Facing Off with ISIS ISIS’S Sectarian Message in Beirut Bloodbath
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November 20, 2015 3 Cover Story Facing off with ISIS ISIS’s sectarian message in Beirut bloodbath James Bruce Hitherto, the 29 bombings since October 2012 had been claimed by Beirut ISIS’s rivals, primarily al-Qaeda af- filiates such as the Abdullah Azzam n the arcane world of jihad- Brigades, named after Osama bin ist organisations, two suicide Laden’s Palestinian mentor. bombings in Hezbollah’s Bei- In a statement issued on social rut stronghold that killed 46 media, ISIS bluntly declared that people and wounded more the objective of the November 12th Ithan 200 marked a departure as bombings was simply to kill as well as being the deadliest attack of many Shias as possible. its kind in the city since Lebanon’s There were none of the usual de- civil war ended in 1990. nunciations of Hezbollah helping A third bomber was apparently the Syrian dictatorship stay in pow- killed when the second bomber er against the will of the Syrian peo- detonated his explosives. ple or calls for it to disengage from The devastating November 12th the Syrian war in which it has suf- attack may be the opening salvo in fered heavy losses or to free Sunni an escalating battle between Sunni extremists imprisoned in Lebanon extremists and Hezbollah, Shia where security is firmly controlled Iran’s prized proxy and its loyal ally by Hezbollah. Lebanese soldiers and forensic inspectors examine the site of two explosions on November 12th in in keeping Syrian President Bashar The Lebanese Army, long neglect- the southern suburbs of Beirut. Assad, whose Alawite minority is ed by sectarian leaders who wanted an offshoot of Shia Islam, in power. to keep the military weak, is in no shape to take on ISIS, despite re- Syria are treated. That plan was tlefield reverses in Syria and could the movement’s heavy casualties It seems clear ISIS cent US, French and Saudi efforts to scrapped because of tight security, be linked to recent attacks in Egypt as Iran’s surrogate in an unpopular build up its combat capabilities. he said, but the overall aim is to and France that killed more than war. Forcing Hezbollah out of the wants to use the Lebanese Interior Minister Nou- “destabilise”. 350 people as ISIS extends its at- Syrian war would seriously weaken Syrian war to had Machnouk said on November However, ISIS’s message laid out tacks across the Middle East and Assad’s shaky regime. destabilise Lebanon 15th that Internal Security Forces for all to see the sectarian hatreds into Europe. “ISIS will try to strike again in any arrested two masterminds of the at- that are so prevalent between Is- But it seems clear ISIS wants to areas it can reach,” observed mili- to draw off tack, a Lebanese and a Syrian, along lam’s dominant Sunnis and the use the Syrian war to destabilise tary analyst Hisham Jaber, a retired Hezbollah. with seven others linked to the ter- smaller Shia branch that’s a pivotal Lebanon to draw off Hezbollah, Lebanese Army general. ror cell, including one would-be sui- element in the increasingly toxic which is fighting alongside the Da- “The attack was intended to in- The double bombing in the Da- cide bomber. Syrian war and the power struggle mascus regime. ISIS wants to un- cite the people in Shia areas that hiya sector of southern Beirut was Machnouk said interrogations between Sunni Saudi Arabia and dermine Hezbollah as the most embrace Hezbollah and to stand claimed by the Islamic State (ISIS), revealed that the plan was devised Shia Iran for domination of the Mid- powerful military and political against the party and its interven- the first attack on Lebanon’s Shias for five suicide attackers hitting the dle East. force in Lebanon and one way to do tion in Syria,” he said. that the jihadist group has ac- Rassoul al-Aazam Hospital where Some analysts say the bombings that is to bomb its supporters who “The strategic goal is to under- knowledged. Hezbollah fighters wounded in stemmed from ISIS’s recent bat- are increasingly disquieted about mine stability in Lebanon.” Lebanon and the roots of terror Viewpoint he only thing safe- war against his own people. guarding Lebanon is But Hezbollah’s participation in its state institutions. the Syrian conflict only serves to This is the most draw Lebanon, and the Lebanese important lesson that people, into a dangerous conflict we can learn from the and open the door to all forms of Tterrorist attack in Beirut’s Bourj terrorism. al-Barajneh neighbourhood. Away from empty slogans and Anyone who fails to come to this rhetoric about the “takfiri threat’ conclusion wants to see Lebanon and “resistance” to Israel, all the Khairallah continue to drown in the mire of talk about a political settlement in Khairallah terrorism. Lebanon has no practical applica- The Islamic State (ISIS) was re- tion on the ground in light of the sponsible for the Bourj al-Barajneh total absence of any movement on terrorist attack. It targeted an area the biggest sticking point — Hez- — in Beirut’s southern suburbs — bollah’s illegal arms. that is under Hezbollah control. After the Bourj al-Barajneh Most of those who died in the at- attack, all parties came out to tack were civilians who worked or condemn the attack without hesi- lived in the area. tation. Lebanese citizens found The southern suburbs are part of themselves facing a terrorist attack the mini-state that Hezbollah has in an area that should have been established in Lebanon and which under control of the Lebanese the state has sought to wrest back state and its institutions. But this from the militia, which is little was not the case as the southern more than a brigade in Iran’s Is- Suburbs are under the control of lamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. Hezbollah, the same group whose Anyone who wants Lebanon to A vigil at the site of the two explosions that occurred on November 12th in the illegal involvement in the Syr- emerge from the series of disas- southern suburbs of Beirut. ian conflict is one of the reasons ters it is facing and confront ISIS behind such attacks. cannot run away from the truth: pointed at the Lebanese interior demonstrated the weakness, or It is difficult to prevent the recur- Hezbollah cannot prioritise both and while there are illegal arms in indeed the total absence, of the rence of attacks such as this in the Lebanon and Syria at the same the Palestinian camps, including Lebanese state. There can be no Hezbollah absence of the ability to get to the time. It is compromised. one in Bourj al-Barajneh. state that is not in control of the cannot roots of the problem. If we don’t accept this and As far back as 1973, then US main airport in its capital. There prioritise Getting to the roots means empower the Lebanese state to secretary of State Henry Kissinger’s can be no state when terrorists are both having the courage to address the take control of Lebanese national plane was diverted from Beirut in possession of arms and can fire issue of illegitimate weapons in security via state institutions, it airport to Rayak Air Base after an rockets at incoming planes. Lebanon Lebanon. These weapons are at the simply will not be possible to put assassination plot against him was To put it bluntly, if we want to and Syria heart of all the problems in Leba- an end to terrorist attacks. This uncovered. It was there that he support Lebanese national security at the same non including the ongoing collapse cannot happen, however, as long met Lebanese president Suleiman and national interests, we must of state institutions. as non-state actors such as Hezbol- Frangieh, marking the beginning acknowledge that every illegal time. If we do not address this prob- lah are in control of a huge arsenal of the end for the Lebanese state’s weapon in the country — whether lem, we will remain trapped in this ability to host foreign officials at its in the hands of Palestinians or sec- same loop, with Sunni terrorist main airport. tarian forces — only serves those attacks taking place in retaliation Kissinger had no choice but to who want to destabilise Lebanon to Shia terrorist attacks and so on, We must acknowledge land at Rayak Air Base, given the and destroy its state institutions. each feeding the other, while it is political and security vacuum in Hezbollah, which has its own the Lebanese people who suffer. that every illegal weapon Lebanon at the time. A similar interests, is seeking to coerce the in the country only political and security vacuum grips Lebanese state to accept and coex- Khairallah Khairallah is a the country today with no presi- ist with its arms under the justifi- Lebanese writer. The commentary serves those who want to dent in office and urgent demands cation that it is using these arms was translated and adapted from for a new government and elec- to confront ISIS and its ilk, while the Arabic. It was originally destabilise Lebanon. toral law. at the same time it is participating published in the London-based Al With this decision, Kissinger in Syrian President Bashar Assad’s Arab newspaper..