Geagea urges state to 'take decisive action' if Hezbollah doesn't disarm

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea has noted that “the dawn of sovereignty has undoubtedly broken” in Lebanon, vowing that the LF and its allies “will not allow anyone to obstruct its emergence, whether through bullying the state and the free, sovereign Lebanese, or through appeasement, procrastination, stalling, and patchwork solutions.”

The state should be “sovereign over its land and its decisions,” stressed Geagea in an annual speech commemorating the “Martyrs of the Lebanese Resistance.”

“We want a state that is resolute, decisive, and governs. We reject a statelet (Hezbollah) that brings calamities upon itself, embroils itself and Lebanon in the wars of others, and defends Iran at the expense of Lebanon and the Lebanese people,” Geagea emphasized.

The LF leader also categorically rejected “the continuation of the deep state, because this deep state takes from the state for the benefit of the statelet, the mafias, and the corrupt.”

“The deep state is not merely another state above the state; it is a state that resides in the shadow of the state, using its institutions when needed and circumventing them when its interests conflict with them. Meanwhile, the statelet does not always need to abolish the state; rather, it uses the deep state to render the state slow, incapable, and shackled,” Geagea explained.

He warned that “the deep state in our country is what aborts radical changes,” noting that “the deep state is a network of interests and benefits within security, military, and judicial institutions and agencies.”

“It belongs to the era of Syrian and now Iranian tutelage, and it controls the levers of power and administration. Progress toward a truly functioning state will be impossible without dismantling and purging the deep state and rebuilding institutions and authorities on new foundations,” Geagea added.

Referring to Hezbollah’s weapons and the latest two Israeli wars on Lebanon, the LF leader said “Lebanon has its own constitution and international resolutions. We have repeatedly called for their implementation before it is too late. It has been too late once, twice, but not a third time.”

“We can curse Israel as much as you like, but this will not stop aggression, nor will it rebuild a single destroyed house in the South,” Geagea noted.

“Let those who curse the oppressors tell us: What are we actually doing now, besides empty rhetoric filled with curses, fabricated heroics and false claims? After the fall of Ali Taher, instead of handing it over to the Lebanese Army, some claimed it was empty, insignificant, and merely a stable,” the LF leader added.

“But now, what are we doing to stop the current war, and by extension, the series of wars we have been subjected to for decades? None of them have an answer other than cursing the oppressors, and then cursing the oppressors, and then cursing the oppressors again,” Geagea lamented.

Geagea continued, addressing the Lebanese people: "The option taken by the President of the Republic with the framework agreement is the only available opportunity to stop the current war, and more importantly, to stop the series of recurring wars on our southern borders.”

“But despite the importance of the framework agreement, there is a crucial point: ... the dismantling of the military and security wings operating outside the state, whether Lebanese or Palestinian, and foremost among them, the wings of Hezbollah," Geagea stressed.

He added: “All the rhetoric we hear daily from some quarters about how we shouldn't submit to U.S. and Israeli conditions regarding weapons is misleading. Collecting illegal weapons is primarily a Lebanese demand, secondarily a collective Arab demand, and thirdly a near-universal international demand -- not merely a U.S. or Israeli one.”

"Let someone tell me: how can we confront Israel or any of our existing problems, whether strategic or economic, if we are at odds with the entire Arab world and the overwhelming majority of the international community, and if we don't fulfill the demands of the majority of Lebanese and respect their will? What kind of Lebanon is there without all of these people?" Geagea wondered.

He emphasized: "We cannot afford to waste any more time. We have already wasted nearly a year and a half, and what has been the result? More wars, more deaths, more devastation, and more destruction. So what are we waiting for? According to all the analyses issued by reliable sources on the strategic landscape -- Lebanese, Arab, and international -- we face even more difficult days ahead if we don't act.”

“Either Hezbollah will clearly and boldly, without procrastination or prevarication, dissolve its military and security wings, or the Lebanese state must take decisive action,” Geagea urged.

“If Hezbollah can afford to waste time and opportunities until it reaches a new war that will wipe out the remaining citizens of the South and what remains of the Lebanese people's resources, hopes, and aspirations, then the Lebanese state cannot afford to do so,” the LF leader warned.