Last update - 00:00 13/05/2007
I won't redeem you, not with my spirit and not with my blood
By Al-Mustuqbal, Lebanon , By Bassem Haghar
Even before the Winograd report we had defeated the helpless and unjust government of Lebanon. Then came the victory over the enemy's government, while the hope for additional victories continues, or should we say languishes?
How and why was the Winograd Committee, which now confirms our victory and Israel's defeat, set up? This, at the very least, is a lesson in democracy from the defeated enemy. Perhaps we always win because our enemy is not negligent in seeing justice done to those who are responsible for the extremely mild damage incurred by the society, regardless of how high their status.
The Winograd Committee report convinced us that we won, and convinced Israel that it suffered a defeat, for the first time. Our victory here collapsed or strives to bring the country to collapse, and their defeat there undermined the Olmert government and strengthened the state. The Israeli Winograd Committee said to the Israelis: From now on, don't embark on an unplanned war. The Lebanese Winograd Committee, how nice it would be to have one, to say: Don't go to war, especially if it is a destructive one, without asking me (the citizen) for permission first. My life is not for you. I will not redeem you, not with my spirit and not with my blood. I'm fed up with you, you make me ill ... so let me live as I am and as I wish to live, or go to war ... but before then, let me know, because what I know and what I have experienced does not correspond to what your are claiming. So long as Winograd is the decisive factor in your elections, let me go away. And this time, I think - and many others with me - that no one was victorious. I'm seriously thinking about fleeing to the Vatican."
The author is a Lebanese writer and translator.