A era dos senhores da guerra", por Chibli Mallat

A doença de Ariel Sharon, pode ser um a oportunidade de findar "a era dos senhores da guerra" no Próximo Oriente, é o que diz o meu amigo dr. Chibli Mallat, candidato no Líbano presidencial.
“It seems the end has come of Mr Sharon’s political career. While one should acknowledge his coming to terms partially with the existence of the Palestinians as a people with rights, leading to the recent withdrawal from Gaza, history will mainly remember Mr Sharon as a warrior, the title he himself chose for his autobiography.

“The Lebanese of course remember Mr Sharon as the architect of the 1982 invasion, which left 20,000 people dead, plunged the country into the worst period of its civil war, and continued with a 20-year occupation. While Mr Sharon was held ‘personally responsible’ by the Kahane Commission for the Sabra and Chatila massacres in September 1982, he was never tried in Israel. Some comfort for the victims came with his indictment in Belgian courts in 2001, but we know how the law was changed with retroactive effect to undo the victory of the victims in the decision of the Supreme Court of Belgium on Feb.12, 2003.

“The political demise of Mr Sharon is an opportunity for a new generation to end a long period where politics has been dominated by warlords and militia leaders. It should give way to a new spirit in the region based on justice and accountability for the signal crimes perpetrated by the likes of Ariel Sharon and Saddam Hussein, and to the emergence of human rights presidents and prime ministers’.