however, a small minority of lebanese maronites like the lebanese author walid phares tend to see themselves to be ethnic assyrians and not ethnic phoenicians. walid phares, speaking at the 70th assyrian convention, on the topic of assyrians in post-saddam iraq, began his talk by asking why he as a lebanese maronite ought to be speaking on the political future of assyrians in iraq, answering his own question with "because we are one people. we believe we are the western assyrians and you are the eastern assyrians."