REPORTS FROM ABROAD
Jacques Pietri
BEIRUT
Have we really understood the true political geography of
Lebanon? Have we really understood that in Beirut the West was in
the east and the East in the west? The information given by certain
media according to whom there were no more "Europeans" in West
Beirut is a dream! Are the Czechs, the East Germans, the Bulgar–
ians, the Romanians, and the Russians no longer Europeans? For
there were never as many agents from Eastern countries as there have
been during the last few months, even if the Soviets show a certain
amount of prudence. Not only does Shiite
integrisme
triumph today,
it is also and especially the KGB .
To chase the Westerners from a zone of influence they had ac–
quired, and by this fact itself to contribute to the destabilization of
the entire Mediterranean, is one of the Soviet objectives and one of
the reasons (naturally there are others) for the eleven years of the
war in Lebanon.
Fundamentally and politically, the Islamic Djihad is nothing
other than a branch of the KGB. The assaults on French and Ameri–
can troops could not have been organized without the logistic support
of the powerful secret services, and the most frequently cited were
those of the Syrians, Iranians, and .. . Russians.
That is why it doesn't much matter whether one is or is not
Christian .
If
one still believes in the fundamental Western values, in
democracy, liberty, tolerance - for others or oneself, it is important
to support the Lebanese Christians, if there still is time. Unfortu–
nately, it is a good bet that they will hardly weigh more heavily in
the diplomatic balance than did the Sudetenland in its time . The
spirit of Munich lives on.
For now, the Westerners have not yet paid the price for their
cowardice; the worst is yet to come. And terrorism cannot be eradi-
Editor's Note: This comment first appeared in the July 2, 1986 issue of
Le Monde.
