Blame Hezbollah for Beirut Blast

By Aaron Kliegman Let’s stop with the nonsense: Hezbollah is responsible for the massive explosion that devastated Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, last week. Most people have been reluctant to blame the Islamist terrorist group, which effectively rules Lebanon, outright, instead condemning general negligence, incompetence, and mismanagement across Lebanese institutions. But the facts paint a clearer picture of what happened. We know for sure that some 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate had been stored in a warehouse at the port of Beirut and that, most likely, an accident caused the stockpile to explode. That’s only part of the story, however. Hezbollah, the chief proxy of Iran’s regime, controls much of the port and uses its facilities for smuggling and to store weapons. Last year, for example, the US Department of the Treasury sanctioned senior Hezbollah security official Wafiq Safa, who “exploited Lebanon's ports and border crossings to smuggle contraband and facilitate travel on behalf of” the group. According to the department, Hezbollah also “leveraged Safa to facilitate the passage of items, including illegal drugs and weapons, into the port of Beirut.” After Israel began attacking Iranian targets in Syria in recent years, the port replaced Damascus Airport as the destination for much of Hezbollah’s military imports, including explosives, from Iran. There’s no chance that Hezbollah was unaware of such a large stockpile of explosive material in the heart of Beirut. The terrorist group not only has political and economic control of Lebanon, but also is the most powerful military force in the country. The Lebanese military closely collaborates with Hezbollah, with the two often operating as one unit. It’s highly suspicious that, according to reports, Hezbollah operatives were the first to arrive at the scene of the explosion and that the group was first to report about the ammonium nitrate. No doubt Hezbollah knew how bad this situation would be politically, so it wanted to get ahead of the story and create the narrative — a narrative that it knew no one in the Lebanese government would dare contradict. Hezbollah is also known to store explosives, missiles, and other weapons throughout civilian areas of Lebanon, making the Lebanese people human shields. The terrorist group’s thinking is both evil and logical: Hezbollah knows it can’t defeat Israel on the battlefield, so it seeks instead to make the Jewish state look belligerent, forcing the Israeli military to kill civilians in the event of war by turning civilian areas into military targets. The goal is to isolate Israel politically and diplomatically, hoping Jerusalem yields amid international pressure. Storing ammonium nitrate at Beirut’s port fits perfectly with this strategy; Israel will be less likely to bomb the facility, knowing the damage it would cause to innocent civilians. One Israeli media outlet reported last week that Hezbollah planned to use the ammonium nitrate in its next war with Israel. The report is unconfirmed, but we know for sure that Hezbollah has a long history of using, or planning to use, the chemical compound to launch attacks around the world. Indeed, the terrorist group has been found storing ammonium nitrate in Britain, Germany, Cyprus, and elsewhere. And, according to one report, the charge used in Hezbollah’s 2012 bombing of a bus in Bulgaria contained it. So, ammonium nitrate is a regular tool of Hezbollah. The Lebanese people know the truth. That is one reason why they are in the streets lambasting their government and Hezbollah, calling for new leaders. After all, Lebanon was already heading toward collapse, suffering an unprecedented economic and political crisis, even before the explosion hit Beirut. After the blast, Lebanon’s government almost had no choice but to resign. Little will change, however, if the same elites remain in positions of power and, more importantly, if Hezbollah remains armed and entrenched in the country’s most powerful institutions. Realistically, Hezbollah isn’t going anywhere. The international community’s price for saving Lebanon with massive aid should be the removal of Hezbollah’s weapons. But that won’t happen, of course. So, Lebanon will stumble along as it has been, held hostage by Hezbollah while the truth about the explosion remains elusive. And all the while, Hezbollah will continue putting its weapons in civilian areas, unphased by this latest tragedy. Order Newt's Latest Book: https://www.gingrich360.com/trump-and-the-american-future

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