Troubling developments of the past few days in Lebanon indicate it will be another hot summer in that war-weary country. The heat was confirmed by an American official in the State Department, David Welch.
In recent years, Lebanese across the board have paid a prohibitive price following the two imposed wars.In the summer of 2006, the lawless occupying power launched an extensive assault on the small country under the pretext of freeing a Zionist soldier taken prisoner by Hezbollah.
When Tel Aviv decided to take on the popular Hezbollah in the south, it mistakenly counted on its proxies. Israel hoped with some help from its Lebanese friends it would disarm Hezbollah and by extension remove the neighboring country the list of its enemies.
Since that did not happen and the region’s most powerful army was left licking its wounds after 33 days of non-stop fighting, the Nahr Al-Bared refugee camp crisis popped up in the summer of 2007.
The sprawling camp, home to over 30,000 Palestinian refugees, became the scene of four months of battles between the Lebanese army and the extremist group, Fatah Al-Islam. At that time some covert elements sought to undermine Lebanese security and level the field for the domination in Beirut of pro-western factions.
Now it seems another major crisis is looming. In the coming days the usurper state will commemorate the 60th anniversary of its “founding“. To this end Zionist leaders intend to paralyze Hezbollah on home turf. Israel has announced extensive programs for the May 13-15 ceremonies. George Bush, Britain’s Gordon Brown and France’s staunch pro-Israeli leader, Nicholas Sarkozy are among those who will join the celebrations.
It is obvious that any move that threatens the security of the ceremonies will be a fatal blow against Qods occupying regime. Thus, with assistance from its pals inside Lebanon, Israel masterminded the scenario of “exposing Hezbollah’s telecommunications network“ which have in place for years to force the resistance group to concentrate on internal problems and let the Israelis enjoy their anniversary ceremonies.
For now there is ample evidence that the anti-Syrian coalition known as March 14 alliance led by Saad Hariri, son of Rafik Hariri, the assassinated former prime minister of Lebanon, and Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, have started a dangerous game on the eve of the Israeli binge.
They claim Hezbollah set up surveillance cameras near Beirut airport to monitor the movements of anti-Syrian Lebanese politicians and foreign dignitaries. The two men openly backed by Washington and Paris had hoped to either deprive Hezbollah of its strategic telecommunication system or provoke the revolutionary group to start some sort of civil war.
But the Hezbollah leadership, Sheikh Hassan Nasrollah in particular, once again demonstrated their credentials in crisis management. They showed with clarity of purpose that ill wishers of their country cannot achieve their ugly aims including disarming the popular resistance and hurling Lebanon into a fresh bout of civil strife.
The pro-western March 14 enclave has been forced to accept defeat in light of the strong and pragmatic stance of Hezbollah.
One question making the rounds in major political corridors is whether the retreat of the embattled and seemingly powerless government will save Lebanon from another hot summer? Only time will tell.