EFFORTPOST Snapshots of the Lebanese Civil War - The Christian Militias

Today I'll tackle the various Christian militias of the civil war. Many Christians fought for the "Muslim" side in various organizations like the Communist Party and SSNP, but here I'm just looking at the militias that openly identified themselves as fighting for sectarian reasons. Popular Christian figures who sought compromise with the Muslims were forced to flee the country to avoid assassination, so the gangsters leading the militias were the only ones who mattered in those years.

Organizations

Kataeb

These guys are often called the "Phalangists" in English because some journo a long time ago thought it would be cute or something. It was one of the first real political parties to win a large following, formed by Pierre Gemayel, a soccer player who had been in the 1936 Olympics. While some superficial inspiration came from European fascists, their real agenda was independence from France. They represented middle class Christians (especially Maronites) who wanted a Lebanese state dominated by Christians. The last genocide had happened in the 1860s and they had legitimate reasons to fear what might happen if they were swallowed up into Syria or a pan-Arab state where they would be vastly outnumbered by Muslims. In order to prevent this nightmare scenario, they were determined to keep the powers reserved for the Christians in Lebanon's unofficial constitution, the presidency and a majority in parliament. They saw this as the only guarantee against Arab nationalism.

Everyone called him "Sheikh Pierre". I expect the same treatment from you.

During the brief 1958 civil war, Kataeb was one of the main forces on the "right-wing" side against Nasserists. Just as this threat began to dissipate in the late 1960s, armed and militant Palestinians began pouring into the country and acting like they owned the place. This triggered the deep seated fears of many Christians of being swept up into some greater Arab community with no control over their own destiny. They began building up their own militia before the war, trying to train it to be a match for the Palestinians. They were by far the largest of the Christian parties.

US troops land at Beirut to deal with the crisis, 1958. It was resolved peacefully with the help of American troops and diplomats.

National Liberal Party

Like most "parties" in Lebanon this was not a real political party. It was more like a medieval lord leading his underlings. Camille Chamoun was a za'im, one of the wealthy landowners who held his part of the country under almost feudal conditions. He had been president in the 1950s so he had political connections throughout the nation. The NLP was mostly run by people who were in some way connected to Chamoun through his land holdings or political patronage. He had an especially large following among Christians to the south and east of Beirut. His party was second in importance to Kataeb among Christians.

This is some French singer called Camille. Imagine choosing to spell it the way girls do. At least call yourself Kamil or something.

Marada

Suleiman Franjieh was another za'im with his base in and around Zgharta in the north. Many inhabitants of the area had long been loyal to his family. Franjieh was president when the war broke out but much of his power still came from his ability to put men with guns out into the streets to enforce his will in his territory. When war broke out these men were organized into the Marada militia. He had very close personal ties to Hafez Assad, who had sheltered him when he was a fugitive in the 1950s.

Zgharta.

Minor Groups

Several smaller Christian militias were formed as war drew near, such as the Guardians of the Cedars. These groups were motivated by bloodlust and fanatical hatred of the Palestinians. While the larger militias often engaged in atrocities during the war, for the smaller groups that was the purpose of their existance. Each one could put only a few hundred men into the field but they were determined fighters, eager to get access to helpless people to torture and slaughter. With slogans like "It is a duty for each Lebanese to kill a Palestinian" it's no wonder that they were blamed for a wildly disproportionate share of war crimes.

Etienne Saqr, AKA Abu Arz (Father of the Cedars), leader of the Guardians of the Cedars.

1975

Pierre Gemayel put his son Bashir in command of Kataeb's militia and Chamoun put his son Dany in command of his. At the outbreak of war, the Christian militias formed an umbrella organization, the Lebanese Forces, to coordinate their actions. Their forces were not well trained but a large part of the army sympathized with them and supplied weapons, defended key locations, or even defected outright to join the LF. They were a powerful force, at least in the Maronite heartland between East Beirut and Tripoli.

An M113 APC carrying LF fighters. Both sides got some from army defectors and put them to good use. You'll often see guys riding on top of it outside of combat because it doesn't have air conditioning.

Two immediate objectives of the LF when fighting broke out were the hotels district and the Tal el-Zaatar refugee camp. The hotels were tall enough to give an excellent view down into Beirut. They happened to be near the dividing line between Christian East Beirut and the enemy's territory in West Beirut, so they rushed their troops in to secure them first. Tal el-Zaatar was on a hill overlooking East Beirut. Its position in the middle of Christian territory was a major threat to the LF but also an opportunity. The Palestinians had dug fortifications and a maze of tunnels beneath the camp, but they were vulnerable to a siege.

The LF at this point were opposed to Syria intervening in the war, fearing that they would impose some kind of left-wing Arab nationalist regime.

1980

By the end of 1980 Kataeb had destroyed or absorbed all the other members of the coalition. From this point on it and the Lebanese Forces are essentially the same thing. Gemayel first eliminated Marada by hitting Tony Franjieh in his own stronghold in the Ehden massacre. His right hand man Samir Geagea led the attack, famously killing his wife, daughter, maid, and dog in the process. Then he turned on the NLP, launching a surprise attack against his supposed allies, gunning down dozens in broad daylight in Beirut. Chamoun got out of the militia business after that.

This is a dog, perhaps similar to the one that was killed.

The LF had opposed Syrian intervention in 1975 and it did in 1980 as well, but only after coming full circle. Facing defeat at the hands of the Palestinian/leftist forces in 1976 they begged the Syrians to intervene and rescue them. It only took a couple years for them to start resenting their rescuers and their remaining presence in Lebanon and fighting broke out between them. Now in 1980 there was an uneasy calm as the LF held on to the Christian neighborhoods of Beirut. Kataeb had long been recieving semi-covert aid from Israel. By 1980 this was out in the open as the Israelis built up the LF's military capabilities, seeing it as a bulwark against both Syria and the Palestinians.

An upgraded M4 Sherman given to the LF by Israel. WW2 technology still performed well against poorly trained militia.

Some remnants of defected army units and the smaller militias in the south of the country ended up fighting for Israel. Their puppet South Lebanon Army would be a powerful force near the border until long after this war ended.

1985

By 1985 the situation has completely changed. Bashir was dead and the Israelis were pulling back to the border. As they left, the LF entered the mixed Christian/Druze Chouf region and ran into the Druze militia. They took turns massacring each others' villages. In the Christian heartland they were still completely dominant. They had a steady revenue stream from taxing goods coming through the ports under their control and a relatively sophisticated bureacracy to manage it. It was effectively its own little state.

The port of Jounieh. The LF controlled it and several other small ports on the coastline it controlled.

But by now the writing was on the wall. The Syrians were all over the place with no other foreign power to seriously oppose them. The little Christian ministate had no viable future with Syrian artillery in the hills above East Beirut, ready to fire any time they had a disagreement. The LF's leader Elie Hobeika entered negotiations with Syria to bring the LF over to their side. Meanwhile Samir Geagea was plotting a coup against him.

Elie Hobeika deep in thought plotting his next scheme, 1985.

1990

Now there was an entirely new threat. Fed up with years under the thumb of the LF's gangster "militia", a large part of the Christian population was rising up against him. Gen. Michel Aoun led parts of the Lebanese army in attacks against them. He called it the "War of Elimination", vowing to wipe out all the militias, ressurect the Lebanese state, and regain independence from foreign occupiers. The LF was on the defensive, unable to match the firepower of a real army, especially its artillery. But when ammunition supplies from Iraq were cut off and Syria given the green light for a full invasion by the US, Aoun's forces were quickly overrun.

Gen. Michel Aoun, when he was the only one left brave enough to fight against the Syrian occupation, 1990. In the mid-2000s he abruptly decided that they weren't so bad after all and became their main Christian ally in Lebanon.

Epilogue

The LF accepted the Taif Accords but did not fare well in the aftermath. Geagea was now its leader. In 1994 he was arrested for allegedly blowing up a church and 11 people in it. Whether or not he actually did it doesn't really matter. He had certainly murdered many people during the Civil War, especially his Christian rivals. Not that anyone was actually trying to get justice for an atrocity. The Syrians didn't trust him so they had their puppets in the Lebanese security forces pin the blame on him. He wasn't released until the Syrians were finally driven out.

Samir Geagea the elder statesman, who hopes we'll forget about Samir Geagea the hitman of the 1970s.

Today the LF is just a political party doing ordinary political things in parliament, with Geagea still its leader. It leads to some awkward situations. When Tony Franjieh's family was killed, his son Sulemein happened to be away. Now Hezbollah wants to make him president. Geagea has been adament in opposing him. Media outlets like AP and AFP will tell you this is because the politics of the current moment. Really? Maybe Geagea is just worried that the guy is gonna go full John Wick and get revenge for his dog if he's president.