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Severe criticism of the Lebanese Army has been circulating following the deadly incident in Kahaleh on August 9, as if it were the military body responsible for all the woes Lebanon has suffered. As if it were the Army transporting illegal weapons, threatening the country’s stability by playing with fire in southern Lebanon, as if it were the military preventing the election of a president, the formation of a government and the implementation of vital structural reforms for the country…
While the intensity of the attacks against the armed forces had started to wane at the beginning of the week, the Thursday summoning of four Kahaleh residents by the Army’s intelligence services for questioning as witnesses sparked a quasi-populist outcry.
Accused of not fulfilling its duties on the same day, of not living up to its responsibilities, of being weak and complacent with the pro-Iranian faction, the Army has become the scapegoat, especially for those who claim to defend the country’s sovereignty and institutions. Why all this hatred? What has the Army and its leadership done to become the target of this violence, which incidentally benefits the orange Iznogoud and its yellowish pro-Iranian ally, to the detriment of the country or whatever is left of institutions that the sovereignists could rely on?
No arrests, only questioning
Sources close to Army Commander-in-Chief General Joseph Aoun reject this populist political exploitation. A close associate of the Commander told This Is Beirut that the Army’s intelligence services are simply carrying out their investigative work, and the four individuals summoned will not be arrested. “All individuals visible in the videos taken at the time of the incident, including members of Hezbollah, were summoned for authorities to hear their testimonies and reconstruct the events,” said the source.
According to information obtained by This Is Beirut, three Hezbollah members who were part of the convoy were questioned on Friday morning.
Regarding accusations that the Army failed in its duties last Wednesday, the source, a close Yarzeh associate, has refuted them, stressing that “it is not up to soldiers to deal with a road accident.” They added, “With that starting point in mind, the intelligence services nevertheless went to the scene to observe the situation on the ground and requested reinforcements when tensions arose. Unfortunately, the exchange of gunfire occurred before the arrival of the military. Once they arrived, there was a scuffle with local residents because some of them wanted to set fire to the truck and the ammunition it contained.”
Attacks against the Army, the country’s only institution that has survived against all odds, will only weaken it, and with it, the whole country, which is already drained.
The populism targeting the Army will only destroy Lebanon in favor of the pro-Iranian mini-militia state and its allies, who rejoice that certain members of the sovereignist opposition are needlessly discrediting the only lifeline for the true Lebanese.
