Michel Aouns’ right political choices

By Ali Rizk

Before beginning our interview, the leader of the Free Patriotic Movement Michel Aoun appeared to be in high spirits after the electricity bill in parliament was finally passed (which many describe as a victory for Aoun and his group).
As we conducted the interview, it seemed that Aouns high spirits were also related to the latest developments and how they seem to be serving the political choices he has made since returning from exile in France.

Of course the best known political choice made by Aoun was aligning with Hizbullah, Syria and Iran, otherwise known as the resistance bloc.
Now we have a significant development which appears to have put the head of the maronite church in Lebanon Bashara Al-Rai(arguably the most prominent spiritual Christian figure in the Levant) on the same political spectrum as Aoun.

Al Rai has expressed fears regarding the fate of Christians if the leadership of Bashar Assad in Syria were to fall. This stance has been followed up with visits by the Christian religious figure to area's known for their vast support of Hizbullah.
In the interview Aoun, with a clear sense of satisfaction describes the stances of Al Rai as a "turning point in political rhetoric and the stance of Christians towards the west". Indeed in this perspective Aoun says that in the wake of September 11 the west's policies have alienated many Christians in the Levant and continue to do so today.

Now he hints the Western policy towards Syria shows more and more that the west disregards the situation of Christian minorities in its Middle Eastern policy hence leading to further alienation (which maybe culminates with Al-Rai's comments.). In fact he says that the recent warning by Hilary Clinton that regional developments are endangering religious minorities is a warning for these minorities to leave the region and not an expression of concern for them.

But while he speaks about the west and US support for those who are causing chaos in Syria Aoun believes that a fall of Bashar Assad is impossible. No country he says "has the ability now to overthrow Assad because of the economic situation and the military overextension of the superpowers".

To further underscore this point Aoun adds that the March 14 camp are in a period of waiting for fall of the Assad regime and that this period will be extremely long.
In the end Aoun appeared to be a man who has made the right political choices and the current situation has further enhanced his position as a major figure amongst Christian leaders not just in Lebanon but also beyond.