Editing Samir Geagea (section)

== War period (1975–1990) ==
Geagea steadily rose through the ranks and led several operations at the request of [[Bachir Gemayel]], then commander of the Phalangist [[Kataeb Regulatory Forces]] militia. In June 1978, following the murder of a Phalangist party leader [[Joud el Bayeh]] in the [[North Lebanon]] in a power struggle with former president [[Suleiman Frangieh]], [[Bachir Gemayel]] ordered Geagea and [[Elie Hobeika]] to co-lead a unit to capture the suspects who were taking cover in Frangieh's mansion in [[Ehden]]. The incident is known as [[Ehden massacre]].<ref name="LLcrime">{{Cite book|publisher=Editions Cheminements|isbn= 978-2-84478-368-4|page=765| last=Azzam|first=Roger|title=Liban, l'instruction d'un crime: 30 ans de guerre|year=2005}}</ref><ref name="ehden">{{Cite book|publisher=I.B.Tauris|isbn= 978-1-86064-715-4 |page=298|last=Johnson|first= Michael|title=All honorable men: the social origins of war in Lebanon|year=2001}}</ref> The attacking force (which somehow went past over dozens of Syrian army checkpoints) was met with resistance on the outskirts of Ehden where Geagea was hit. He was transported to Beirut and admitted to [[Hôtel-Dieu de France|Hôtel-Dieu]] hospital in [[Achrafieh]], Beirut where ironically he was doing his internship. His right hand was partially paralyzed and he never continued his education. Meanwhile, the military operation resulted in the murder of [[Tony Frangieh]] and his family. Geagea was later transported to a hospital in France.

Geagea was appointed head of the [[Lebanese Forces]]' (LF) militia northern Front in the early 1980s, where he commanded around 1,500 battle-hardened soldiers, drawn mainly from his native town of Bsharri and other towns and villages in Northern Lebanon. Geagea led his men in fierce battles against the Syrian Army in [[El-Koura]], [[Battle of Qnat|Qnat]]. From 1982 to 1983, Geagea commanded the Lebanese Forces against Walid Jumblat's [[Progressive Socialist Party]] militia, the Palestinians, and the Syrians in a battle for control of the [[Chouf]] mountains in central Lebanon.

Following the Israeli withdrawal from Sidon on 15 February 1985 Geagea launched an LF offensive from the Christian villages East and North of [[Sidon]] targeting [[Ain al-Hilwa]] refugee camp as well as the city itself. By 24 April his fighters were forced to retreat resulting in the exodus of some 60,000 [[Maronite]]s from the villages of [[Iqlim al-Kharrub]].<ref>[[Middle East International]] No 309, 26 September 1987, Publishers [[Christopher Mayhew|Lord Mayhew]], [[Dennis Walters|Dennis Walters MP]]; [[Rosemary Sayigh]] pp.13-15</ref>

On 1 April 1990, during the War of Liberation, [[Elias Hrawi|Elias Hrawi’s]] government mandated Fleet Admiral [[Elie Hayek]] to take over [[Lebanese Forces (Resistance)|LF]] barracks in the governorate. This was part of an agreement between Geagea and Hrawi whereby the army would militarily and politically take over 2/3 of the canton (the remaining 1/3 being the Northern governorate and Achrafieh in East Beirut), but the militia’s 10,000 strong force would remain intact for the time being.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/stream/ArabTimes1990KuwaitEnglish/Apr%2012%201990%2C%20Arab%20Times%2C%20%237842%2C%20Kuwait%20%28en%29_djvu.txt|title=Full text of "Arab Times , 1990, Kuwait, English"|accessdate=25 December 2022}}</ref>

[[Michel Aoun]], however, had publicly stated that he would not accept the handoff or any alliance between the [[Lebanese Forces (Resistance)|LF]] and the Hrawi government. As the Elimination War was ravaging East Beirut and its suburbs (up to the Metn), the handoff actually began in [[Keserwan District|Keserwan district]] – at the level of Nahr el-Kalb – up to Barbara.<ref>Mideast Mirror 22 Oct. 1990, 23</ref> By May, however, the [[Lebanese Forces (Resistance)|LF]] had taken over the entire coastline from [[Jounieh]] to Beirut from Aoun’s troops, completely cutting off naval supply routes.<ref>{{cite web |date=21 October 2014 |title=Both sides pounded the Christian enclave daily claiming the lives of 615 people died, and more than 2,000 were wounded, half of them civilians |url=https://civilsociety-centre.org/sir/both-sides-pounded-christian-enclave-daily-claiming-lives-615-people-died-and-more-2000-were}}</ref>  In addition, Geagea placed Hayek in an [[Lebanese Forces (Resistance)|LF]] barrack in [[Jounieh]] as a symbol of his willingness to integrate with the government, defying Aoun’s refusal of any Hrawi-LF alliance.<ref>{{cite web |date=8 March 1997 |title=Le procès dans l'affaire Murr prendra fin lundi avec les plaidoieries de Karam et du chef des FL Naïm qualifie d'illégale la procédure judiciaire et Rizk souligne le ralliement de Geagea à Taëf(photos) |url=https://www.lorientlejour.com/article/223734/Le_proces_dans_laffaire_Murr_prendra_fin_lundi_avec_les_plaidoieries_de_Karam_et_du_chef_des_FL_Naim_qualifie_dillegale_la_procedure_judiciaire_et_Riz.html}}</ref>  These developments, combined with the Syrian army’s support, dramatically shifted the odds in favour of the [[Taif Agreement|Taif agreement]] and its government.

=== Lebanese Forces ===
[[File:Leila Hawi Zod.jpg|250px|left|thumb|Samir Geagea and daughter of [[William Hawi]] – Leila]]On 12 March 1985, Geagea and Elie Hobeika orchestrated an internal coup in order to end the leadership of [[Fouad Abou Nader]] in the [[Lebanese Forces]].<ref name=":0">{{cite web |title=Lebanon: Information on the Jaejae, Hobeika and al-Kataeb groups |url=http://www.refworld.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/rwmain?docid=3ae6aaba24 |accessdate=4 July 2013 |publisher=Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada}}</ref> Abou Nader was considered to be too close to his uncle, president [[Amin Gemayel]] whose policies were not accepted by most LF leaders.<ref name=":0" /> On 15 January 1986, Geagea became head of the Lebanese Forces after overthrowing Hobeika, who was widely accused{{by whom|date=June 2013}} of treachery in the Lebanese Christian sector for agreeing to a Syrian-sponsored accord (the [[Tripartite Accord (Lebanon)|Tripartite Accord]]). During the following year, Geagea meticulously rebuilt the LF into an organized, well trained and equipped military force, one of the most advanced forces ever on Lebanese soil. He established social security and public services to fill the void that was created by the war-crippled state administration.<ref>Collelo, ''Lebanon: a country study'' (1989), p. 223.</ref><ref>Barak, ''The Lebanese Army – A National institution in a divided society'' (2009), p. 115.</ref> He also extracted taxes from the Christian region, offered free open-heart operations and twinned Christians cities with foreign cities in Europe and America and tried to open an airport in the [[Halat, Lebanon|Halat]] region because the Beirut International Airport (located in the west suburb of Beirut) was under the control of the Syrian forces which made the access for Lebanese Christians almost impossible.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bfrFAAAAQBAJ&q=east+beirut+canton+lebanon+civil+war | title=States-Within-States: Incipient Political Entities in the Post-Cold War Era | publisher=Springer |last1=Kingston |first1=Paul |last2=Spears |first2=Ian S.  | year=2004 | isbn=9781403981011 |page=89}}</ref>