November 27, 2024
By Nasser Kandil
U.S. President Joe Biden announced that a ceasefire between Lebanon and the occupying entity would come into effect at 4 a.m. today. However, he did not announce the two key points that those opposing the resistance were waiting for. He did not confirm that a U.S.-led committee would oversee the area south of the Litani River, nor that this committee would review complaints. Instead, the Lebanese Army and UNIFIL forces would remain the security authorities in the south, as stipulated by UN Resolution 1701. He also did not announce the deployment of U.S. forces, even in the hundreds, to supervise the implementation of the agreement. This means that what has changed since 2006 is that Amos Hochstein has replaced Condoleezza Rice, just as Prime Minister Najib Mikati replaced President Fouad Siniora.
The exaggeration that the Lebanese Army will be the force confronting the resistance is nothing new. It reflects a misunderstanding of the Lebanese reality. The Army knows that its primary mission is to confront the threat of Israeli aggression, which no one can clear of its ambitions and criminal actions. No one can claim that there is an international guarantee preventing such aggression. The Army has never heard from those who want it to be a threat to the resistance, not the occupation, any efforts to arm it in a way that would enable it to fulfill its sworn duty – protecting the borders from aggression. The Army understands, based on experience, that Lebanon cannot be protected without force, and depriving it of this force is the main justification for keeping the resistance’s weapons as a national necessity. How then could it conspire against or betray it?
In 1983, the Lebanese political system conspired with the U.S. and Israel at the expense of national interests, driven by the lust for power and wealth. It complied with Washington and Tel Aviv’s demands by signing the May 17 Agreement, which granted the occupation advantages at the expense of national sovereignty. It also built an army under Washington’s full supervision and control. When it tried to use this army against the resistance and the people’s uprising against the May 17 Agreement, the army collapsed, the occupation withdrew, and the Marines left.
The most important statement Biden made was that no American troops would be sent to southern Lebanon.
