A Puzzling Disarmament

The way Hezbollah is disarming is odd. But it is very Lebanese.


If you’re a Lebanese soldier and you “found” Hezbollah weapons, light or heavy, you are allowed to confiscate them. But let’s suppose you get a tip-off that Mr. XX has a Katyusha launcher under his mattress, are you allowed to break into his house and seize it by force? Nope.

What seems like a bizarre hide-and-seek game between Hezbollah and the Government is simply another one of those political compromises the Lebanese have become famous for. Here's a couple of historical examples:

-When the Lebanese were fighting in the late 80s about whether or not Lebanon is an Arab country, a masterpiece compromise was reached: Lebanon is a “country with an Arab face”.

-A few months ago, when the Lebanese were arguing about “demarcating (tarseem)” the border with Syria, the pro-Syrians managed to engineer a less offending proposition: We will work on “determining (tahdeed)” the border with Syria.

Fast forward to Today. Nothing has changed: The odd disarmament process is yet another useful compromise: It shows that the Lebanese government is doing something about Hezbollah’s weapons. It also shows that Hezbollah are cooperating, without depriving them of their wiggle room.

Everyone is happy. There are no victors and no vanquished. Welcome to Lebanon.

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