Curare and the State
The philosophical question of what comes first, the chicken or the egg, appears almost simple when set against the issue the country now faces: a (peace) agreement whose signing is made conditional on the disarmament of Hezbollah.
This condition – set by our government, imposed by Israel, and desired by a growing majority of the Lebanese population – cannot, however, be met within a set timeframe. Moreover, whether through the Lebanese army or through strikes on Hezbollah positions, the militia’s arsenal remains operational.
The problem is not only the presence of weapons, but also the infiltration of the militia into certain segments of the state apparatus. The militia paralyzes any measures taken against it and, worse, triggers internal unrest, while also raising the specter of mutiny aboard a drifting vessel that has already begun to sink.
Whether it is a former prosecutor derailing an investigation, a judge imposing only a nominal fine for serious wrongdoing, senior officers infiltrated within the army acting as informants, or a general in a security service deploying squads against civilians, examples abound, demonstrating that Hezbollah has spread across multiple tiers of the system.
When curare is injected into a body, all limbs and muscles relax, including the respiratory system, leading to asphyxiation. Either an antidote is administered to the patient, or the poison is extracted through a purge.
Purge. A term with strongly negative connotation, recalling the Soviet era. Yet, in the face of grave problems, only equally decisive measures may suffice. Only a purge of the state – even if limited to certain key positions – would represent a first outline of a viable solution, internal rather than externally imposed, unlike recourse to Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter.
The suspension of senior officials, both military and civilian, and even prosecutions against those who have obstructed the course of justice or used public institutions to inflame internal tensions – thereby fueling the threat of civil war – appears necessary. This would likely constitute the first step, if not the only one, capable of restoring the state’s credibility in the eyes of international institutions. Such credibility would, in turn, serve as leverage to secure assistance aimed at strengthening the sovereignty of legitimate public authority over the entire territory.
Hezbollah’s allies and dependents will argue that dialogue must be prioritized as the only solution to the problem. Yet in the past, “national dialogues” have followed one another, serving only to further entrench Hezbollah’s grip on the state.
“You can get much farther with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone.” The author of this phrase knew what he was talking about and made it his credo. It was Al Capone.
Early retirements, immediate suspensions, dismissals – whatever term is used, what is required is a genuine overhaul of the state apparatus, at whatever level or rank. For it is only when the poison is extracted from the body that its organs and limbs can begin to move again.
The task is certainly not an easy one. If President Aoun and Prime Minister Salam truly wish to prevent the Lebanese ship from capsizing and bring it back to port, without resorting to privateers or external assistance, this will likely be the only option.
It is certain that powerful political actors will lay mines in their path in order to obstruct any possibility of disarmament and, of course, any agreement with Israel. But there comes a point when the choice between safeguarding a nation and protecting private interests is no longer a real choice at all.
A kind of modern-day Augean stables in political form, far more arduous than Hercules’ labor, but necessary if the Lebanese phoenix is to gather its ashes and rise again.