October 19, 2024
By Nasser Kandil
• Samir Geagea struggles to find a consistent way to attack Hezbollah. At one moment, he echoes the resolution of the 1559 camp, claiming that Iran has “sold out Hezbollah”, negotiating away its interests to advance its nuclear deal. At another, he asserts that Iran is fully committed to Hezbollah, ready to shoulder the responsibility of war by sending its officers to fight alongside Hezbollah.
• Geagea knows that neither he, the Americans, the Israelis, nor the Western and Arab intelligence agencies hostile to the resistance, have a clear understanding of what is happening on the battlefronts – who is fighting, where they are fighting, and with what they are fighting. If any of the resistance’s opponents had accurate intelligence, it would have certainly helped the occupying entity win the ground battles it continues to lose. So where does Geagea’s confidence in his statements come from?
• It’s understandable that some may be irked by the combat effectiveness displayed by the resistance fighters on the ground, and by how their hopes for the occupying army to defeat Hezbollah have crumbled. These figures, who bet on Hezbollah’s collapse, were taken aback when their predictions failed. Unable to credit Hezbollah’s resilience to a Lebanese group they dislike, they’ve resorted to circulating the fabricated rumour that Iran deserves the credit for Hezbollah’s bravery and steadfastness. This fits into their false narrative of an Iranian-Israeli war being fought on Lebanese soil.
• When we talk about a war being fought by the Lebanese against the occupying entity, we know the reasons for this war simply by looking at the maps on the shoulders of the occupying soldiers, which include parts of Lebanon annexed into the entity’s territory. Does Mr. Geagea have any explanation for the so-called “Iranian-Israeli war” after his allies claim that Iran is fighting to defend Hezbollah, a claim he himself affirms? This only brings us back to the fact that this is a Lebanese-Israeli war, in which the Iranians are assisting a Lebanese party – unless Mr. Geagea can provide a clearer explanation of the reasons behind this alleged Iranian-Israeli conflict and his call for Lebanon to remain neutral.
• By the way, are the Iranians also fighting in Gaza alongside the resistance there, in this so-called “Iranian-Israeli war”, one in which the Palestinians should supposedly remain neutral as well?
• Since Mr. Geagea is keen on analysing geopolitical dynamics, can he tell us the role of the West in this supposed Iranian-Israeli war? Does America’s defence of Israel equate to a declaration of war on Iran? If Israel wins the war, will Lebanon benefit? If Israel loses, will Lebanon suffer? This seems to be the implication of Geagea’s words – he is so agitated by the idea of his fellow Lebanese achieving victory that he’s invented the theory that Iran is fighting on their behalf, providing them with the resilience, strength, and success they possess.
