It’s Hezbollah’s Weapons, Stupid!

The discourse on militias arming and training in Lebanon is missing the big yellow elephant in the room: Hezbollah’s weapons.

So the FPM are training. Does it really matter? (more pictures)

A lot is being said and written about the arming and training of the various Lebanese parties. But it seems politically incorrect to point out that all this is happening because of Hezbollah’s weapons.

It is a fact: Hezbollah’s private army is the strongest in Lebanon. And no matter how many times the party claims that the weapons are only pointed against Israel, the rockets, like tactical nukes, are being used aggressively for leverage in Lebanese internal politics. A combination of kind words and big guns is not the same as kind words alone.

It would be foolish to expect the rest of the Lebanese, especially the ones politically against Hezbollah, to take Hezbollah’s reassurances at face value. After all, one never knows when their currently “wise” leadership passes to an expansionist nut-head who will decide that fighting the Lebanese is more rewarding than fighting the Israelis.

Politicians are wasting too much time politicking on whether the FPM, the LF or the PSP are training. But that is missing the bigger picture: The weapons are all the children of Ra3ed, Zilzal and Khaibar.