The ?Che Guevara? of Bkirki

Cardinal Sfeir said that making a visit to Syria during his term as Patriarch would have meant an acceptance from Bkirki of the Syrian occupation of Lebanon.� But in May 2005, and two years after the US invasion of Irak, Patriarch Sfeir visited President Georges Busch.� The following two paragraphs reveal true facts about the Iraqi war.A survey published on October 11, 2006� by the Lancet journal, estimated 695000� deaths related to the Iraqis war.� The US and UK governments rejected the researchers? conclusions but the John Hopkins Bloomberg school of Public Health who participated in the study, urged the Lancet to publish their data to alert the international community. Unfortunately, the war in Irak evolved into sectarian violence that has targeted Iraqis Christians.� And Cardinal Sfeir visited President Georges Busch a second time in March 2008, despite a US state department report on international religious freedom that has shown that the number of Iraqis Christians has dropped to 700.000 from 1.4 million in 1987.�Cardinal Sfeir is no longer holding a position of influence.� And the newly-elected Patriarch Rai made a U-turn on the visions of his predecessor.I attended three meetings given in the honor of Patriarch Rai during his recent visit to Los Angeles.� The most interesting gathering was the lecture he gave on Sunday morning October 16 at the Grand Hayat hotel during breakfast time.The Patriarch spoke at length about the history of the Maronites.� He added that the geopolitics of Lebanon in 2011 is different from what it was in the 70?s.�� And that we need to adapt our visions for the Christians of the East in a rapidly changing Middle East.� He then said that during his visit to the South of Lebanon, he stopped by a Christian?s village and learned that Hezbollah protected the inhabitants from armed Palestinians incursions.Then someone in the audience asked him: ?what happened during your meeting with French President Sarkozy??� He said to Sarkozy that the Western powers intentions to establish a democracy in Irak has caused unnecessary killings, sectarian violence against minorities and a massive exodus of the Christians from Irak.� He added that the failure of the West to achieve peace between the Palestinians and Israel is threatening the existence of the Christians in the Middle East such as the Copts in Egypt.Patriarch Rai told the French President, that the Leader of the Christians of the East, can no longer follow the failed policies and interferences of the West on the internal affairs of the Middle East.�He concluded with a request that we (Lebanese living in the US and other Western countries) do everything we can to influence the US and Western administrations to rethink their policies in the Middle East to protect the existence of the Christians of the East.� My impression is that the man in charge of Bkirki is fearless when he expresses his convictions.� He reminds me of a peaceful ?Che Guevara?.� He is rebelling against the Lebanese establishment responsible for the increase rate of poverty in Lebanon.� But his difficult journey goes beyond the Lebanese frontier where he deserves our support to keep the roots of Christianity in the Middle East alive.Ralph Watchi,M.D.�

Source: http://www.tayyar.org/Tayyar/News/PoliticalNews/en-US/bkerkeh-cheguevara-rahi-zek-486.htm

Madagascar Milan Baros Economic policy European debt crisis Pakistan cricket betting scandal BlackBurn Rovers