SAMIR GEAGEA
SAMIR GEAGEA
Courtesy of the Lebanese Forces
Samir Geagea was born on November 25, 1952 in Ain al-Remaneh, one of the suburbs of Beirut. He is one of three children of Farid Geagea, an adjutant in the Lebanese Army. The conditions of his youth wore modest, though he is part of one major Maronite families based in Bshari, which is located in the mountains regions of Northern Lebanon.
He completed his primary and
secondary level education in Ain al-Remaneh. Even in youth. He belonged to
student branches of the Kataeb party, the largest Christian party in the
country. After high school, he was able to study medicine at the American
University of Beirut (AUB) due partly to a Khalil Gibran Association
scholarship. (Gibran was also a native of Bshari.) With the out breaking of
fighting in Beirut in 1975 and the division of the city, Samir Geagea had to
leave AUB after live years of study. He then transferred to St. Joseph
University, located in the Christian area.
In 1978, only a few months from his degree,
Samir Geagea again broke away from his studies. At the request of Bashir
Gemayel, he agreed to return briefly to help the newly formed Lebanese
Forces-but only a temporary basis so that he could complete his studies.
However, in the first operation Geagea was wounded in the opening fusillade. He
was evacuated unconscious, moved to a hospital, and later transferred to France
to recuperate.
When he returned to Lebanon, Mr. Geagea,
now responsible for the Lebanese Forces and the Kataeb along northern front,
moved to a convent in the upper mountains of Jbeil where he reorganized the
youth, opened training centers, and began the development of fortifications
opposite Syrian positions. He established a headquarters at Qattara, an
extremely isolated village high in the mountains and cut off from population
centers. He remained in charge of this sector until early 1983.
In January 1983, the Lebanese Forces
command council appointed Samir Geagea, who retained his responsibilities on the
northern front, concurrent of its forces in the Shuf-Aley sector of Mt. Lebanon,
an area from which the Lebanese Forces were forced to retreat in September 1983.
After the "mountain war," Mr. Geagea
returned to his headquarters in Qattara, where he developed, organized, managed,
and carried out a political and cultural education and training program for
regional leader in the Lebanese Forces. It was during this period that his
opposition to the Christian and Lebanese situation began to be known-most
notably his critiques of the traditional Christian establishment and its
dedication to personal profits at the expense of the public interest. This call
for social change led the Kataeb party to "expel" him. The resulting upheaval in
the Lebanese Forces brought Geagea, Karim Pakradouni, and Elie Hobeika (then the
security chief of the Lebanese Forces) to force the resignation of the
then-commander of the Lebanese Forces, Fouad Abu Nadir. Elie Hobeika was named
head of its executive committee, Geagea chief of staff.
On January 15, 1986, Samir Geagea led a movement that removed Elie Hobeika and due to the improprieties of the latter and, above all, to his having signed the so-called "Tripartite Accord" with Syria. Every sector of Christian opinion was opposed to the accord.
After the January 15 operation, when he became commander of the Lebanese Forces, Samir Geagea was resorted to full membership in the Kataeb and indeed elected permanent member of the political bureau of the party. Within months, he had reorganized the Lebanese Forces and established standardized bases of recruitment, selection, training, and promotion and founded the first formal Lebanese Forces military academy at Ghusta. At the same time, the Lebanese Forces became for the first time a political movement with clear-cut socio-economic objectives and programs and with friendly and cooperative ties to many foreign countries. The Lebanese Forces also began the most ambitious and systemic social welfare program ever undertaken in Lebanon and intended to help the disadvantaged and displaced. Although these programs have since been suspended in deference to government demands, the government has yet to replace them
Since 1989, the Lebanese Forces has worked diligently with the national government and foreign friends to apply the principals of the Taef Accord intended to facilitate the restoration of national unity and the reconstruction of the political, economic, and social foundations of the country. Even in the face of others' continuing and serious violations of the spirit and intent of Taef, Samir Geagea continued to espouse a solution to the challenges Lebanon faces that is bad on national solidarity and consensus. Because he refused to be a partner in the farce that is ruling Lebanon today, Geagea became a political prisoner.
The Current Lebanese Forces Leader, Dr. Samir Geagea
Strong and irresistible, Samir Geagea can be compared to the majestic cedars of Lebanon that have characterized the Lebanese Mountains since Biblical times. These trees, arguably the most beautiful in the world, growing for thousands of years on the pinnacles of his hometown Besharri, are not dissimilar to his robust physique and principles.
Brought up in a modest family, Samir Geagea was born on the 25th November 1952. The son of a sergeant in the Lebanese Army, Samir Geagea began to concern himself with his country's problems when the war broke out in 1975, cutting short his studies in medicine, which he started in 1972. His perseverance and unwavering belief and faith in his country have placed him in an integral position on the political chessboard.
Samir Geagea was one of the first members of the Resistance to defend the sovereignty and independence of Lebanon from ridicule and corruption. It is against this backdrop that he forged his path, initially within the Christian Resistance, and then on a national scale. Just as straight and haughty as the great Cedars of Lebanon against storms and attacks of the elements, he too resisted the obstacles of those that tried to derail and humiliate him. Samir Geagea, a true stalwart, maintained the true vision, the right vision for his country.
The assassination of their founding member, Bashir Gemayel, considerably weakened the Lebanese Forces. Consequently, the Lebanese Forces were under considerable pressure from hostile rogue elements from within Lebanon and externally. On the 12th March 1985, Samir Geagea embraced the challenge to save the honor and indeed the very existence of the Lebanese Forces. As the legitimate successor to Bashir, he assured the continuation of the Resistance and supervised the preservation of the legacy they fought so hard to defend. On the 15th January 1986, Samir Geagea put the tri-party treaty, signed under the aegis of Damascus, in check, and on the 31st January 1990, he succeeded in combating an attempt to liquidate the Lebanese Forces.
This man, the imposing stature, with black piercing eyes, bare forehead and moustache that crosses a constantly smiling face, has a faith that can move mountains. Able and determined, preferring occasionally to compromise to avoid the worst and achieve a positive result, Samir Geagea has never confused strategy with tactics. Before all political steps, he analyses local, regional and international factors with perspicacity and intelligence. He consults and works with others. Calm and serene, especially in moments of crisis and tensions, he is at the same time Cartesian and pragmatic. He reacts as an intellectual and thinks as a man of action. He hardly forgets the past but never takes refuge in it. He knows how to apply the past to present situations in such a way as to achieve a better future. His appreciation of silence stems from his belief that "silence is an element at the heart of all that is great". He loves and knows how to listen, he never ceases to repeat the proverb: "it is in listening and not through speaking that we learn".
Samir Geagea, known by those close to him as the "Hakim", is a fierce enemy of political feudalism, autocracy and suppression of the people. A democrat through to the core, he is enamored with liberty and justice. An adversary to fixed ideas, prejudices and politics that are opposed to progress; he has the gift of pricking sleeping consciences. Neither revolutionary nor anti-revolutionary, Samir Geagea strives to set Lebanese society back on track for the next century. He fights for the freedom of all, regardless of the many differences. In a composite society, the right to be different is for him, an essential element of democracy. He often repeats that, "power in Lebanon should come from addition and not subtraction". He campaigns to end the practice of individualistic, deranged politics whose only goal is to evade problems and assure maximum economic profits for a well determined class. Patriotic, Samir Geagea is a man of courage, lucidity and peace. He is and remains, a man of the future.
All the legal files and proceedings brought against him and the Lebanese Forces are without foundation. Samir Geagea is today, the only political prisoner in Lebanon. His crime is that of exercising his democratic rights.
No matter what they say, no matter what they do, we will never lose hope, we will never bow, nor will we ever give up the cause. We will always be faithful to the one man who showed everyone the meaning of courage, honor and loyalty, to our great leader who did not abandon us, who stood by us shoulder to shoulder. To the person who has become the cause, to you Dr. Geagea we promise to always be strong and never lose faith no matter how hard things get, because in the end the righteous will prevail, and we are the righteous ones. We have sacrificed our blood for the freedom of our country and our people. We gave our country our best and that is why we will prevail. Dr. Geagea we are proud of you and we are proud to have you as our leader.
Samir
Geagea, current leader of the Lebanese Forces. The only person in the history of
my country who was given a choice to either
leave Lebanon and never come back or
to go to prison. Samir Geagea chose to go to prison. Why? Because Samir Geagea
fought for something he believed very dearly in. Samir Geagea bled for his
country. Samir Geagea was not ready to dishonor all the martyrs that died for
our cause. He was not ready to dishonor their memories. For they did not die in
vain. Samir Geagea said clearly we did not bleed for 20 years so in the end we
are asked to leave and never come back. Samir Geagea has become the symbol of
heroism, the symbol of courage and honor. Samir Geagea has proven that the cause
comes first, he has sent a clear message for all of us and that message is
Lebanon is worth the sacrifice and all our martyrs don't expect less. They
thought that by striking the shepherd, the sheep would be lost. We were lost, we
did lose faith, we did despair but his resistance from his cell revived us. His
continuous struggle from within his prison gave us hope, strength and guidance.
They imprisoned him in the hope that we would be finished. Yet we remain. They
took him in the hope of scaring us. Yet we don't allow any occasion to pass
without clearly sending them a message that we are still here. They took him in
the hope that they could alter history and falsify facts. But they were
impotent. They thought they could accuse him and everyone would believe their
lies. They thought wrong and here is the world condemning them, The Australian
courts condemned them for fabricating evidence; the United Nations Human Rights
Committees condemned them; and all those people who value the rule of law
condemned them.
Samir Geagea is an example of a man who is unselfishly devoted to a significant cause. He is a true model for all who believe in a just and a reconciled Lebanon.
