by Ari Lieberman
The anti-Hezbollah coalition wins Lebanon’s elections. But how much does it change?
On May 15, Lebanon held parliamentary elections the results of which saw Hezbollah, and its political allies lose their parliamentary majority. Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc dropped from 71 to 62 seats in 128-seat parliament. The Christian Lebanese Forces party headed by Samir Geagea emerged as the clear winner, securing 19 seats, making the Lebanese Forces party the largest Christian party in parliament. Geagea is stridently anti-Hezbollah.
Sixty-five seats are required to form a parliamentary majority. But even if the anti-Hezbollah bloc secures a parliamentary majority, it is a virtual certainty that the political gridlock and dysfunction plaguing the country will remain. This is because the favorable outcome of the elections has changed nothing on the ground, where the Iran-backed Hezbollah continues to remain the dominant military power in Lebanon and can enforce its dictates when and where it pleases.
Hezbollah receives approximately $700 million in military and financial assistance from the Islamic Republic, this at a time when ordinary Iranians are struggling financially, with many unable to feed their families. Hezbollah supplements its revenue intake by engaging in drug trafficking and money laundering for drug cartels and corrupt governments. Venezuela’s Maduro-led government maintains close ties with Hezbollah and is partners with the terror group’s transnational organized crime ventures.
Hezbollah’s formidable militia dwarfs the Lebanese Armed Forces, maintaining military capabilities far superior to those of the LAF. Despite a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for the disarmament of all militias and armed groups in Lebanon, Hezbollah continues to operate openly and with impunity, in flagrant disregard of international law.
The LAF has rarely, if ever, attempted to interfere with Hezbollah operations. This is because the LAF is fragmented along sectarian lines and has been thoroughly penetrated by Hezbollah. Hezbollah has been known to pilfer weapons from LAF stocks. In addition, the LAF has often acted as an auxiliary force for Hezbollah, securing Hezbollah’s rearguard as it moved large quantities of men and material to and from Syria during Syria’s civil war.
In 2008, the Lebanese government attempted to assert itself against Hezbollah but a strong showing of military power by Hezbollah in the streets of Beirut forced the Lebanese government to back down, while the LAF stood by helplessly. Cowardice, incompetence, corruption, and sectarianism have collectively taken their toll on the LAF rendering it incapable of securing Lebanon’s sovereignty against the cancerous reach of the Mullah Entity.
Lebanon is a failed state in every respect. It has no independent foreign policy. All decisions of import are decided by Hezbollah, which of course, takes its cues from Iran. In July 2006 Hezbollah, without consulting with the Lebanese government, sparked a month-long war with Israel which devastated Lebanon. Hezbollah maintains its own telecommunications infrastructure and controls Lebanon’s main ports of entry. This allows the terrorist organization to engage in arms and drug trafficking schemes away from prying eyes and ears.
Lebanon’s economy is in a death spiral. It has defaulted on its foreign debt and the Lebanese Lira has lost over 95 percent of what it was worth in late 2019, making it virtually worthless. Lebanese have watched helplessly as rampant hyper-inflation has wiped out their life-long savings.
Piles of garbage remain uncollected on the streets. Electricity is sporadic, at best. Gasoline shortages are rampant. Gas stations are often closed and when they’re open, motorists must endure hours-long wait times on endless lines to secure a few gallons. In the meantime, Hezbollah has imported sanctioned petrol from Iran, usurping Lebanon’s energy authority.
Lebanon’s judiciary is thoroughly corrupt and dysfunctional. On August 4, 2020, 2,750 tons of negligently stored ammonium nitrate at Beirut’s port exploded killing approximately 215 people and injuring an estimated 6,000. Property damage neared $15 billion and an estimated 300,000 people were made homeless by the blast. Various judges tasked with investigating the disaster were thwarted in their efforts by Hezbollah, which correctly feared that they would be blamed. Hezbollah controls Lebanon’s ports and has been known to store its military hardware there. In addition, Hezbollah operatives have been known to use ammonium nitrate, a potential bomb-making ingredient. It is therefore logical to assume that at the very least, Hezbollah was aware of the presence of such volatile material at the port and probably siphoned off some of the stockpile for its own uses. Yet two years later, thanks to Hezbollah’s meddling, there has been virtually no progress in the investigation even though all fingers point to at least some Hezbollah culpability.
In an article published in the Wall Street Journal, Lebanese analyst Hanin Ghaddar insightfully pointed out that Hezbollah used to be considered a state within the Lebanese state. Today, it is Lebanon that is a small state within the Hezbollah state. Truer words have not been spoken. For all intents and purposes, Lebanon no longer exists as a sovereign independent state. It is an entity that has been subsumed by Hezbollah and by extension, that alien, malevolent force from the east, the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Despite Hezbollah’s electoral setback, Lebanon’s parliamentary
elections have changed nothing. They merely provide the façade of a
functioning state, giving Hezbollah the political cover necessary to
continue with its malign activities. Until Hezbollah is fully
dismantled, Lebanon will continue to remain a failed state no matter how
many elections are held.
Ari Lieberman
Source: https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2022/05/bowing-hezbollah-ari-lieberman/
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