The recent cataclysm in Beirut is being used by the usual neo-colonial suspects to try and pin the blame for the catastrophe on Hezbollah.
Hezbollah, of course, had nothing whatever to do with the disaster since it had no influence in the Port of Beirut. Hezbollah is a popular movement in Lebanon, responsible for driving the Israelis out of the country over a period of 18 years of armed struggle (1982-2000).
Today, Hezbollah is a very popular political party in many parts of the country, and a large party of the majority bloc in the Lebanese Parliament. Hezbollah is also part of the Resistance Front versus Israel and the USA, a front that also includes Iraq and Syria.
Just hours after the cataclysm, President Macron of France made a triumphal tour of the ruins in the port. He promised aid, but "NO BLANK CHEQUES." He demanded that the Lebanese pledge to reform their government first. Apparently, Macron has forgotten that France, as the post-WWI occupier of Lebanon, created a sectarian confessional form of government that ensured that minority Christians would remain in power and no national unity would ever emerge.
Lebanese and Western foreign media immediately lauded Macron and suggested that France assume control of Lebanon under trusteeship.
Lebanon has been under political and economic attack long before the Beirut explosion. Macron's visit may be a foot-in-the-door for a Western humanitarian intervention under the guise of "aid," something similar to the turning of Libya into a failed state in 2011. The French and Western actions towards Lebanon should be understood in the context of destabilization efforts that have toppled a number of West Asian countries in recent years.
Hours after the explosion, hundreds of Syrian ambulances filled the highways into Lebanon, although Syria itself is under Western attack. The Syrian government also dispatched planeloads of supplies to the Lebanese Red Cross. Contrast this to Canadian PM Trudeau, who said he would send a few million in aid to Lebanon, but not to the government or Red Cross. Instead, it would only go to "Trusted NGOs."
It should be remembered, in the words of Syrian President Assad, that the day on which France was pushed out of Lebanon was the day it began conspiring to return.
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