by Ghassan Kadi for The Saker Blog
Following the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in June 1982, Lebanon looked like it had totally lost its independence and ability of self-determination. Later on, and with Israeli boots still on Lebanese ground, the Lebanese government was coerced to reach the 17th of May (1983) peace accord with Israel; and which was in reality tantamount to terms of surrender.
By then, the underground resistance, known back then as “The Lebanese Resistance”, was launched, and it was already causing much concern for the Israeli occupiers. As for the 17th of May accord, the then Lebanese President, Amin Gemayel, found himself between a rock and a hard place; supporters of the accord and those against. And even though back then the supporters were a political and military majority, Gemayel did not want to be remembered in the books of history as the President who surrendered to Israel, and refused to ratify the accord.
What happened afterwards is now history. The resistance gained momentum, and with all the might of the Israeli army and the large number of local Lebanese militia that collaborated with it, Israel had to leave Lebanon defeated in April 2000.
This epic victory couldn’t have happened without two men; President Hafez Assad and Hassan Nasrallah.
Hezbollah was a small organization back in 1982 and Nasrallah was not the founding leader. He became the leader after founding leader Abbas Al-Musawi was killed by Israel in 1992. Nasrallah has been the leader ever since, and has managed to evade many would-be assassination attempts and many disasters that would undermine the sovereignty and integrity of not only Lebanon, but also Syria.
This is not meant to be a historical narrative. The stops I shall make are meant to be those pertinent to the standing of Hezbollah and how it is perceived by the Lebanese community.
Hezbollah has had thus far three major victories. The first was the afore-mentioned victory over Israel in 2000 when the Israeli army was made to retreat from Lebanon unconditionally. Never before had Israel ever left occupied Arab land unconditionally. This is not to mention that southern Lebanon is rich in water, something Israel lacks and is in dire need for. The defeat was so humiliating that Israel had to save face, calling it a “tactical withdrawal”.
The second victory came in July 2006 when the Israeli incursion and massive bombing of Lebanon did not result in any Israeli gains and Israel again withdrew from Lebanon under heavy casualties; including marine casualties.
The third victory was in Syria where Hezbollah played a huge role in staving off the attack on its Syrian ally.
For any Lebanese or Arab to even attempt to take away from Hezbollah its achievements is tantamount to national treason; and I cannot make this statement more vehemently.
With the Arab World divided on lines based on foundations essentially that of capitulation and accepting the American/Israeli roadmap, and that of the opposite dipole of independent decision-making, it is not a surprise therefore that Hezbollah has been gaining momentum in the hearts and minds of Arabs of the so-called resistance axis.
In my previous article, http://10.16.86.131/the-lebanese-fall-hezbollahs-latest-challenge/, I predicted that the current widely popular uprising in Lebanon can eventually be diverted by the enemies of Hezbollah in order to transform the anger against corruption into anger against the political ally of the government; ie Hezbollah. In a matter of a few days since, this prediction is taking form. There has been increasing criticism of Hezbollah for allegedly turning a blind eye to the burgeoning state of corruption in the government.
Nasrallah addressed the issue recently in a televised speech. His words however fell short of generating a sense of satisfaction in the protesters, even from many protagonists of the axis of resistance. Deep down inside, even many of the staunchest supporters of Hezbollah believe that it has seriously overlooked the consequences of its silence in regards to the three years of extreme corruption of the Aoun tenure.
Cartoons showing president Aoun on his presidential chair with Nasrallah as his shadow are circulating on social media. There are rallies in heartlands of Hezbollah, expressing utter dis-satisfaction with the government. A close friend of mine who wishes not to be named told me that “Nasrallah should understand that protecting the integrity of a country is not restricted to guarding its borders against invaders, but also guarding its economy and domestic wellbeing”. He added that ”…even though Nasrallah was exemplary in protecting Lebanon’s state borders from Israel, he allowed for the economic borders, the infra-structure borders and the public services borders of Lebanon to be breached and looted dry from within by his corrupt political allies”.
There are unconfirmed stories alleging that there are $800 Bn worth of looted money banked in Swiss accounts by corrupt Lebanese politicians. If true, this would constitute a massive figure by any standards, let alone that of a country of 4.5 million citizens. What seems to be certain is that the central bank (Banque Du Liban) has only $11-12 Bn out of the $120 Bn that local banks have deposited.
The domestic and international enemies of Hezbollah and the axis of resistance are already using everything in their armament to turn the anger of the Lebanese people against Hezbollah. They are digging up skeletons such as a video interview of Nasrallah back in 1982, long before he became Hezbollah chairman, and circulating it on social media, in which Nasrallah says that Hezbollah’s ideology is based on establishing a Muslim state in Lebanon, adjunct to Iran. And, even though Nasrallah has made many statements later on that emphasize the importance of plurality and unity of Lebanon, that dated video is the one stealing the show right now.
At this juncture, it must be stated that even most of the staunchest supporters of the axis of resistance do not want for Lebanon to become a religious state by any definition.
In more ways than one, Hezbollah, and Nasrallah in particular, have taken on board too many agendas to juggle; that of an anti-Israel resistance spearhead, a political power in Lebanon, and according to many, a Shiite religious agenda, or at least a commitment to empower the minority Shiite sector of Lebanon.
The truth of the matter is that any two of the above three are incompatible with each other, let alone all three, and for as long as Hezbollah seemingly clings to all of them, it is creating the Achilles Heel that can lead to its own undoing.
Unlike the IRA, Hezbollah does not have a separate political wing. And unlike Gerry Adams who represented Sinn Fein, Nasrallah represents both, the military as well as the political side of Hezbollah; and also the religious. He therefore has put himself in a situation in which he cannot distance himself from any actions and/or decisions that can or may backfire.
Politics is a dirty quagmire, and Lebanese politics in particular is dirtier than most, if not the dirtiest. If Hezbollah wanted to remain above it and with the sole objective to protect Lebanon’s southern borders, being involved in politics was not essential for its survival.
By entering the world of politics, Hezbollah had to play by the rules of the Lebanese ruling Mafia. And even though Nasrallah said on many occasions that the military might of Hezbollah will only be used against Israel, in reality it isn’t and wasn’t. To begin with, there is a haunting and daunting feeling within Lebanon that Hezbollah will forcefully crush any potential move to disarm it. Secondly, when the political opposition threatened to control the streets in May 2007, Hezbollah made a pre-emptive move. This was not a wise decision, even though it was followed by an almost immediate surrender of its positions to the Lebanese Army. In the minds of many Lebanese, this remains till now, a dark point in the history of Hezbollah; one that is replayed and replayed to remind people of how determined Hezbollah can be if challenged. As mentioned in the previous article, after this event, Hezbollah irreversibly lost a huge chunk of its Sunni support base.
It can be argued that the amazing military victories Hezbollah scored made it complacent, even perhaps too self-assured. But this again has been another unwise move. Unless a popular resistance force does all it can to maintain its popularity and grass-roots support, it can easily fall into a state of rot, leading to its own demise.
Hezbollah has many lethal domestic and international enemies that failed to defeat it militarily, and now they are trying different ways to crack its spine.
Leading up to this, Hezbollah managed to establish an iron-curtain in regard to its modus operandi. Nasrallah is rarely seen in public, and when he appears in public, his appearance is never pre-announced. All security measures are always taken to guarantee his safety, and even the “army” units themselves are invisible, even during war; and this was what drove the invading Israelis up the wall fighting an “invisible enemy”.
Yet with all of those precautions, Hezbollah entered the domain of Lebanese politics from the most vulnerable vantage point.
At this juncture again, with the Lebanese Government facing a most uncertain future, and likely to end up in chaos, perhaps even anarchy, or at the most hopeful scenario, holding thieving politicians accountable and having their loot confiscated, Hezbollah needs to have a second take at its political venture in Lebanon and decide to go totally underground. If it doesn’t, it may find itself facing a battle it is not prepared to fight; one that it can easily lose.
Two weeks into the uprising, and apart from the resignation of PM Hariri, there are no signs of any relenting on President Aoun’s side. The street protests are escalating despite purported thuggish attempts to stifle them. This uprising is in fact Lebanon’s revolution of the silent majority, the majority that did not partake in the 1975-1989 civil war and all conflicts thereafter. Its ranks seem to have already been penetrated by various domestic, regional and international parties with vested interests as some claim. There are many rumours floating around; rumours of the Lebanese American Embassy recruiting people with little or no experience and no clear job qualifications, rumours of Soros investing $600 m in the uprising, rumours of $150 as a daily stipend for every demonstrator, and the truth is that no one knows if any of such rumours or others are accurate.
There are even rumours and photos circulating on social media of alleged Hezbollah members bashing and terrorizing peaceful demonstrators. Whatever the facts, such images are causing untold damage to the stand, popularity and integrity of Hezbollah.
There is a legitimate reason for the Lebanese to rise up against their government, and irrespective of the final outcome, the silent majority has finally spoken, and Hezbollah must find its way to regain its support base if it wants to survive this ordeal.
And to survive it, the leadership of Hezbollah ought to go back to the rationale behind its own raison d’être as a resistance force. Popular resistance is one of people against an oppressor. Currently, the majority of Lebanese people see their politicians as their oppressors. They are not currently looking beyond their southern borders, nor looking at the potential danger of Israeli aggression. They are worried about survival. They are demanding an end to the thieving of politicians and the restoration of services like water, electricity and fuel. They want their dignity and financial security back, and alarmingly they are increasingly seeing Hezbollah as a part of their problem; not the solution.
In Lebanon, sectarian measures are always used to gauge political opinion, and in this respect, Hezbollah has reached wide popularity among all Muslims with nearly all Shiites and perhaps up to 70-80% of Sunnis supporting it especially after the outcomes of the July 2006 war with Israel. At that time, perhaps at least 50% of Lebanese Christians supported it too. After the events of May 2007, the Shiite support remained unwavered, but the Sunni support slumped to something like 50% with some decrease in popularity among Christian Lebanese. The recent corruption of the Aoun government coupled with the street uprising has enhanced the percentage of the anti-Hezbollah sentiment among Sunnis and Christians, and for the first time ever, street action has shown anger against Hezbollah even in Shiite areas. All up, and based on an educated guess only, from a national support based of at least 65-70% back in 2006, the tally has seemingly now dropped to 40-45%. This is a serious development and Hezbollah leadership ought to be aware of it.
In hindsight, Hezbollah should not have taken any political role in Lebanon. Rather, it should have stayed totally as an underground movement and force. After all, the political cover did not give it any “protection”. It was its own military might that guaranteed its survival on the ground in Lebanon. Perhaps it is time for Hezbollah to retrace its past steps, be humble enough to accept that it has made mistakes, put the euphoria of military victories aside for a moment and learn from the serious political mistakes it has committed.
This is an unchartered frontier for Hezbollah; a battle that it might not have either trained or prepared itself for. It may turn out to be its ultimate challenge.
“What seems to be certain is that the central bank (Banque Du Liban) has only $11-12 Bn out of the $120 Bn that local banks have deposited.”
Who owns Banque du Liban? What sort of directors drain off 90% of 120 Billion deposited?
Remember what the Icelanders did: they jailed their crooked bankers and crooked politicians. The Chinese do even better: they execute crooked bankers.
I think the political wing of Hezb has a great opportunity to promote a similar program to little Iceland: round up the crooks, everybody in a little country knows who they are. Hezb has the integrity, the muscle and the popular support to pull it off.
One wonders if ripple effects could lead to Deutche bank derivatives situation….any other MENA EU banks involved…Turkey Cyprus Greece France Italy etc etc…triggering even more ripples?? Anyone know?
Sounds nice, but any attempt by Hezb to “round up” the criminals will spark another bloody civil war.
I’m not saying that the solution here is not force of arms, but that each community (Shiite, Sunni and Christian) would need to “round up” their own criminal/pols as part of some agreement. Given that the people that most need “rounded up” are leading (or closely connected to those that are) these various communities, such an agreement seems unlikely.
Bob: ” Given that the people that most need “rounded up” are leading … these various communities”
That, in a nutshell, is the eternal problem of government: How to put honest people in power? Everything else – Democracy, Dictatorship, Theocracy, Secularism, Monarchy, Republicanism, Communism, Liberalism — is mere commentary on this essential problem: Who will guard me against my guardians?
Quis custodiet ipsos custodienses? — Juvenal.
That is why Hezb’Allah is such a phenomenon: a brave and honest political party Led by a brave and honest (and highly intelligent) Leader. Russia’s Putin and Syria’s Assad are similar phenomena as Honest (as well as highly intelligent) Leaders.
I think that we all agree that Hezbollah should do what is the best for Lebanon. Or, Lebanon is not really an independent country. In order to be successful, the fight against corruption should be related to a fight for more independence. And for this aim, Hezbollah is absolutely primordial. For me, it is much more logical that Hezbollah takes a central role in this fight for more independence – which, of course, is not restricted to the defense against the enemy Israel. Moreover, an army – and Hezbollah is an army – should always be guided by political reasons. Defending Lebanon against Israel is of course a political reason; it was maybe not necessary to speak about this because of it was evident. But the fight for more independence in general is clearly a political fight and, in my eyes, it would be completely understandable if Hezbollah explains its (political) role in this fight.
Military force is an extension of politics by other means.
There is no such thing as a military force with no agenda or objectives. If that force is to be accepted by the people surrounding it, there is no way it can avoid politics.
Hezbollah is too large and powerful to be an “underground” movement, that is too limiting of its true power.
It’s a hard path but I think Hezbollah needs to double down and be the political party in power in Lebanon. It has controls within the organization to limit corruption because it has always had to make best use of resources it had to work with. Extend this to a political wing and it actually addresses the legitimate complaints of the people and provides a solution.
Israel is proof that a “terrorist” nation can be seen as a “legitimate” government by the world.
Hezbollah is into politics because Lebanese people wanted it to be due its proven honesty.
Not accepting this popular mandate sent by democratic vote yhe people would have been what would have finished Hezbollah´s influence in Lebanon, as it would have been intepreted as a neglecting of obligation in front of a corrupt political class. it was the people of Lebanon looking for a paladin to defend them in parliament as it proved being one in the battle field.
Many people comes into politics to then ending aware how difficult is to change the esquemes rooted from decades ago, in the case of Lebanon since its very inception as an independent state once colinial powers left.
I find the harsh criticism by the author on Hezbollah strange and for that matter extremely biased and even unfair due that Hezbollah have not hold any ministry related to economic issues or any related to the claims of the protesters.
His advice for Hezbollah going underground, and even suggestions on its dissarming, seems to me totally in line with the plan advanced by Pompeo to President Aoun months ago which did not came without menaces of great damage that will be suffered by Lebanon unless the Lebanese governmet gets rid of Hezbollah.
I can not either understand why the author focuses on an old and long time ago refused goal by Hezbollah on turning Lebanon into Islamic Republic. Nasrallah is a too intelligent man to understand that such goal was impossible to achieve in multi-religious Lebanon and thus abandoned that goal long time ago as certified by even American experts on Hezbollah.
Secret Document Revealed Plans for Civil War in Lebanon: Report
The author obviates criticizing the corrupt political class which are those always trying to sell Lebanon to foreign powers who are in fact enemies of Lebanon, and the role Samir Geagea is having in this intent on coup d´etat through “color revolution”, who is asking already for several strategic ministries to be occupied by his faction in a new unelected government, in exchange for unblocking the roads he has kept blocked, even for doctors, patients and medicines, along with his thugs, for weeks already.
Hezbollah for sure faces a great challenge with the threat possed to Lebanon and itself by the hijacking of these protests, who only could be orgnaized with foreign money, and should be wise to ride them and, in any case, go out of this episode reinforced, but abandoning government for which it received mandate from the people is not the wisest to do, imo.
Nasrallah avoided getting any protagonism in what at first days seemed a genuine legitimate protest, as it is his honest usual way. The fact that the protest are being turned from claims against corruption to attack Hezbollah in all forms is requesting again an undesired protagonism by Hezbollah.
That Hezbollah went out from underground was precisely the wide corruption and treason which asolated Lebanon.
Lebanon Protests: Stuck Between a Rock and a Hard Place
Cyra,
I went back and reread the article. I don’t find where the author suggests disarming. I do agree with you that the author does show some biases though.
Also, while I do think Hezbollah should find a way into reforming Lebanon’s politics, I can see the risks that poses to the Lebanese people. It is no fun to be under the extreme sanctions regime that would probably come with that.
There is NOTHING ‘secret’ about the Oded Yinon Plan, its reiteration in ‘A Clean Break’ prepared for Nutty-yahoo, or US regime change Colour Revolution tactics, exacerbating sectarian and ethnic tensions, the use of ‘mysterious’ snipers to kill demonstrators, paid and trained rioters who NEVER compromise, economic sabotage by the West, threats and menaces, all designed to set societies at one anothers’ throats. Yugoslavia, Lebanon 1975-1990, Sudan, Iraq, Ukraine, the Soviet Union under Yeltsin, on and on it goes. True EVIL of the most diabolical kind, therefore ideal tactics for the Zionazi elite and their Sabbat Goy stooges.
The Yinon report is just a child’s play compared to “Which path to persia”, where they discuss every possible strategy in order to destroy a country. It may be written for Iran but their tactics are being used all over the planet!
It was obvious from the first hour that the ‘Lebanon spring (or fall)’ coinciding with the ‘Iraqi spring/fall’ was directed at the removal of Iranian backed ‘regimes’ or simply to maintain chaos. The magical word ‘fighting corruption’ of the thieving governments who lead ‘lavish lives’ in some ‘Green Zones’ ‘out of touch with the real people’, that is the banner of any ‘popular/populist’ ‘revolution’ from Paris to Hong-Kong to Venezuela and Chile, should have alerted everyone, but it doesn’t. It shows in fact the ability of the US-Israeli propaganda machine to obscure the real targets and the unfortunate propensity of the ‘downtrodden masses’ to fall for it and offer themselves to be the cannon fodder, as well as of the global ‘Left’ who would support it internationally.
Hezbollah cannot withdraw from politics to remain pure and virginal in some kind of mystic way. That is not how the world works.
War is the continuation of politics by other means, and Hezbollah cannot exist as a militia in some kind of vacuum.
Hezbollah has never sought to impose its own brand of Shia Islam on the many diverse communities of Lebanon. This would not be a realistic proposition even if it desired to do so.
Hezbollah has never used its military strength to seize power or impose its will on other factions.
The example given was a very short term operation to maintain order and prevent chaos.
Hezbollah was created to resist Zionist occupation, liberate South Lebanon, to deter further Zionist aggression and protect the interests of the neglected and downtrodden Shia minority. Those objectives are still valid.
Zionists and their western and Gulf sponsors have long sought to disarm Hezbollah and/ or drive it out of Lebanese politics. They would not be content with Hezbollah becoming either a purely military or a purely political organisation. They would continue to seek its destruction.
They have been unable to achieve any of these aims over the past 30 years, despite the collusion of quisling stooges like Hariri and Siniora, who tried to destroy Hezbollah’s secure fibre optic communications on Zionist instructions.
That is not to say they have to enable corruption. Hezbollah is probably the only honest and competent organisation in Lebanon. The Zionists and their backers couldn’t care less how corrupt Lebanon is. Their only wish is to destroy Hezbollah.
Hezbollah should quit politics, cos some politicians that weren’t Hezbollah are crooked. Well, there’s some logic for you.
If those Lebanese are that sick of their dishonest politicians they should vote for different ones. I’ll refrain from making any further suggestion.
The Colour Revolution in Lebanon is undoubtedly aimed at Hezbollah, as the Western presstitute media scum make no bones about, To whose benefit? Not the Lebanese for certain, but the Zionazis? Of course. Their grubby paw-prints are all over it, and the similar Colour Revolution in Iraq, aimed at Iran.
The big crooks are all well-known. So what is the problem? Tell them to return the goods or they will be “sanctioned”. These are all big families.
Around 1972, I was living in London. I had a Lebanese friend. Let’s call him Fawzi. His family business was in Ghana (West Africa). We lived just off King’s road in Draycott Place. Fawzi was brilliant at picking up girls on the King’s Road – which was a very lively place and absolutely crammed with pretty White “chicks” on Saturdays. He would get the ball rolling and I tried to keep the momentum. A real partnership. His English was atrocious but that was no impediment. He pretended to his family in Africa and to all these girls that he was a medical student. His room had a stash of medical text books. He would say goodbye to his current girl and say that he was on night-duty. I would meet him in the street and we would go out for some fun. London was a nice place at the time. There were no mobile phones and similar distractions.
One day, he asked me to dress up and come with him to an important meeting. He asked me to bring my Dad as it would lend gravitas to the meeting. It was held at the Carlton Tower Hotel in Knightsbridge. We went along not knowing what to expect. At the meeting was a wealthy American who was offering a loan to couple of Lebanese who I did not know. These Lebanese were equipped with guarantees from the Banque du Liban (their central bank). The American must have done his homework. The American was happy with the deal. There was an incredibly large sum of money changing hands.
After the meeting, my father, who was a businessman with many years of experience in the Middle East, was totally shell-shocked. He was convinced that what he had witnessed was some sort of theatre or scam. But he could not work out who was scamming who. Eventually, he rubbed it out of his memory as though the meeting had never taken place. He just could not handle it.
The status quo in Lebanon was only ever a short term solution to the civil war and Hezbollah would be wise to to try and defend it since that is what their enemies are hopping they will do. Instead, to sieze the initiative they must propose their own solutions to the people that will isolate the color revolutioaries and remove Lebanon fron dependance on America. Regardless of how this started you can be sure the CIA will not neglect this opportunity.
While your article is good, I do not agree with one of your statement saying the Hezbollah should not participate in political process. Hezbollah, had to do it in order to take part and exert some influence by existing in political sphere, military club doesn’t work in normal life, the same goes for religion. The could not stay Shia only, they had to be friends with all the people of Lebanon. This is how politics works.
-[Apologies for cut’n’paste but this news item seems highly relevant]
the Thylacine BTL today’s SyrPer News #305081
“Pepe Escobar
LEBANON IN ONE MINUTE
There’s a serious scam goin’ on. And Moon of Alabama, Elijah Magnier, Thierry Meyssan, Prof. Tim Anderson, are among the very few who have identified the contours of the scam.
Very few noticed that on October 25, the US Treasury Dept. unleashed something called Counter-Hezbollah International Partnership – CHIP. Around 30 nations are part of it, alongside the IMF and the World Bank.
Washington is going all out to cut off every possible Hezbollah non-Iranian source of revenue. The “logic” is that Hezbollah then would be even more dependent on Iran, followed by an inevitable split. Considering the cosmic stupidity of Beltway think tank “advisers” on such matters, nothing new here.
So it’s this Anglo Zio Capitalist Bankers Scam, essentially, that led to an added collapse of Lebanese banks – which were already collapsing due to dodgy Lebanese operators transferring abroad piles of money that they stole. And this whole Collapsing Overdrive added extra fuel to the protest fire.
The heart of the matter is that POTU$ Trump, the AZC’s office-boy in the Oval Office Washington, is hostage to the Anglo Zio Capitalists’ obsession with Hezb’Allah — the Lebanese Resistance force which kicked Reagan, Sharon and the entire IDF out of Lebanon. This obsession has become even more acute after Hezb helped with the AZC’s “loss” of Syria. Trump and all these bleeding hearts in the IMF and the World Bank could not give a damn about the whole Lebanese economy being devastated as “collateral damage”.
As a recipient of being a target of political destruction, I have proved that the last available mechanism to complete this task is a financial one. This is not about giving a damn, this is about control and intimidation, if different country’s see bad things occurring to a country, they (in theory) would, or should, bend further over to accommodate the deep states demands. I dont believe there is anything more to it than that, besides the paranoia of the deep state reaching new heights.
Alabama, it is exactly what the americans did in Latin america according to John Perkins, intimidating their leaders into submission and killing them if needed!
I can not think of one place the west has not tried to ravage.
The so-called ‘US’ Treasury, in its upper levels, particularly those in charge of economic warfare, is totally controlled by Zionazi Jewish human beings. Hence the extreme viciousness of their siege tactics and utter indifference to, or even delight in, the suffering that it causes to innocents. But, as the Talmud says, killing enemy civilians, by any means available one supposes, is not just permissible under Judaic Law, but is in fact a ‘mitzvah’ or good deed.
“Gemayel did not want to be remembered in the books of history as the President who surrendered to Israel, and refused to ratify the accord.” (!)
In 1982 Israel by expelling the PLO, removing Syrian influence over Lebanon, and installing a pro-Israeli Christian government led by President Bachir Gemayel, hoped to sign a treaty which Menachem Begin promised would give Israel “forty years of peace”.
The Phalange was an ally of Israel.
Had Hezbollah not entered politics,the anti-Hezbollah forces would have gained power.We saw an example of that with Hariri.They had to balance and argue with him from the start.If they hadn’t been in Parliament his forces could have passed laws against Hezbollah.If anything I think with 65-75% support in Lebanon they should have taken more power.But to avoid a civil war they wanted to have the different religious groups represented.And they wouldn’t disrupt the age old agreement the Lebanese concluded among themselves on religious representation.In hindsight that may have been an error.But that must be dealt with now I guess.