Hezbollah is acting like an occupying force in the areas under its control. The party's security concerns are above the people's interests. All that contradicts with its structure of values and principles has no value and no legitimacy. The raids and arrests carried by members of the party in Baalbek and the torching of some stores owned by people from a specific sect indicate that Hezbollah is proceeding with an ethnic cleansing policy similar to the days of the Lebanese civil war. The practices of the party and its allies during the May 7, 2008 attack, the provocations that pushed the people of the Southern Suburbs to protest some weeks ago, the party's role in the Abra events, and its incitement to encircle the town of Ersal: all these incidents indicate that Hezbollah has turned into a burden to domestic relations rather than a tool to the regional balance in the hands of Tehran and Damascus. On top of that, Hezbollah is insisting on controlling all the state's facilities, including the security services and the public and governmental administrations all with the aim of using them to serve the its goals and its present priority of fighting the "takfiris." These "takfiris" include all the party's adversaries and they undoubtedly serve Israel and the American plan in the region as per the party's writers and their jargon. Hezbollah is fighting a sectarian war under a thin cloak, one that can no longer mask the lies. No one believes these lies anymore except for those who want to believe them and those who wish to bury their head in the sand. The locals and the politicians who oppose the party's methods describe them as "a show of force" and arrogance in dealing with the people (except for those people who blindly accept and follow the party). On the other hand, the state, which constitutes the people's last resort, is not playing a deterring part. In fact, the state is suffering from a multiple personality disorder. The state's services on the ground are biased in the party's favor. This has been the case for a long time whereby the civil servants of several official institutions are always working on pleasing the strongest armed party. Meanwhile, the state's official "speech" is nothing but meaningless prose with no hope of ever turning into actions. The civil servants want to be safe and to make a daily living. The party wants to implement the tasks it has been entrusted with by its regional sponsors. Between these two sides, the Lebanese people have no support and no way to protect their lives and families. They are constantly humiliated by the sects' leaders and constantly being preyed on by poverty, need, and the overwhelming desire to leave the country of mad hostilities. The bitter and ironic part consists of these calls for holding a dialogue and reaching agreements among the Lebanese sectarian powers while none of these powers can actually make its own decisions without reverting back to the external puppet masters. In addition, none of these powers will let go of their shares in security, economy, or society in favor of a weak state with no vision and no plan but to distribute the gains in the process of public looting. Hezbollah is not unique in this sense. We must recall that the Palestinian factions carried out the same violations in the 1970s, the different Lebanese militias walked on this same path between 1975 and 1990, and the Syrian forces and their services played a major part in violating and humiliating the Lebanese community; not to mention the Israeli occupation and its crimes. Therefore, Hezbollah's actions today are but a mere reflection of the failed state phenomenon in Lebanon where the people are incapable of agreeing on anything except for their constant rivalry and their subsequent quest for emigration visas.
