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

BY WAY OF DECEPTION 313about 250,000 adherents in Lebanon (260,000 in Syria, whichbacks them, and 40,000 in Israel), headed by Walid Jumblatt.The governmental system is based on the last census, in 1932,when the Christians still formed a majority. So, the constitutiondictates that the president must be Christian, even though there isgeneral acceptance that Muslims now make up about 60 percent<strong>of</strong> the country's 3.5 million people, and the largest sub-group,about 40 percent, are Shi'ite Muslims, led by Nabih Beni. Anothersignificant fighting force in the early 1980s were the SunniMuslims, under Rashid Karami.The Christian forces are divided into two main families, theGemayel and the Franjieh. Pierre Gemayel founded thePhalangists, and at one time, Suleiman Franjieh was president.When Bashir Gemayel was maneuvering to become president, heeliminated his main rival, Tony Franjieh, in a June 1978 attack onthe family's summer villa at Ehden.His Phalangist soldiers murdered Tony, his wife, their twoyear-olddaughter, and several bodyguards. Gemayel, the Jesuit-educatedthug who would become Israel's "friend" through the efforts <strong>of</strong> theMossad, dismissed the attack as a "social revolt againstfeudalism." In February 1980, a car bomb killed Gemayel's 18-month-old daughter and three bodyguards. In July 1980,Gemayel's troops virtually wiped out the Christian militia <strong>of</strong> expresidentCamille Chamoun's National Liberation Party.Gemayel ruled from his family's 300-year-old estate at Bikfaya, inthe mountains northeast <strong>of</strong> Beirut. The family had made untoldmillions in a scam that began when they won a contract to build aroad through the mountainous terrain. The long-term contractalso involved regular maintenance fees for upkeep and repairs.The family faithfully collected their money for the roadconstruction and, over the years, for maintenance. The onlyproblem was that they never did build the road. And they arguedthat they had to keep collecting for maintenance, because if theydidn't, someone would come to check and discover the road wasn'tthere.In any event, Gemayel was just 35 when he won election byparliament to a six-year term as president in September 1982. Hedid not live long enough to assume the post, but at

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!