ANALYSIS / Who will stop Hezbollah? Not the Lebanon Army
Hezbollah’s rapid and savvy raids of recent days brought to light the true balance of power in Lebanon, and, at the same time, the close connection between the Lebanon Army and Hezbollah.
Witness accounts of Hezbollah’s actions in Lebanon in the course of the incidents demonstrate not only that the Lebanon Army is refraining from trying to bar Hezbollah from operating throughout the country, but is in fact carrying out orders from the organization and granting it media cover.
Lebanese media reports clearly indicate that Hezbollah is practicing censorship over broadcasts of the various networks. Nonetheless, it can be discerned at times that the picture as broadcast from Beirut is not telling the story in full. While camouflage-spotted Lebanon Army armored personnel carriers take center screen, Hezbollah men manning roadblocks can often be seen on the margins, checking the identity papers of passersby.
Friday morning, Lebanese television stations were allowed to broadcast calming footage of armored personnel carriers standing outside the Al-Mustakbal Television building, owned by the Hariri family. The station’s operations had been halted by Hezbollah.
The actual story, of course, was much more serious. According to one version of the events, the Lebanon Army had ordered the workers there to leave their offices, solely to allow Hezbollah men to enter immediately thereafter to destroy equipment and other property. Two hours later, cameras were allowed into the area, but only to film the APC’s standing guard over the building.
The close ties between the army and Hezbollah go beyond the recent battles. They also extend to south Lebanon. Under UN resolution 1701, the Lebanon Army was to deploy in the south and thus take up places occupied by Hezbollah, something that had raised hopes in Israel. Today, UNIFIL and the Lebanon Army respond to every incident in south Lebanon, but the presence of the army has no real significance there. At the moment of truth, the army will follow Hezbollah’s orders, diplomatic sources believe.
The Lebanon Army is in practice a reflection of the ethnic partition of this divided land. The army commander is a Maronite, his deputies are Shiite and Sunni, and the chief of the general staff, a Druze. It is estimated that some 35 percent of the soldiers and officers are Shiites, and Christians leave the ranks relatively quickly.
Moreover, in recent days, there have been reports that senior officers, Sunnis and Druze, have asked to resign from the army in response to its involvement in the violence. Government supporters have severely criticized the army and its commander, Michel Suleiman, who was in line to turn into president of Lebanon. Discussions on the issue suggest that some of the officials have reconsidered their support for the government.
Analysts in Lebanon believe that other actions on the part of the army would have led to its being dismantled. “Greater involvement by the army would have meant that perhaps no army would have been left,” sources in Beirut told Haaretz by e-mail. “And that would have been the end of Lebanon,”.
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Commentary: Ha’aretz is an interesting newspaper. I read it daily. In many ways, there is some really excellent information and analysis in Ha’aretz, in particular if one is savvy enough to skip over the clearly propagandistic stuff. In the article above, I have highlighted the interesting stuff in red and the silly stuff in green. Setting aside the ‘censorship issue’ and the conflation of Phalangists and the Aounists into some vague ‘Christians’ category, the rest of the article is a good expression of the Israeli’s concern, if not panic, at the fact that the Lebanese Army is clearly not to puppet force they hoped for. Keeping in mind that the English edition of Ha’aretz is primarily aimed at an American Jewish readership and that Ha’aretz itself is considered a “liberal” newspaper in Israel, one can only imagine the level of frustration, disgust and panic which has gripped the Likudnik circles over the recent events in Lebanon.
Saker,
Do you think these recent events in Lebanon would alter the balance of power between Hizb and Israel? Haaretz had quoted a former IDF Chief that it actually makes things “easier” for Israel, though it seemed like wishful thinking.
Well, I have not seen this quote but I guess that it means that since the Lebanese Army is rather clearly on Hezbollah’s side the Israelis will get to strike at it without having to worry about the political consequences.
From an Israeli point of view the Lebanese Army is just a useless nuisance. It does nothing for Israel and its puppet regime, but it stands in the way of IDF operations.
Militarily, the Lebanese Army is irrelevant. It cannot take on the Israelis and it cannot take on Hezbollah. It did serve a function as a figleaf “state institution’ for the Siniora government, but that charade is over.
I think that the Israelis are totally disgusted by all their puppets and allies in Lebanon. I mean, even one IDF battalion could have done better than the entire militia of Hariri, Jumblatt and Siniora clique. The Israelis hate Hezbollah, but they at least respect them whereas they only have contempt for the tea-serving buffoons of the government’s forces. I can’t say that I can blame them.
Israel has no trustworthy ally in the Middle-East besides Turkey. They rest of them are just a big joke.
“Christians leave the ranks relatively quickly.”
I’m no fan of Ha’aretz but is this so silly? Is it not a fact that, while the rank and file of the “Lebanese army” are mainly Shia, the higher ranks overwhelmingly Christian? in other words, the army is pretty much a mirror of sectarian divisions in leb society as a whole.
Not all Christians are Phalangists. In fact, there are even Christians fighting alongside Hezbollah including in the “Lebanese Brigade for Resisting the Occupation” which accepts any Lebanese patriot regardless of faith or sect. And then there are the Christians of Michel Aoun, a close ally of Hezbollah.
Hezbollah is no threat to the Lebanese Christians, unless they are fat Fascist millionaires…
@irish eyes
I just read it today: only 30 per cent of Lebanese army is shia. There are folks of all sects
@saker: check out almanar website. There’s al article alluding zio-press indicating that Siniora’s assail on Hizbollah’s network had been pre-planned long ago (not surprisingly)
http://www.almanar.com.lb/NewsSite/NewsDetails.aspx?id=43310&language=en
Also has a banner quoting: “Siniora cancels meeting to revoke decisions” (will this have anything to do with the USS Cole heading back to the Mediterranean?)
Lucia
Saker, yo also want to check out this one
http://www.almanar.com.lb/NewsSite/NewsDetails.aspx?id=43279&language=en
re the “violent confrontation” between the Syrian representative and the Saudi al-Faisal.
The Syrian was very clear.
Lucia
@Lucia: thanks for the links. Interesting stuff surfacing indeed. That the entire assault on Hezbollah was planned a long while ago does not surprise in the least. It was just the opening salvo in the large anti-Shia war the Zionists and their Neocon brethren have launched in the recent months.
Syria’s stance in all this is interesting but predictable. After all, Hezbollah and Syria share the same foes, if not the same friends.
Cheers!