This general is arrogant. He did not bend his knees. He did not betray his oath. He did not sell his superiors for money. He did not climb on top of their dead bodies. He did neither use his sword for tyranny, nor his throat for deception. He did not offer his conscience for sale. He did not turn his medals into floor mats. He did not strip to cover assassinations with his garments. He did not switch side, and if he did, he would have been rewarded by being deemed patriotic. They would have even given him a seat in parliament or an entire bloc in it, or even a cabinet portfolio. Who knows, they might have even given him the ministry of telecommunications, provided that he respected the ‘privacy' of the Lebanese who are too busy loving one another, and the privacy of those drenched in the blood of the Lebanese. This general is arrogant. I mean what I say. The conditions for being termed arrogant are clear: A general is arrogant if he respects sovereignty, if he demands a state or a quasi-state in Lebanon, and if he calls for an independent judiciary and security agencies whose sole reference is the state, and sole duty is to protect the Lebanese from being killed – and not just organizing a decent funeral for them. The arrogant general broke the golden rule; the rule arising from the legacy of assassinations in Lebanon: The country's wellbeing requires that the crime remain ambiguous and mysterious. The investigation dossier must remain empty. The investigator and the judge must cower before the case. The whole matter must be put on the shelf, pending the results of the investigation. If the anger of the wounded should mount, then they can be told that the Israeli enemy did it. Indeed, the enemy is known to perpetrate such things, as the enemy is a killer. Yet it is hard to believe that it is the only killer around. If the victims' families should complain too much, then some should quickly rush to castigate them. They are thus told they are exploiting their martyr for political reasons, and that they are preempting the results of the investigation. They are told that their insolence is threatening civil accord, national unity or even the brotherly relations. Who can guarantee, they are told, that the crime was not personal, financial, or even emotional? Let your martyr rest, and content yourself with crying near his portrait at home, after the curtains are closed. We do not need to remind you that your martyr is not the first, and will not be the last. Etiquette requires that you do not try to stop the factory from churning out more martyrs. This general is arrogant. He mutinied against the long season of humiliation and the red lines. He returned to his post to solve the mystery of the assassination of Rafik Hariri. They tried to tell him not to, but he did not heed their advice. They wounded one of his officers, but he was not daunted. They killed another and he was not deterred. He insisted on continuing to probe the telecom evidence. And the rest is history. The young officer developed the Information Branch, and brought modern technology and an iron will with him. He broadened the scope of contacts and information exchanges. His agency now detected, knew and raised alarms where needed. He uncovered Israeli spy networks at breakneck speed. In the course of his investigations, he caught a general in the act, from the circle of the other general who had belatedly joined the pro-resistance axis. He did not consider his duty was to chase certain networks and ignore others. He upset the machinations of the assassinations' masterminds, inviting violent storms to come at him without mercy. A few months ago, he warned several figures at risk of assassination, but he was not unaware that he, too, was at the forefront of those at risk. Brigadier General Wissam al-Hassan knew that he was playing with fire. He knew that the Syrian fire had invalidated all rules and taboos. His latest ‘crime' was to uncover a man called Michel Samaha, of the pro-resistance axis, whom he caught in the act carrying ‘gifts' from across the border. There were both audio and video to incriminate him. Hassan seemed as though he was counting the steps to his grave. There was a belief that he would sooner or later pay the price for his ‘arrogance' and ‘excesses'. Yesterday, I was struck by the fact that Prime Minister Najib Mikati could not help but to make the connection between the capture of the Samaha-Mamlouk network and Hassan's assassination. Recently, Wissam al-Hassan became a prominent security player along the many fault lines. He dug looking for the sources, passageways, funding of the terrorist networks as well as their false names and their handlers. He became a major and trusted player, and a treasure trove of information. He became both a problem and an obstacle. He became to security what Rafik Hariri had become to politics: A man bigger than the place. For years, Hassan has been playing too close to danger. A killer always lurked for him, and a bullet always looked for him. A car bomb or a new accusation was always around the corner. Striking off this player would deal a blow to the state, to Saad Hariri and his sect, and to March 14. Yet these dangers did not force him to lose his smile. These campaigns did not manage to push him over the edge. His knowledge of his enemies' strength did not undermine his persistence. He continued to resist them, and to speed up his march towards his grave. Reports indicate that Rafik Hariri heard the explosion, and realized that he had been assassinated for a second time. Reports say that he wept for Wissam al-Hassan, as mountains would weep for mountains. Tonight, he will welcome him with an embrace. Most probably, he will ask him about the name of the next martyr.
