Ministry of Interior

ذهب و لم يعد
Everyone had an opinion, statement, or declaration about what happened last Sunday, all those officials in their televisions, and those non-officials in their streets.
The government and its supporters blamed the opposition, those who died, and Syria for the massacre. The opposition blamed the government and the army.

One voice remained unheard; in fact one face has disappeared since he retracted his resignation and theoretically reassumed his responsibilities: the Minister of Interior.

Curiously no one even bothers to mention the absence of the one supposed to be responsible of security in the country. After all this is not his problem since these people who were killed are not Lebanese citizens, they are part of the Syrian-Iranian axis of evil. In fact even the location of the event is not in the “real Lebanon” where people are “100% Lebanese”, so why should the ministry of interior be concerned?

6 were killed by gunfire while the army was watching, or even participating in the hunt. Army against citizens: is this Egypt? Is this what we are to hope for? Is this what preserving stability means?

Blaming the victim can only bring more anger, and anger will bring more violence, a violence that would not always be unarmed.

Fouad Sanioura, the Lebanese Prime-Minister made it clear that there are no electricity problems in the suburbs. In fact even the Lebanese economy is doing just fine. At least he did not notice any power cuts while hiding in his office.

This is only the beginning. Disregard of the deteriorating economy and the rapidly increasing economical polarization will soon explode. At this moment political solutions will no longer be useful. When the crowd moves it sweeps everything in its way. And when a government loses control of its people (and control is not exercised by force and bullets) this unconditionally means that it has failed and that a new government is needed. One cannot pretend to be in power, to be the legitimate authority, while refusing to assume the responsibility that this authority entails. No excuses, justification, or exceptional situations can explain why this government is not assuming responsibility for the numerous assassinations, shootings, and bomb blasts that have taken place under their authority.

Where is the Minister of Interior? Did anyone call him? Is he on vacation? Or does he have family duties? Did he leave the key of the ministry with anyone we can call? Or do we no longer need the ministry of interior now that an Army General is going to become President?

So many suppressed issues have surfaced on this bloody Sunday and many more will surface in the coming days. But perhaps for the moment we can rest assured that Samir Geagea is satisfied with the way the army dealt with the situation.