Lebanese elite want to scapegoat military over boat tragedy
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After tragedy rocked the city of Tripoli in north Lebanon on Saturday, when a boat carrying illegal immigrants sank close to the shore, leaving dozens dead or missing, the country’s political elite began to look for someone to blame.
Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah immediately called for an investigation. But is this deja vu? Didn’t he also call for an investigation when armed militiamen were hit while trying to attack Tayouneh last year? Then nothing happened. The army command stood firm and did not incriminate the soldiers who were doing their job. If the soldiers had been court martialed for doing what they were supposed to do, then this would have destroyed the authority of the army. No soldier would then have the guts to stand up to Hezbollah.
Nasrallah’s maneuver aimed at intimidating the army did not work. Now, however, a new opportunity to score a point against the Lebanese Armed Forces has arisen. The immigrant boat sank while the Lebanese Navy was asking the skipper to go back. However, the captain refused to turn around and tried to evade the navy, which led to a collision between the two vessels. The immigrant boat was doomed to sink as it was carrying as many as 80 people, while its capacity was 10. Disappointed and angry survivors blamed the navy for not letting them sail to freedom and dignity, but it was doing its duty of guarding the coast. The anger snowballed and protesters attacked an army checkpoint in Tripoli.
Blaming the armed forces represents a good diversion from the real culprits. The real culprits are the political elite who have driven the country into the ground and are still holding on to power and still using dirty tricks to make sure they recreate the same power structure. When Nabih Berri, the speaker of the parliament and a main figure of corruption, commented on the incident, he did not even mention the word poverty. He could not dare to say that, as a result of their poverty, people were ready to risk their lives.
In his testimony to the Council of Ministers, LAF Commander Gen. Joseph Aoun gave a clear explanation of the situation and detailed how the collision happened. He also warned against using the incident for political purposes, with the elections less than three weeks away.
The real culprits are those who have driven the country into the ground and are still holding on to power
Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib
The trafficker who took charge of taking the people on the boat to Cyprus was charging $2,500 per person. He had done the same thing and was arrested last year, but he was released without charge after a week. Hence, the corrupt government is letting people smugglers go free and, when the LAF does its job, it is preyed on and blamed.
In his testimony, Aoun warned against demoralizing the armed forces by blaming them. He asserted that morale is a key component in the functionality of an army. The LAF has been subjected to very harsh conditions. In addition to the unstable security situation that it needs to handle, its members have been surviving on extremely low wages, with privates earning an average of $60 a month.
The army and its commander have not been palatable to the political elite. To start with, the army is respected while they are not. The commander of the army has no corruption cases against him and is known to be a humble and dedicated state employee, while they are bursting with arrogance and burdened with corruption charges. They are very much uncomfortable with the commander’s “cleanliness.” Their greatest fear is that he claims the presidency in November. If so, will they be allowed to pillage the country unbridled, the same way they have been for the past 30 years? This is why they are now taking the opportunity to undermine the army and its commander and shed crocodile tears over those who perished fleeing poverty and misery.
People are very angry with their situation. A Gallup poll showed that the Lebanese are the second-least happy people in the world, only behind Afghans. Saturday’s tragic incident is a good opportunity for the elite to divert the anger of the people toward the LAF. Will the army hold firm despite everything it has been subjected to? Despite the brutal conditions under which it is operating, everyone expects loyalty and devotion from it, so the least it can be offered is some respect and appreciation.
The international community should carefully examine this incident and see how it has been politicized by the Lebanese political class. The members of this political class do not care about weakening the only base on which the state relies in order to divert anger. They want to blame the army even though they are the reason why people have reached a level of desperation whereby they are ready to go into the unknown and risk their lives and the lives of their children just to escape the dire conditions at home. The world should see that the incident has been used by Hezbollah to discredit the army, so that the group can be seen as the only reliable source of security. Ultimately, after examining all this, the international community should realize how the political class has been mistreating the army.
• Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib is a specialist in US-Arab relations with a focus on lobbying. She is co-founder of the Research Center for Cooperation and Peace Building, a Lebanese nongovernmental organization focused on Track II.
