Editing Hafez al-Assad (section)

=== Lebanese Civil War ===
{{main|Syrian intervention in the Lebanese Civil War}}

{{Quote box
| width = 25em
| align = left
| bgcolor = #ACE1AF
| quote = We did not go into Lebanon to achieve any regional ambitions, nor for any selfish or opportunistic motives. On the contrary, it was at the expense of our economy and our daily bread.
| source = —Assad, reviewing Syria's intervention in Lebanon{{sfn|Dawisha|2005|p=273}}
}}

Syria intervened in Lebanon in 1976 during the [[Lebanese Civil War|civil war]], which began in 1975.{{sfn|Winslow|2012|p=194}} With the Egyptian–Israeli peace accords, Syria was the only neighboring state which threatened Israel.{{sfn|Seale|1990|p=267}} Syria initially tried to mediate the conflict; when that failed, Assad ordered the [[Palestine Liberation Army]] (PLA),{{sfn|Winslow|2012|pp=194–195}} a regular force based in Syria with Syrian officers,{{sfn|Gilmour|1983|p=131}} troops into Lebanon to restore order.{{sfn|Winslow|2012|pp=194–195}} Around this time, the Israeli government opened its borders to [[Maronite]] refugees in Lebanon to strengthen its regional influence.{{sfn|Winslow|2012|p=195}} Clashes between the Syria-loyal PLA and militants occurred throughout the country.{{sfn|Winslow|2012|p=195}} Despite Syrian support and Khaddam's mediation, [[Rashid Karami]] (the Sunni Muslim Prime Minister of Lebanon) did not have enough support to appoint a cabinet.{{sfn|Winslow|2012|p=195}}
[[File:Syrian soldiers with RPG-7 in Lebanon.jpg|thumb|256x256px|Syrian army soldiers in Lebanon.]]
In early 1976 Assad was approached by Lebanese politicians for help in forcing the resignation of [[Suleiman Frangieh]], the Christian [[President of Lebanon]].{{sfn|Winslow|2012|p=197}} Although Assad was open to change, he resisted attempts by some Lebanese politicians to enlist him in Frangieh's ouster;{{sfn|Winslow|2012|p=197}} when General Abdul Aziz al-Ahdāb [[Al-Ahdab coup|attempted to seize power]], Syrian troops stopped him.{{sfn|Winslow|2012|p=198}} In the meantime, radical Lebanese leftists were gaining the upper hand in the military conflict.{{sfn|Winslow|2012|p=198}} [[Kamal Jumblatt]], leader of the [[Lebanese National Movement]] (LNM), believed that his strong military position would compel Frangieh's resignation.{{sfn|Winslow|2012|p=198}} Assad did not wish a leftist victory in Lebanon which would strengthen the position of the Palestinians.{{sfn|Winslow|2012|p=198}} He did not want a rightist victory either, instead of seeking a middle-ground solution which would safeguard Lebanon and the region.{{sfn|Winslow|2012|p=198}} When Jumblatt met with Assad on 27 March 1976, he tried to persuade him to let him "win" the war;{{sfn|Winslow|2012|p=198}} Assad replied that a ceasefire should be in effect to ensure the 1976 presidential elections.{{sfn|Winslow|2012|p=198}} Meanwhile, on Assad's orders Syria sent troops into Lebanon without international approval.{{sfn|Winslow|2012|p=198}}

While [[Yasser Arafat]] and the PLO had not officially taken a side in the conflict, several PLO members were fighting with the LNM.{{sfn|Winslow|2012|p=198}} Assad attempted to steer Arafat and the PLO away from Lebanon, threatening him with a cutoff of Syrian aid.{{sfn|Winslow|2012|p=198}} The two sides were unable to reach an agreement.{{sfn|Winslow|2012|p=198}} When Frangieh stepped down in 1976, Syria pressured Lebanese members of parliament to elect [[Elias Sarkis]] president.{{sfn|Winslow|2012|p=199}} One-third of the Lebanese members of parliament (primarily supporters of [[Raymond Edde]]) boycotted the election to protest American and Syrian interference.{{sfn|Winslow|2012|p=199}}
[[File:Column of Syrian tanks and armoured personnel carriers in Beirut, Lebanon.webp|thumb|Column of Syrian tanks and armoured personnel carriers enters Beirut.]]
On 31 May 1976, Syria began a full-scale intervention in Lebanon to (according to the official Syrian account) end bombardment of the Maronite cities of Qubayat and Aandqat.{{sfn|Winslow|2012|p=201}} Before the intervention, Assad and the Syrian government were one of several interests in Lebanon; afterward, they were the controlling factors in Lebanese politics.{{sfn|Winslow|2012|p=201}} On Assad's orders, the Syrian troop presence slowly increased to 30,000.{{sfn|Winslow|2012|p=201}} Syria received approval for the intervention from the United States and Israel to help them defeat Palestinian forces in Lebanon.{{sfn|Winslow|2012|p=201}} The Ba'athist group [[As-Sa'iqa]] and the PLA's Hittīn brigade fought Palestinians who sided with the LNM.{{sfn|Winslow|2012|p=201}}

Within a week of the Syrian intervention, Christian leaders issued a statement of support.{{sfn|Winslow|2012|p=202}}
[[File:Syrian army BMP-1 in Lebanon during Lebanese civil war.jpg|left|thumb|274x274px|Syrian army [[BMP-1]] in Lebanon.]]
Muslim leaders established a joint command of all Palestinian groups except As-Sa'iqa,{{sfn|Winslow|2012|p=202}} which was driven by the PLO to its stronghold near the main airport.{{sfn|Winslow|2012|p=202}} Shortly afterward, As-Sa'iqa and other leftist Damascus forces were absorbed by the Syrian military.{{sfn|Winslow|2012|p=202}} On 8 June 1976 Syrian forces were pushed back from Sidon, encountering stiff resistance in Beirut from the LNM.{{sfn|Winslow|2012|p=202}} Assad's actions angered much of the Arab world however and the sight of Syria trying to eliminate the PLO brought criticism upon him.{{sfn|Winslow|2012|p=202}} There was considerable hostility to Assad's alliance with the Maronites in Syria.{{sfn|Gilmour|1983|p=139}} As a result, the Syrian government asked the [[Arab League]] to assist in the conflict.{{sfn|Winslow|2012|p=202}} The Arab League began to meditate, establishing the [[Arab Deterrent Force]] (ADF) for peacekeeping.{{sfn|Winslow|2012|p=202}} Syrian strategy at this point was to gradually weaken the LNM and its Palestinian collaborators, continuing to support the Christian militia.{{sfn|Winslow|2012|p=202}} However, the Syrians were unable to capture the LNM's stronghold of Aley before the Arab League called for a ceasefire on 17 October.{{sfn|Winslow|2012|p=204}} The Arab League strengthened the ADF to 30,000 troops, most Syrian.{{sfn|Winslow|2012|p=204}} While some heavy fighting continued, by December 1976 and January 1977 most Palestinian and Lebanese groups had disposed of their heavy weaponry.{{sfn|Winslow|2012|p=204}} According to Charles Winslow, the "main phase" of the Lebanese Civil War had ended by 1977; until the early 1990s most violence was attributed to the turf, proxy, inter-communal and state wars.{{sfn|Winslow|2012|p=205}}
Assad used terrorism and intimidation to extend his control over Lebanon.{{sfn|Reich|1990|p=61}} Jumblatt died in a 1977 assassination allegedly ordered by Syria; in 1982, Syrian agents assassinated Lebanese President [[Bachir Gemayel]] (who was helped to power by the Israelis during the [[1982 Lebanon War]]).{{sfn|Reich|1990|p=61}} Jumblatt and Gemayel had resisted Assad's attempts to dominate Lebanon.{{sfn|Reich|1990|p=61}} Assad caused the failure of the 1983 Lebanon–Israel agreement, and by proxy guerrilla warfare forced the Israeli Defense Forces to withdraw to southern Lebanon in 1985.{{sfn|Reich|1990|p=61}} Terrorism against Palestinians and Jordanian targets during the mid-1980s thwarted the rapprochement between King Hussein of Jordan and the PLO, slowing Jordanian–Israeli cooperation in the [[West Bank]].{{sfn|Reich|1990|p=61}}
[[File:Syrian army soldiers in Iraq, 1991.jpg|thumb|Syrian army soldiers in the Gulf war, 1991.]]