The Lebanese Forces
- The Lebanese Forces (LF) is a political party and a former militia founded by Bachir Gemayel, the son of Pierre Gemayel, founder of The Phalange Party.
Bashir's goal was to unify all the Christian parties and militias to form a 'united forces', 'military union, political variety' was his slogan. The Lebanese Forces were to be the military force of the Christians while the Lebanese Front were to be the political. During the Lebanese Civil War, the movement fought as one of the head militias within the Christian-dominated Lebanese Front. After the civil war ended, the movement reinvented itself as a political party.
In 1982, Israel invaded Lebanon, arguing that a military intervention was necessary to root out PLO guerrillas from the southern part of the country. Israeli forces eventually moved towards Beirut and laid siege on the city, aiming to reshape the Lebanese political landscape and force the PLO out of Lebanon. By 1982, Israel had been the main supplier to the Lebanese Forces, giving them assistance in weapons, and training.
In August, 1982, Gemayel was elected by the parliament as president of Lebanon. On September 14, 1982, he was assassinated along with 25 others in a bomb explosion in the Kataeb headquarters in Achrafieh. The next day, Israel moved to occupy the city, allowing Phalangist members under Elie Hobeika's command to enter the centrally located Palestinian refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila; an Israeli supervisioned massacre followed, in which Phalangists killed hundreds of Palestinian refugees, causing great international uproar.
After the death of Bachir, his brother Amine Gemayel had replaced him as President, and his cousin, Fadi Frem, as commander of the LF. In 1984 Frem was replaced by Fouad Abou Nader.
On March 12, 1985, Samir Geagea, Elie Hobeika and Karim Pakradouni rebelled against Abou Nader's command. The relationship between Geagea and Hobeika soon broke down. On December 28, 1985, Hobeika signed the Tripartite Accord, against the wishes of Geagea and most of the other leading Christian figures. The dispute evolved to a military clash between the two wings of the party, Gaegae's troops managed to crush Hobeika's troops and advanced from the north to his stronghold known as the 'Military council' in the Karanteena region. Hobeika surrendered and fled, first to Paris and subsequently to Damascus. He then moved to Zahle where he prepared for an attack against East Beirut. On September 27, 1986, Hobeika's forces tried to take over the city of Achrafieh but the LF held them back.
During two years of frail peace, Geagea launched a drive to re-equip and reorganize the Lebanese Forces. He also instituted a social welfare program in areas controlled by the LF. The LF also cut its relations with Israel and emphasized relations with the Arab states, mainly Saudi Arabia, Irak, Jordan, Egypt and the PLO.
Two rival governments contended for recognition following Amine Gemayel's departure from the Presidency in September 1988. The LF initially supported the military government led by Gen. Michel Aoun, the commander of the Lebanese Army. However, clashes erupted between the LF and the Lebanese Army under the control of Michel Aoun on February 14, 1989, since the LF controlled many ports illegally and since Aoun wanted the official Lebanese authorities to prevail in East Beirut. These clashes were stopped, and after a meeting in Bkerké, the LF handed the national ports which it controlled to Aoun's government under pressure from the Lebanese National army.
Geagea initially supported Aoun's 'Liberation War' against the Syrian army, but then agreed to the Taif Agreement 'Taif', which was signed by the Lebanese deputies on 24 October 1989, and demanded an immediate ceasefire. Fierce fighting in East Beirut broke out between the army and the LF, called the 'Elimination War' by on January 31, 1990.
On March 23, 1994, the Lebanese government ordered the dissolution of the LF. Many members of the LF were arrested and brutally tortured in the period of 1993-1994. On April 21, 1994, Geagea was arrested.
The LF was an active participant in the Cedar Revolution of 2005, when popular protests and international pressure, following the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafiq al-Hariri, combined to force Syria out of Lebanon.
Samir Geagea was freed on 18 July 2005 after parliament decided to amend all charges he formerly faced. The Lebanese Forces returned as legal party.
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