The Guardians of the Cedars Party issued the following weekly communiqué:
The Army is a Red Line
The attack on the army in its own den under these critical circumstances has dangerous ramifications and any number of objectives. First, it targets the security shield that is the last obstacle to the fall of the republic. Second, it targets the very existence of the Lebanese entity after the army has shown that is the sole guarantor of that entity. Third, it seeks to prevent the leader of the institution of the army from reaching the presidency and saving it from the current vacuum, now that he is within reach from it. And fourth, and most importantly, to kill the aspirations of the Lebanese people now that the army has become their only plank of salvation and their last hope.
For these reasons, we believe that expressions of condemnation and denunciation are dull in the face of this crime-conspiracy, and that the bloody series that has gone on for years won’t stop with more lamenting and shedding of tears. Instead, it must be confronted with courageous decisions coupled with actions on the ground, like those decisions that the army took to confront the recent events in the north.
Therefore, as we present our condolences and expressions of sympathy to the family of the hero martyr Brig. General Francois Hajj and all those who fell with him and to the esteemed military institution, and whereas we consider the army to be a red line that should not be crossed, we demand on behalf of the honorable Lebanese people that the State responds immediately and forcefully, in a manner proportionate with the ugliness of this dangerous crime, against all those who are behind it, be they planners, accomplices or executors.
On the occasion of International Human Rights Day, we draw the attention of the capitals of the free world and the humanitarian organizations to the long-standing tragedy of the families of the Lebanese nationals missing in Syrian prisons and demand that they act urgently to put an end to it. We also remind them of the case of the Lebanese refugees in Israel who were members of the South Lebanon Army and who must be repatriated to Lebanon in a dignified and respectful manner, eight years after their forced exile to Israel.
Lebanon, at your service
Abu Arz