Lebanon: The bleeding will go on

By Ghassan Karam,
Special to Ya Libnan
I must admit that the tendency to become preoccupied with symptoms rather than the root cause of a problem is a universal shortcoming.

This phenomenon is seen in the political arena as well as social and economic fields. An excellent example of the above is best illustrated by the total disconnect between the correct diagnosis of the gravity of the consequences of climate change and the suggested remedies. Al Gore, the Nobel laureate, spends over 90 minutes scaring the beejesus out of the audience only to suggest at the end of the movie that they should change their light bulbs. Somebody forgot to tell Mr. Gore that had the solution been so simple then the problem would not have been this grave.

Replace in the above the Climate Change with the Lebanese problematic, the suggested remedy of changing incandescent light bulbs with "No winners, no losers" and you get a clear picture of why history keeps repeating itself , at least in Lebanon.

The major structural flaw in the current Lebanese architecture, besides its failure to grow citizens is the tendency to settle for band aids when the wound is deep and is badly in need of a major surgical cleansing procedure. The band aid will slow or even stop the hemorrhage for a while but only at the risk of spreading the disease throughout the system. Then it will be too late to save the patient.

Lebanon is that patient who desperately needs a major Emergency Room care but the attending physicians only prescribe sedatives. The first step that needs to be recognized is the incongruity of the "modern" Lebanese project with the aims of Hezbollah. Many people recognized this clear incongruity at least from as far back as 2005, the year during which Hezbollah decided to play a major political role. A party that was created by the Iranian Mullahs for the sole purpose of establishing on the ground the conditions that will favour the return of the lost Imam and that is to be guided by the teachings of the Faqih was going to be at odds with the concepts of state sovereignty, personal freedom and democratic values that promote equal protection and diversity in all its forms. We cannot realistically expect Hezbollah not to be true to its ideals and therefore it was our mistake to seek their partnership. Expecting Hezbollah to be a productive partner in building a modern democratic state is akin to expecting a sworn pacifist to lead an army in an ongoing war to victory.

This is the really scary part. The lost Imam or twelfth Imam (Imam Mahdi) is to show up at the end of time, bringing equity and justice. To the Shia he is alive but invisible; The Invisible ruler of the Universe. The apparent nutjob Mr. Ahmadinejad of Iran is trying to bring this about.
This is why Iran is so hell bent on causing total chaos in the world. The proxy armies of Amal and Hezbollah are just several of many tools of Iran, whose purpose is to bring about the illustrious end of the world.

'Imam Muhammad al-Mahdï entitled Sahib al-zamán, who is the last Shi'ite Imam, went into minor occultation upon the death of his father. From 260/873 to 329/940 he had four representatives (nä'ib) to whom he appeared from time to time and through whom he ruled the Shi'ite community. This period is thus called the minor occultation (al-ghaibat al-sughrä). Henceforth, there began the major occultation (al-ghaibat al-kubrä) which still endures. During this time, according to the Shi'ah, the Mahdi is alive but invisible. He is the axis mundi, the invisible ruler of the Universe. Before the end of time he will appear again on earth to bring equity and justice and to fill it with peace after it has been torn by war and injustice. The Mahdi is an ever-living spiritual being who guides in the spiritual path those who ask him and whose succour all the devout ask in their daily prayers. He who is spiritually qualified is, in fact, in inner contact with the Mahdi.'

(Seyyed Hossein Nasar, Ideals and Realities of Islam.
Mandala, Unwin Hyman Ltd.)

So true to form Hezbollah has spent the last three years obstructing the efforts of the government to govern at every level. Their latest outburst was the military take over of west Beirut, an attack on the Chouf, Blocking access to the only International airport and making the Beirut harbor inaccessible. The excuse this time around was their disagreement with the cabinet orders to remove the person in charge of airport security and to dismantle the illegal and unauthorized telecommunication network erected buy Hezbollah. In a democracy and in a civil society such disagreements are common. What is uncommon is the method used by the Lebanese opposition to express their disapproval. Instead of campaigning to win a majority in the Chamber of deputies so that they can rescind these two laws they decided to resort to violence by shooting, burning, intimidating and killing. They took us back to the center of the Hobbsian jungle where only hoodlums rule because they have more guns. To add to the above, Mr. Berri, one of their staunchest allies and a co conspirator had the temerity to call these barbaric acts of terrorism civil disobedience. Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr must be turning in their graves.

Is it possible that the required reading of the youth in Southern Lebanon and the Gaza Strip is 'The Lord Of The Flies', with the emphasis on destructive behavior being 'divine'?

So how do we temporarily get out of this crisis? Give the unlawful perpetrators all what they have asked for; renew the partnership to build a state with those whose aim is its destruction. The current political leadership of March 14 has, at best bought time but make no mistake about it, we have failed for the umpteenth time to deal with the root cause of what ails us.

This so called settlement will come back to haunt us unless:


1. We can show the courage to keep Hezbollah out of the cabinet until they can win a majority in the Chamber of deputies;

2. Enforce UNSC 1559 if for no other reason but the fact that a viable democratic state cannot exist without exercising a monopoly over violence;

3. Restoration of all state institutions and reforming the laws that govern them to make sure that no one person is ever again to be allowed to take a nation hostage by shutting the doors of its Chamber of Deputies;

4. Elect and not nominate a president without having to resort to unconstitutional means, i.e. Rescind the nomination of General Suleiman on the grounds that it is unconstitutional. One should not be expected to uphold the law by breaking it;

5. The constitutional law and tradition of having the president hold consultations before he asks one person to form a cabinet is sacred and must be preserved;

6. The clause in the Taif agreement dealing with the elimination of sectarianism must be implemented immediately;

7. Every person who has taken part in the illegal activities as of May 8 2008 must be apprehended and tried in a court of law; and

8. A new electoral system that will decrease the power of the traditional "zoamah" must be implemented.

A new Lebanon will ultimately emerge. Neither the shameful opposition nor the bumbling performance of the majority can keep that from happening. The events of the past week have been momentous but the proposed formula looks like another band aid that will fail to stem the bleeding. Those who insist on neglecting the obvious solution do so at their peril.

This is a well written editorial. It cuts through all the crap being espoused by those who do not want things to be fixed, the right way.