Dr. Walid Phares: Lebanon: “Beyond the Naaheeb…Chou Fi?” (What is Beyond Wailing)

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Lebanon: “Beyond the Naaheeb…Chou Fi?” (What is Beyond Wailing)
Dr. Walid Phares
February 15/15

On the tenth anniversary of the assassination of Prime Minister Hariri and his companions, a violence that prompted thousands of Lebanese to demonstrate and eventually put a million plus people on the streets of Beirut calling for Syria withdrawal and Hezbollah disarming, the question is what now?

For beyond the “Naaheeb” and the frustrations expressed in the media and on social forums, as well as in political speeches and editorials, the central question in that country should be about what to do now, after a decade of debacles. While it is always clear to suggest what needs to be done to confront the threats Lebanon has been facing, threats that have been growing not receding, It is difficult to answer what the politicians of Lebanon are going to -actually-do.

While we know for sure what Hezbollah and its allies are going to do, that is to maintain their control of the country’s institutions and increase their military and security dominance on the ground, we have to wait and see for what their political opponents are planning on surprising us with. For if one hears or read statements made in Lebanese media, there is little to be hopeful for. For these politicians have been announcing that “Lebanon cannot confront Hezbollah,” that “Hezbollah is an associate in the Governance of Lebanon,” and that the “top priority is to have a President for this republic” even if the republic is and will further be under the umbrella of the Ayatollahs.

If you add and merge all these statements in one platform, you’d conclude that Lebanon has no political opposition to the Iranian-led Hezbollah and that all what it is, what it was and will be, is who will and how to sit around the Council of Ministers’ long table.

Nothing new ‘Madame la Marquise’. Old same, old same: the survival of the fittest among Lebanon’s politicians, particularly those who aren’t favored by the “de facto regime.”

We will always identify with the sorrow expressed on passing anniversaries and express our condolences, but we aren’t able to project good news on what comes after the “Naaheeb.” For if the issue is only about a long table with couple dozens politicians seated around, I don’t think Lebanon’s civil society has been and is being well served by the establishment who speaks on behalf of their present and plan their future.