Lahoud, Emile
(1936–)

Lebanese general and politician Emile Geamil Lahoud is the eleventh president of the Republic of Lebanon. He has long played a key role in Lebanese politics, especially since becoming head of state in 1998. It was under his leadership that Israel was pushed out of Lebanon in May 2000 after twenty-two years of occupation. Lahoud brought an end to sectarianism and rebuilt and rearmed the Lebanese army. However, he has ruled over a nation divided. His own policies mimic the divide, in which he silences the anti-Syrian opposition and allows the neighboring country to infiltrate Lebanese military and security agencies.

BIOGRAPHICAL HIGHLIGHTS

Name: Emile Geamil Lahoud

Birth: 1936, Baadat, Lebanon

Family: Wife, Andree Amadouny; children, Karine, Emile Jr., and Ralph

Nationality: Lebanese

Education: La Sagesse School, Beirut; Bumana High School, Metn; the military academy, 1956–1959. Studied maritime engineering and rescue operations during the 1960s in Great Britain, and attended the U.S. Naval Command College in Rhode Island from 1972 to 1973 and 1979 to 1980

PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY:

• 1950s: Attends military academy; navy engineer and commander of the landing ship, Tyre
• 1960s: Named commander of the second and first fleets
• 1970s: Studies maritime engineering and rescue operations in Britain and the U.S. Naval Command College
• 1980s: Appointed director of personnel and commander of the Lebanese army
• 1998: President of Lebanon

PERSONAL HISTORY

Lahoud was born on 12 January 1936 in Baadat, Lebanon. His parents, General Jamil Lahoud and Adrinee Badjakian, raised Emile in the military way, with thought first for duty to country. Lahoud attended La Sagesse elementary school in Beirut, and then went to Bumana high school in north Metn. After his mandatory schooling, Lahoud decided to attend the military academy. In 1959 he graduated and became a lieutenant, serving on the ship Tyre as a commander. Earlier he had served as a naval engineer. Lahoud attained the prestigious role of commander of the second fleet from 1966 to 1968, and then of the first fleet for the next two years. He transferred into the army through the influence of his cousin, General Jean Njeim. After Njeim's death, and not long after Lahoud's transfer, Lahoud decided to stay on in the army, gaining rank and popularity. During his time in the army, he trained from 1972 to 1973, and again from 1979 to 1980 at the U.S. Naval Command College. As of 1980, Lahoud was positioned in the army command as the director of personnel, and in three years time managed to gain a position at the Defense Ministry. President Amine Gemayyel, in the fall of 1988 was exiting the presidency with no successor, as the parliament was unable to convene to elect one. As a last resort, President Gemayel appointed General michel aoun to serve as interim prime minister. This created some obvious tension and problems between Aoun and the parliamentary body. Lahoud tried to wrangle with him to gain the presidency for himself, as well as concessions with Syria, but was unsuccessful. In September 1989, after months of supposed incompetence, Aoun fired Lahoud. Then in November, Lahoud was appointed commander of the armed forces. This led him to his most important role to that date. Lahoud would play a major role in the ending restabilization of Lebanon after its civil war. After the war ended, with the Lebanese army severely weakened, Lahoud took the leading role in rebuilding the all-important army. He sought, and gained, equipment to rebuild from the United States, and made military service mandatory for all able-bodied males. The only negative concession he made was that he allowed Syria the right to control the army through the highest channels possible. This was a major set back for Lebanese independence, as Syria now had an open door and powerful controlling influence within Lebanon. In October 1998, Lahoud was elected unanimously by those seated in the national assembly to the presidency. Those not wanting to participate were walid jumblatt and his followers. They protested by having no part of the vote, and by walking out on the election. rafiq hariri was also a vocal opponent of Lahoud's election to such a lofty position. Hariri saw Lahoud as being a Syrian puppet. Unfortunately, there is evidence that he may have been, as he had definitely used his command of the army to help quash opposition to the post-civil war dominance of Lebanon by the Syrians. In 1993 Syria and the Lebanese government, headed by Lahoud, signed the Defense and Security Pact. This pact gave unprecedented access to the Syrians to all functions of Lebanese government and military. In the two years from 1994 to 1996, many demonstrations and protests broke out, but were quelled and outlawed. Lahoud did try to clean up and do away with abuses upon his gaining the presidency, but was prevented by Syrian officials due to their complicity in those abuses. Around this time public support for Lahoud dipped, and his popularity was low on the street. He ran a heavy-handed regime, where any opponents were quieted and suppressed. There was hope that a military man, and one perceived to be fiercely loyal to Lebanon, would assert Lebanese independence. Instead critics accused Lahoud of leading the country further and further under the yoke of Syria. In March 2000, Lahoud, seemingly making a misstep, threatened Israel with guerrilla attacks from Palestinians within Lebanon if it pulled out of Lebanon before a peace treaty could be enacted. In 2004 Syria pressured the national assembly to grant Lahoud another presidential term. After the late 2006 conflict with Israel and their incursions into the south of Lebanon with claims of attacks by guerrillas from the Lebanese side, Lahoud and Israel went back to the armistice of 1949.

INFLUENCES AND CONTRIBUTIONS

From an early age Lahoud was heavily influenced by his father and his military service. He was raised with military values, and a duty and honor before anything else attitude. He has also, in recent years been influenced heavily by Syria and Syrian politics. Lahoud has contributed much to Lebanon; he has rebuilt the army and opened diplomatic connections with other nations. He has spent virtually his whole life in the service of, in one way or another, Lebanon.

THE WORLD'S PERSPECTIVE

Global perceptions of Lahoud are mixed. In the West, the president is seen as a puppet of Syria, and as having allowed that country open access to all functions of Lebanese politics. In a U.S. News and World Report article written by Fouad Ajami, he called Lahoud a supplicant of Syria, doing Syria's bidding. Many Lebanese tend to agree that President Lahoud has allowed the Syrians free and unfettered access to Lebanese politics, and disagree with his appointment of pro-Syrian figures to head sensitive military and security positions. Also, Lahoud has been criticized heavily for silencing any opposition with force. However, the rest of the Lebanese population and other Arab leaders believe that Lahoud is a real patriot who dramatically transformed the Lebanese army and instituted the flag service, requiring all Lebanese males to give a full year of military service, reequipping the army with new arms, weapons, and uniforms. President Lahoud ensured that all military units were thoroughly integrated across sectarian and regional lines and were frequently rotated around the country stamping out sectarianism, a problem the Lebanese have faced in the past. However, the crackdown against dissidents and assassinations of former prime minister Hariri and other prominent Lebanese politicians and thinkers has largely been blamed on President Lahoud's Syrian allies. Support for the embattled president, even among his Maronite community, has plummeted and the call for his resignation become louder and stronger.

LEGACY

It remains too early to assess Lahoud's ultimate legacy, as he is the sitting president. His legacy seemingly will not be one of all happiness and accomplishments. There is some extreme anger directed toward him, especially regarding his conciliatory nature with Syria. He will leave behind a good legacy in the rebuilding and rearming of the army, as well as his ending sectarianism in the military service. However, again this is a double-edged sword, because he also allowed Syria to become intricately involved in the military, its workings, and those of the government. In the end, his military service seems to be his strongest legacy, as most, if not all, Lebanese are certainly proud of his over forty years of service.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Gambill, Gary C., Ziad K. Abdelnour, and Bassam Endrawos. Middle East Intelligence Bulletin 3, no. 11 (November 2001).

"Lebanese President Emile Lahoud: Address to the Arab Summit in Cairo." 21 October 2000. Available from http://www.meib.org/articles/0011_ldoc1021.htm.

"U.S. Is Lebanese Army's Patron." Washington Post (5 December 1998).

                                            Khodr M. Zaarour