Hama Rules vs Baghdad Rules

Well, Rafik, this one8217;s for you. I am sorry you won8217;t be able to read it.

It will be difficult to prove who killed Hariri. But the gang ruling Syria had all the ability, experience and motive to murder the Lebanese statesman for the way he had teamed up with Paris and Washington to pass the recent UN resolution, 1559, calling for Syria8217;s immediate withdrawal from Lebanon. Hariri pressed for that UN resolution, and resigned his office, after Syria perverted Lebanese democracy by forcing Lebanon8217;s Parliament to accept a three-year extension for a Syrian puppet, Emile Lahoud, as Lebanon8217;s president.

When Syria8217;s Baath regime feels its back up against the wall, it always resorts to 8216;8216;Hama Rules8217;8217;. Hama Rules is a term I coined after the Syrian Army levelled 8212; and I mean levelled 8212; a portion of its own city, Hama, to put down a rebellion by Sunni Muslim fundamentalists there in 1982. Some 10,000 to 20,000 Syrians were buried in the ruble. Monday8217;s murder of Hariri, a self-made billionaire who devoted his money and energy to rebuilding Lebanon after its civil war, had all the hallmarks of Hama Rules 8212; beginning with 650 pounds of dynamite to incinerate an armor-plated motorcade.

Message from the Syrian regime to Washington, Paris and Lebanon8217;s opposition: 8216;8216;You want to play here, you8217;d better be ready to play by Hama Rules 8212; and Hama Rules are no rules at all. You want to squeeze us with Iraq on one side and the Lebanese opposition on the other, you8217;d better be able to put more than UN resolutions on the table. You8217;d better be ready to go all the way 8212; because we will. But you Americans are exhausted by Iraq, and you Lebanese don8217;t have the guts to stand up to us, and you French make a mean croissant but you8217;ve got no Hama Rules in your arsenal. So remember, we blow up prime ministers here. We shoot journalists. We fire on the Red Cross. We levelled one of our own cities. You want to play by Hama Rules, let8217;s see what you8217;ve got. Otherwise, hasta la vista, baby.8217;8217;

It is a measure, though, of just how disgusted the Lebanese are with the Syrian occupation and Hama Rules that everyone 8212; from senior Lebanese politicians, like the courageous Walid Jumblatt, to street protesters 8212; is openly accusing Syria of Hariri8217;s murder.

What else can the Lebanese do? They must unite all their communities and hit the Syrian regime with 8216;8216;Baghdad Rules8217;8217;, which were demonstrated 10 days ago by the Iraqi people. Baghdad Rules are when an Arab public does something totally unprecedented: It takes to the streets, despite the threat of violence from jihadists and Baathists, and expresses its democratic will.

Hariri stopped playing by 8216;8216;Lebanese Rules8217;8217; 8212; eating any crow the Syrians crammed down Lebanon8217;s throat 8212; and openly challenged Syrian imperialism. If the Lebanese want to be free, they have got to take the lead. They have to summon the same civic courage that Hariri did and that the Iraqi public did 8212; the courage to look the fascists around them in the eye, call them in the press and in public by their real names, and confront the European Union and the Arab League for their willingness to ignore the Syrian oppression. Nothing drives a dictatorship like Syria8217;s more crazy than civil disobedience and truth-telling: when people stop being intimidated, stand up for their own freedom and go on strike against their occupiers. The Lebanese can8217;t play by Hama Rules and must stop playing by the old Lebanese Rules. They must start playing by Baghdad Rules.

Baghdad Rules mean the Lebanese giving the Syrian regime 8212; every day, everywhere 8212; the purple finger.

NYT