If you believe that Hezbollah initiated its strong armed coup in Lebanon by letting its Pasadaran like Storm troops loose on civilian neighborhoods in order to terrorize people, burn institutions, keep TV stations off the air, destroy property and deface shops in reaction to the attempt by the democratically elected cabinet of Lebanon to relieve the Chief of Airport Security from his job and to deactivate the illegal Hezbollah telecommunication network then you must also believe in the tooth fairy and Santa clause.
Hezbollah has been in the business of fabricating excuses to justify its destructive and unlawful acts for years. The Sheba'a farms case was conveniently discovered when Hezbollah needed to convince the public of a rationale for keeping its armed militia, a technicality over the creation of an International Tribunal by the United Nations became the reason for asking their cabinet ministers to resign, a far damaging war that killed around 2000 Lebanese and destroyed a large proportion of the Lebanese infrastructure was unilaterally started by Hezbollah by kidnapping two Israeli soldiers and five days ago they went to war against those that protected them , sheltered them and sacrificed for them in their hour of need supposedly to undo the two Cabinet edicts that they do not approve of.
What followed was an efficient execution of a military plan that made use of Hezbollah's modern arsenal against homes, businesses and institutions that belong to supporters of the governing majority block March 14 all over West Beirut. As if that was not enough their well trained militias have run over the airport and allowed an Iranian jet with 400 people aboard to land. Who were these passengers is still a mystery but some unconfirmed rumors claim that these 400 were elite members of the Iranian Party of God who might have been the ones to have spearheaded the Beirut and the Chouf offensives. Did the US offensive on Sadr City in Baghdad have anything to do with the timing of the mayhem initiated by the Iranian trained, financed and armed militia of Hezbollah who make no secret of their allegiances to the Supreme leader Khamenei of Iran.
Lebanon, who has been struggling to revive its economy and resume building its democratic institutions after 30 years of Syrian rule was dealt a devastating blow by these clearly terrorist acts. So far over 40 people have been killed, 174 wounded and Lebanon's image dealt a devastating blow both in the political as well as the economic arenas.
Make no mistake about it, this was a well planned and efficiently executed coup. I believe that we can all breathe a sigh of relief for the decision taken by the March 14 leadership when it asked its supporters not to fight and resist their brotherly occupiers. Whether March 14 took that decision because it had to or whether the decision was taken in order to leave the act of protecting the public and private institutions to the armed forces that absorb every year the lions share of the Lebanese budget and whose very rationale to exist is to implement orders from the executive branch of government is immaterial. The Lebanese Army's response was disgraceful, to say the least. They watched as the various Hezbollah goons took the law into their hands and at times they even lent their support to these illegal acts.
Many people feel frustrated and betrayed by the miserable and ignoble performance of the Lebanese Army and its top general Suleiman as they should. The lack of personal confrontation by the March 14 groups should be applauded because it is one example of what a responsible civil people should do. Depend on the official institutions to perform as instructed and when they do not, as in this case, hold the people responsible for such failures accountable.
Who lost Lebanon, or at least set us back decades? We all did for failing to demand that all our political leaders should uphold the law and act as if the national interest is sacred. We have all played a role in bringing about the current state of affairs but that is water under the bridge. We have to learn from our mistakes and make sure that the apparent military victory of the Hezbollah terrorist militia does not translate into actual political gains. We can do that if we demand accountability from all our politicians, if we show outrage whenever they act in their own selfish interest , which is done on a daily basis, if we demand that the doors to the Chamber of deputies are reopened for business, if we demand that they elect a president as prescribed by the constitution and most importantly if we demand that sectarianism must be abolished.
The current system of confessionalism has not served us well. We need to end it, the sooner the better. If ,we the people, act and show our disgust with the current state of affairs then we can reverse the apparent gains made by Hezbollah's armed bands and at the same time we can push all the politicians into creating a new Lebanon based on modernity, equality and social justice.
Tags: Amal, Beirut, Civil War, Hezbollah, Hostages, Lebanon, Murder, Violence, War
