In responding to the criminal blast of the Beirut Southern Suburbs, the Lebanese state services and Hezbollah focused on the security related aspect. The names of the suspects who allegedly planted the bomb in Bir al-Abed last July were revealed; and the party deployed its armed men along checkpoints at the borders of the suburbs. These measures can be justified as important since they serve to control the situation and reassure the masses amidst the feelings of anger and panic that prevailed over Lebanon. The security institutions are part of the collapsing Lebanese state and they are playing a minor role in this mess. Once again, these institutions shied away in the face of the justified "people's anger." However, the security mayhem that the entire Lebanon is suffering from is not the main problem in our country. The criminal gangs that committed the Roueiss crime last week represent an outcome rather than a cause (knowing that new causes are yielding new outcomes in the Lebanese maze). Those who believe that confronting the Takfiris will bring stability to Lebanon are wrong. MP Michel Aoun said that the Roueiss crime perpetrators are "animals in human bodies." This is such an unrealistic description because the perpetrators are full citizens and are the product of the prevailing atmosphere, politics, and upbringing. The security chaos in Lebanon that is prone to expand is taking place under the headline of the Takfiri groups. Some individuals and organizations are said to be operating on their own while others are reportedly supported by external parties. We believe that these groups are but the tip of the iceberg in the Lebanese crisis. The Lebanese dilemma did not start with the two rockets that hit the Suburbs a few months ago; and did not reach its pinnacle with the Roueiss tragedy. Hezbollah's dispatching of thousands of fighters to Syria is but one episode in the series of the crises and the dilemmas rather than being the beginning of the destruction road as the March 14 media is trying to imply. Much has been written on the failure of the Lebanese political system. Even more has been said about the shallowness of the "elite" or the political class. However, all this is now behind us. The present situation tells of the impossibility of striking any deal or local Lebanese reconciliation between the two main sects, the Sunnis and the Shias, in light of the present local and regional power balances. In other words, the Taef Accord has reached the end of the rope and the chances to reform it are gone. The Lebanese have been left alone with their hatred for one another without an Arab or international mediator who wishes to share the cake or to lay some new ground rules for a ceasefire. In fact, insults and accusations are all what the Lebanese have left to say to each other pending the right opportunity to exchange bullets and bombs. Even commuting between the different regions is now subjected to sectarian and security-related terms. The official speeches, starting from the presidency of the Republic all the way down, represent nothing more than some compositions and texts resembling those texts that could have very well been written by some village cleric. The best idea that the Lebanese politicians were able to come up with in order to solve the present dilemma was the formation of a cabinet while they are very much aware of the fact that this cabinet will eventually fall into the pit of the division. Political life in Lebanon died a long time ago. Its corpse has become rotten but has not been buried yet. The void and absence of political life are quite visible and are no longer a source of concern to anyone. Security was one of this void's victims. The Lebanese people are eying the external world in their quest to end their long stay in the interval. Some Lebanese now prefer hell over the painful void and absurdity.
