War of Elimination (1990, Lebanon)

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Liberation War
Part of the Lebanese Civil War
Date31 January 1990–13 October 1990
Location
Beirut and surroundings, Lebanon
Result Syrian occupation of Lebanon until 2005
Belligerents
Lebanese Army Lebanese Forces
Commanders and leaders
Michel Aoun
Issam Abu Jamra
Edgar Maalouf		 Samir Geagea
Boutros Khawand
Hanna Atik

The War of Elimination or War of Attrition (Arabic: حرب الإلغاء)[1] was an inter-Christian military conflict, within the final phase of the Lebanese Civil War, that took place in late January 1990, between the Lebanese Army, led by General Michel Aoun and the Lebanese Forces led by Samir Geagea,[2] where hundreds were killed and thousands injured.[3] The confrontation ended with the Syrian army invading the Christian areas,[4] the exile of Aoun to France,[5] and Geagea's 11 years imprisonment.[6] This marked the end of the civil war, and as some believe, the Christians losing the war.

Background[edit]

On 22 September 1988, Michel Aoun, the Commander of the Army at the time, was appointed by president Amine Gemayel as the head of the Lebanese Government.[7][8]

On 14 March 1989, Aoun declared the War of Liberation against the Syrian occupation army in Lebanon.

On 31 January 1990, Aoun launched an offensive against the Lebanese Forces in East Beirut.[3][9] In the months that followed, over 1000 people were killed.[3]

A month later in March, Aoun declared a halt to the fighting and announced his willingness to accept the Taif Agreement with some amendments.[9]

This confrontation ended with the Syrian army invading the Christian areas,[4] the exile of Aoun to France,[5] and Geagea's imprisonment after three years,[6] due to a disagreement with the Syrians.[10][6]

Etymology[edit]

The conflit came to be known as the war of elimination[11] (حرب الإلغاء), the term which was used by the LF to denote the attempt by Aoun to eliminate it. However, Aoun used the term Weapon Unification Battle[12] (معركة توحيد البندقية) since he claimed his purpose was to submit all weapons in the country to the Lebanese Army. Nonetheless, the weapons are still possessed today by parties other than the government, like Hezbollah.[13]

Allegations[edit]

Some believe that the war was agreed between Aoun and the Syrians, in order to eliminate the Lebanese Forces and allow the Syrian army to enter the Christian Area, in return for Aoun's presidency.[2][3] However, when the Syrians did not keep the promise, he declared the War of Liberation on the Syrians.[14] However, 26 years later, in 2016 Aoun became the president of Lebanon.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ موسوعة الدكتور سمير جعجع (in Arabic). مؤسسة هنا انترناسيونال،. 2006.
  2. ^ a b "لبنان: هذه "الصورة" كشفت لغزاً صادماً ومأساوياً عمره 27 عاماً". دنيا الوطن (in Arabic). Retrieved 2021-07-12.
  3. ^ a b c d "من لعنة حربي التحرير والإلغاء إلى زلزال بيروت: عهدٌ من النكبات والأزمات". القدس العربي. 2020-08-08. Retrieved 2021-07-12.
  4. ^ a b "Lebanon profile - Timeline". BBC News. 2018-04-25. Retrieved 2021-07-12.
  5. ^ a b "Timeline: Lebanon's ordeal from civil war to port blast". Reuters. 2020-12-24. Retrieved 2021-07-12.
  6. ^ a b c "Former Christian warlord released after 11 years in prison". The New York Times. 2005-07-26. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-07-12.
  7. ^ Refugees, United Nations High Commissioner for. "Refworld | AOUN'S DEPARTURE". Refworld. Retrieved 2021-07-12.
  8. ^ Saseen, Sandra (1990). "The Taif Accord and Lebanon's Struggle to Regainits Sovereignty". digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu. Retrieved 2021-08-18.
  9. ^ a b "Refworld | AOUN'S DEPARTURE CHRONOLOGY". 2019-08-11. Archived from the original on 2019-08-11. Retrieved 2021-07-12.
  10. ^ "Geagea released from jail". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2021-07-12.
  11. ^ "Interview with Etienne Sakr: "A dark future for this poor country called Lebanon"". dis:orient (in German). Retrieved 2021-02-13.
  12. ^ "من لعنة حربي التحرير والإلغاء إلى زلزال بيروت: عهدٌ من النكبات والأزمات | سعد الياس". القدس العربي. 2020-08-08. Retrieved 2021-02-13.
  13. ^ "Lebanon: Hizbollah's Weapons Turn Inward". Crisis Group. 2008-05-15. Retrieved 2021-07-12.
  14. ^ "من حرب إلغاء "القوّات"... إلى حرب إلغاء لبنان". www.asasmedia.com. Retrieved 2021-07-12.

Bibliography[edit]

  • Barry Rubin (editor), Lebanon: Liberation, Conflict, and Crisis, Middle East in Focus, Palgrave Macmillan, London 2009. ISBN 978-1-349-37326-0 – [1]
  • Edgar O'Ballance, Civil War in Lebanon, 1975-92, Palgrave Macmillan, London 1998. ISBN 0-333-72975-7
  • Hassan Krayem, The Lebanese Civil War and the Taif Agreement, American University of Beirut, in collaboration with Al Mashriq of Høgskolen i Østfold, Norway, 981125 PN (no date) – [2]
  • Paul E. Salem, Two Years of Living Dangerously: General Awn and Precarious Rise of Lebanon's Second Republic, The Beirut Review Vol. 1, No. 1 (spring 1991): 62-87.
  • Robert Fisk, Pity the Nation: Lebanon at War, London: Oxford University Press, (3rd ed. 2001). ISBN 0-19-280130-9 – [3]
  • Oren Barak, The Lebanese Army – A National institution in a divided society, State University of New York Press, Albany 2009. ISBN 978-0-7914-9345-8 – [4]
  • Samir Makdisi and Richard Sadaka, The Lebanese Civil War, 1975-1990, American University of Beirut, Institute of Financial Economics, Lecture and Working Paper Series (2003 No.3), pp. 1–53. – [5] Archived 2017-08-10 at the Wayback Machine
  • Thomas Collelo (ed.), Lebanon: a country study, Library of Congress, Federal Research Division, Headquarters, Department of the Army (DA Pam 550-24), Washington D.C., December 1987 (Third edition 1989). – [6]
  • Tony Badran (Barry Rubin ed.), Lebanon: Liberation, Conflict, and Crisis, Palgrave Macmillan, London 2010. ISBN 978-0-230-62306-4

External links[edit]

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