Aoun defends Hezbollah , claims it has no effect on the security reality in Lebanon

Rome- President Michel Aoun defended on Tuesday the Iranian backed Hezbollah militant group claiming that” it has no effect on the security reality in Lebanon ”

In an interview with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, Aoun said, “Resisting the occupation is not terrorism, and Hezbollah, which is made up of Lebanese and liberated south Lebanon from Israeli occupation, has no effect on the security reality in Lebanon.”

He blamed Israel for its continued occupation of parts of Lebanon and Syria’s territories, and said once liberated, a process of peace negotiations can begin

Israel still occupies the Shebaa farms , which were occupied by Israel during the six day war when it occupied Syria’s Golan Heights.

Shebaa farms are an occupied Syrian territory . President Bashar al Assad who is allied with Hezbollah and Iran claimed that Shebaa is Lebanese , but when the UN pressed him to provide the documentation that proves his claim he refused to do that .

President Aoun, whose party, the Free Patriotic Movement, has shared strong ties with Hezbollah since signing a memorandum of understanding in 2006, has been defending Hezbollah’s role in Lebanon ever since .

A Huge liability

Hezbollah, which was credited with liberating Lebanese territories from Israel in 2000 was a very popular organization in Lebanon and throughout the Arab world. But according to analysts ever since the Lebanese territories were liberated Hezbollah has become a huge liability for Lebanon. In 2005 former Lebanese PM Rafik Hariri was assassinated and 3 Hezbollah members were indicted in absentia in the killing of Hariri by a UN backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) , they are Salim Jamil Ayyash , Hassan Habib Merhi and Hussein Hassan Oneissi . But Hezbollah refused to hand them over to the court . In 2006 Hezbollah kidnapped 3 Israeli soldiers which triggered a war with Israel that devastated Lebanon. Soon after the war ended Hezbollah tried to use its arms to bring down the government of former PM Fouad Siniora. In 2008 Hezbollah pointed its guns against the Lebanese people when it occupied more than half of Beirut and tried but failed to occupy Mt Lebanon . In 2011 it brought down the government of former PM Saad Hariri and reportedly used its arms to force progressive socialist party leader MP Walid Jumblatt and his parliamentary bloc to vote for their candidate Nagib Mikati as the new premier . Hezbollah’s support for the Syrian regime in its brutal crackdown against the pro democracy uprising is another main concern for the Lebanese people, analysts say, because it violated Lebanon ‘s policy of of dissociation from the regional conflicts . Hezbollah has been acting as Iran’s proxy in the Middle East and has been active in supporting the Iran backed Houthi rebels in Yemen and the Iran backed Shiite militias in Iraq . In addition Hezbollah has active in destabilizing the Gulf countries by sponsoring terror cells in Kuwait, UAE and Bahrain in addition it has been caused of flooding the Saudi market with Capatagon pills a, drug that is made in Lebanon and Syria.

In addition to the above Hezbollah prevented for 2 years the election of a president in Lebanon, following the departure of former president Michel Suleiman and insisted on rewarding its ally General Michel Aoun for providing it with the Christian cover to do what ever it wished.

Lebanon used to get about 2 million Arab Gulf tourists a year , but now this has completely stopped , the only tourists now Lebanon has are the Lebanese expatriates. This has accelerated the collapse of the financial situation in Lebanon.

Aoun also stated in the interview that justice will be served in the case of the Port of Beirut explosion. He is referring to Aug 4 , 2020 blast which . killed 218 people , injured about 7000 and left 300, 000 homeless after 2,750 Tons of Ammonium Nitrate Exploded . They were stored there for nearly 7 years. , reportedly for use by the Syrian regime in its barrel bombs against the civilians in Syria. Former PM Hassan Diab and president Aoun were informed about the explosive chemical 2 weeks before the explosion. but neither did anything about it . The Lebanese government , the presidency and the parliament leadership are all controlled by Hezbollah . Hezbollah and its allies have been for months trying to get Judge Tarek Bitar (who was appointed as the lead Judge to investigate the explosion ) fired from his position like they did to his predecessor . Hezbollah is reportedly concerned over being exposed for its role in the blast , since several ministers were charged by Bitar.

Aoun went a step further in his defense of Hezbollah by claiming that it is protecting the Christians in Lebanon which prompted the Vatican to ask Cardinal Bechara Boutros Rai to temper his criticism of Hezbollah .

While Aoun was visiting the Vatican , Cardinal Rai was visiting Egypt , where he criticized Hezbollah arms for destabilizing the country and destroying Lebanon’s relations with the Arab world .

According to analysts most Lebanese now consider Lebanon as a colony of Iran that is administered by Hezbollah.

One analyst told Ya Libnan, we used to say before that Hezbollah was a state within the state of Lebanon, but now thanks to Aoun, Hezbollah is now the state in no-state

In fact Hezbollah chief declared allegiance to Iran and its supreme leader and considers himself a soldier in Iran’s Wilayat al Faqih

The majority of the educated Christians and Muslims have either left the country or busy trying to find a country to move to since the Iranian backed party made Lebanon unlivable .

The top Christian rival of president Aoun, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea compared Hezbollah to ISIS and described them as two faces of the same coin .

Thanks to Zimbabwe, Lebanon is not the unhappiest country in the world . Even the miserable Venezuela ranked better than Lebanon . The 3 countries ranked the unhappiest in the world