He was part of a militia that committed war crimes and, if anything, he should be tried for war crimes."[1] Sarah Stern, president of the Endowment for Middle East Truth, defended his actions for the Lebanise militant group: "He represented his left-of-center party within a coalition of parties that oversaw the local government of the Christian community when it was surrounded by the Syrian army and the terrorist groups between 1986 and 1988. Phares is being attacked because he is on the right side of the issues and is fearless in speaking out the truth... [Walid] is in a caliber of his own.