ABSTRACT
Hirsh Goodman's analysis of Israeli support for Major Haddad, presented in the previous chapter, probably provides the key for understanding why chaos persisted. The Lebanese Front and its militia--the Lebanese Forces--came to be dominated by Bashir Gemayel, the son of the founder of the Lebanese Phalange Party, Pierre Gemayel. The ultimate decision of the Israelis to clear the way for Bashir Gemayel's election to the Lebanese presidency appears to have been the by-product of another decision deemed by Israeli policymakers to be far more significant: the decision to annihilate the PLO as an independent political force, an independence derived from the territorial status of the PLO in Lebanon. The penultimate step toward the clearing of the PLO from southern Lebanon occurred in July 1981. From 10-24 July, Israel conducted an intensive aerial campaign against PLO positions between Sidon and Nabatiyah, also knocking out highway bridges throughout the south.
