Baria Alamuddin/Amputating Lebanon from the Arab world grants victory to Iranبارعة علم الدين: قطع علاقات لبنان عن الوطن العربي هي انتصار لإيران/Faisal J. Abbas/Kadhimi must not become another Rafik Hariri/فيصل عباس: لا يجب أن يلاقي الكاظمي نفس مصير الحريري
فيصل عباس: لا يجب أن يلاقي الكاظمي نفس مصير الحريري Kadhimi must not become another Rafik Hariri Faisal J. Abbas/Arab News/November 09/2021
بارعة علم الدين: قطع علاقات لبنان عن الوطن العربي هي انتصار لإيران Amputating Lebanon from the Arab world grants victory to Iran Baria Alamuddin/Arab News/November 09/2021
The dismissive retort of Lebanon’s ridiculous Foreign Minister Abdullah Bou Habib to GCC proposals for addressing the latest crisis was: “If they just want Hezbollah’s head on a plate, we can’t give them that.” Healso ludicrously blamed Saudi Arabia for Hezbollah flooding the Gulf states with narcotics. Such was BouHabib’s volley of abuse that he may need to serve up his own head on a plate if there is to be any hope of salvaging this shattered relationship.
The logic of abandoning Hezbollah and Lebanon to drown together, as advocated by some Arab opinion leaders, may appear seductive. However, this would be disastrously counterproductive. Gaza was abandoned to Hamas; the economy collapsed and people starved, but Hamas entrenched its monopoly. Gulf states disassociated themselves from post-2003 Iraq, surrendering it to Tehran. Arab abandonment of Syria rendered it a hellish playground for Iranian-Hezbollah-Russian interests. Lebanon would be the cherry on the cake for Iranian dominance of the Arab world. And once it is given away, wresting it back will be no easy feat.
Hezbollah is Tehran’s Trojan horse for colonizing the Arab world. We must dismantle it, not welcome it in. The Houthis in Yemen thrived thanks to Hezbollah training and support. Hezbollah waded through a river of Syrian Arab blood to maintain Tehran’s puppet in power, with Hezbollah deputy leader Naim Qassim now threatening to send additional Hezbollah forces back to Syria. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is the idol of thousands of bearded Hashd thugs in Iraq — and after their recent electoral wipeout, Tehran wants Hezbollah to play an even more direct role.
The international community is wrong to consider Lebanon in isolation. In the context of escalating stakes in Iran’s game of nuclear brinkmanship, Hezbollah is just one of the cards in Tehran’s efforts to dominate the region, buttressed by nuclear and ballistic weapons. If we are to abandon Lebanon, we may as well go the whole way and recognise Ayatollah Khamenei as Supreme Leader over the entire region.
Iran and Hezbollah made inroads only because of the eclipse of Arab nationalism — the belief that Arabs should stand together locally and on the world stage. From Jerusalem to Sanaa, from Baghdad to Beirut, we should treat every inch of Arab territory as sacrosanct and worth fighting for, particularly when UN institutions, international law and multilateral forums are under sustained attack. Every scrap of territory we relinquish only makes our enemies hungry for more. With the Arab world’s mighty collective resources, the challenges posed by tiny Lebanon and hostile Iranian encroachment should be well within our capabilities.
Let’s not rip our own heart out. The Arab world without Beirut — without the Lebanon of Khalil Gibran, Mikhail Naimy, Fairuz — is inconceivable. Generations of Khaleejis flocked to Lebanon and fell in love with the country and its people, which is why so many are blessed with Lebanese mothers! The largely Kuwaiti-owned town of Bhamdoun, near Beirut, is a microcosm of this seamless Lebanese-Khaleej relationship. Generations of Arabs were raised on Lebanese films and TV, art, music, poetry, and boundless creativity.
Lebanon’s cultural renaissance since the civil war was achieved thanks to vast GCC investment. Its economy thrived thanks to millions of Arab visitors every year, with tens of billions of dollars of investment in banking, telecoms, media, infrastructure, culture and the military. Diaspora remittances amount to about $7 billion a year, $2.2 billion from Saudi Arabia alone, and Lebanese assets in Saudi Arabia are worth about $100billion. Eighty percent of Lebanese fruit and vegetable exports went to Saudi Arabia until Nasrallah turned Lebanon into a narco state.
This is not about gratitude, but rather a hard-headed understanding of the foundations of Lebanon’s past and future prosperity. The transformation into an Iranian appendage was always fated to fail. Aside from lavishing funds on Hezbollah, would — or could — Tehran supply the merest fraction of Gulf investment in Lebanon? The trickle of Iranian tourists encouraged by Hezbollah have minuscule spending power compared with their Gulf predecessors.
Other than in Houthi-land, where George Kordahi is hailed a hero (his family must be so proud!) Lebanon’s hapless information minister is a nobody who once had a lucky break via a Saudi TV channel. The problem is infinitely larger than his bigoted views. Virulent anti-Gulf propaganda has been pumped out for decades by Al-Manar and dozens of other Iran-sponsored Beirut media channels. The damage is entirely to Lebanon, cutting off its nose to spite its face in gratuitous self-mutilation against Lebanon’s Arab identity.
GCC political leaders and intellectuals I speak to aren’t so much angry as puzzled and saddened. They have lifelong ties with Lebanon and instinctively desire to help. But how can you assist someone who is destroying themselves and doesn’t want to be rescued?
Lebanon’s criminal leaders are beyond redemption (not just Hezbollah – kullun!), but Lebanon’s citizens — Christian, Shiite, Druze, Sunni — are Arab to the bone. They know where their interests lie. They know what severing ties with the Arab world has cost them. They all have brothers, uncles, sons in Gulf and Arab states, and so retain intimate material and emotional connections to the Arab world.
Lebanon is drowning but it is not lost. Particularly with elections just months away and a vigorous upswell of progressive anti-sectarian independents arising from the 2019 movement, there is everything to play for. Hashd electoral losses in Iraq demonstrate how public anger can be translated into political losses for Iranian proxies. In Lebanon, Hezbollah’s political dominance is wholly reliant upon hollowed-out Christian factions whose support base has cratered.
Lebanese citizens who lost everything are desperately looking for a savior. Arab states can use the elections to toss Lebanon a lifeline. If citizens elect new and non-discredited leaders who can marginalize Hezbollah then the GCC will fully re-engage, while also encouraging international donors such as the IMF to refloat the economy.
This is a vision that every patriotic Lebanese citizen can rally around, simultaneously giving them a reason to participate in the democratic process, providing an exit route from their hellish situation, and sweeping aside these ridiculous, hated figures who have dominated Lebanese politics for decades too long.
The Lebanese Arab nation today is held hostage, with Hassan Nasrallah pointing a gun to her head. Will the Arab world hasten to Lebanon’s rescue? *Baria Alamuddin is an award-winning journalist and broadcaster in the Middle East and the UK. She is editor of the Media Services Syndicate and has interviewed numerous heads of state.
فيصل عباس: لا يجب أن يلاقي الكاظمي نفس مصير الحريري Kadhimi must not become another Rafik Hariri Faisal J. Abbas/Arab News/November 09/2021
Sunday’s attempt to assassinate Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi was deplorable, unacceptable … and entirely predictable.
Since the comprehensive defeat of Iranian-aligned militias and parties at legislative elections in October, it has been clear that the agents of Tehran would react in the way they always do — by trying to kill those they could not defeat at the ballot box.
There is no “smoking gun” yet to incriminate Iran or its stooges over the failed assassination attempt, but it was clearly a product of the template Iran has created for subversion in the region. Anyone who does not comply with its idea of “armageddon,” or who fails to kowtow to the religious mercenaries in Tehran, is marked for elimination. Before the attempt on Kadhimi’s life, several activists — Shiite as well as Sunni — who called for an end to Iranian interference in Iraq were killed.
The people of Iraq have seen through the Iranian gameplan, and understand it only too well. They know that Iran is playing politics in the region, and doing so with Iraqi blood. That is why Tehran’s consulates and missions have been being torched by ordinary Iraqis. The popular movement against Iranian influence in Iraq has gained ground in the past few years, since Iranian agents massacred at least 1,000 peaceful protesters who began demonstrating in October 2019. That further fed anti-Iran sentiment and the anti-Iran movement. This year’s election results provided the most comprehensive proof so far that Iran is now viewed by ordinary Iraqis as a foreign occupying power.
It should not surprise anyone that the attempt to assassinate Kadhimi came just a few hours after he was threatened by Qais Al-Khazali of the pro-Iranian Asa’ib Ahl Al-Haq militia; threats typical of Iranian-backed militias’ behavior toward anyone who threatens their hegemony or does not bend to their whims. Kadhimi’s primary aim was — and remains — to restore genuine Iraqi sovereignty. He has appealed to national pride. During his time as prime minister he has taken a clear stand against the militias and has repeatedly talked about not permitting the development of a state within a state. He has not allowed himself to be browbeaten or blackmailed into supporting Iran’s agenda.
Rafik Hariri was a good man who did all the right things; since his murder, Lebanon has lost all hope. Kadhimi is also a good man doing the right things, and with him Iraq actually stands a chance.
Kadhimi opened channels with Iraq’s natural allies in the Arab world. He took the honorable and courageous position of seeking closer ties with Iraq’s Arab neighbors, especially Saudi Arabia and the UAE. In return, Riyadh and Abu Dhabi gave him full support in restoring Iraq’s prominent position in the Arab world. This was, of course, a red flag for the mullahs in Tehran. They want Iraq to be mired in misery and political instability. A weak Iraq is what the mullahs want. They do not want reformers or moderates to succeed.
Kadhimi was targeted on Sunday by three explosives-laden drones. Had two of them not been intercepted, there is every possibility that he would have become another Rafik Hariri, the Lebanese prime minister blown up by Iranian-sponsored Hezbollah operatives for having the temerity to chart an independent path to success and sovereignty for his country. Look at what Iran has done to Lebanon — turned a once thriving nation into an economic basket case and an international pariah that exports drugs, drones and terrorism. Lebanon has become a country where an armed militia is holding the government and the people hostage —the very template Tehran wants to impose on all Arab states.
The international community, and especially the Biden administration in the US, must finally wake up to the sinister Iranian game plan. The world should stop appeasing this monster. What is needed is not mere verbal condemnation, but tangible and robust action. This must be a stark warning to the US president that these are not the kind of people his administration should be trying to sign a deal with.
Without effective sanctions and a clear signal that such reckless behavior will be punished, Iran and its militias will continue to destabilize the region and eliminate any possibility of peace, tolerance and moderation taking root. Now is the time to take a clear stand and let Iran know that its malign meddling stops here, and it stops now.
Rafik Hariri was a good man who did all the right things; since his murder, Lebanon has lost all hope. Kadhimi is also a good man doing the right things, and with him Iraq actually stands a chance. However, he deserves more than the world just crossing its fingers and hoping he escapes every time Tehran’s agents of evil try to end his life.
*Faisal J. Abbas is Editor in Chief of Arab News. Twitter: @FaisalJAbbas
