Beirut: When Second-Lieutenant Hadar Goldin was presumed captured in Gaza on August 1, Israel promptly announced the news, circulated the soldier’s photograph, and asked the US Secretary of State John Kerry to intervene with both Turkey and Qatar to secure his release.
More than a week after Jabhat Al Nusra terrorists captured at least 35 — perhaps as many as 38 — Lebanese soldiers in Arsal, Beirut has yet to issue a complete list of their names.
Sadly, while 19 soldiers and 16 civilians were also killed in Arsal, the only photographs of those who perished were those associated with funeral services held in mosques or churches. Regrettably, no details were available on civilian casualties, and even less was known about the fate that befell Syrian refugees in and around the town — where an estimated 170,000 individuals lived in a predominantly Sunni community that housed about 35,000 before 2011.
In the aftermath of the latest clashes that pitted the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) against extremist elements, and while the overwhelming majority of the citizen-population stood by the institution, many wondered whether the LAF was the latest football thrown around the country’s notoriously perverse political arena.
Deputy Ahmad Fatfat, a leading March 14 tenor, raised a fundamental question in an interview with the French daily L’Orient-Le Jour, in which he asked why the LAF was not prepared to deal with extremists in Arsal, especially since the military faced a similar fate at Nahr Al Bared. In May 2007, Internal Security Forces looking for Fatah Al Islam militants accused of a bank robbery unleashed a terrorist attack on an army checkpoint, which resulted in the murder of 20 LAF soldiers in their sleep.
The ensuing battle, which lasted 105 days, killed 446 people, including 168 soldiers and 226 militants. Deputy Fatfat’s questions were on the mark, given that the LAF frequently clashed with extremists, even if no lessons seem to have been learned from past tragedies.
Equally important were the many questions raised by the arrest of an Al Nusra Front member, Emad Juma‘a, who apparently was allowed by the LAF to enter Arsal but was arrested a day later when he attempted to leave, presumably on his way back to the nearby Qalamun area in Syria. Why Juma‘a was arrested — since he had no known criminal record in Lebanon — and why he was immediately turned over to Hezbollah were still questions without answers.
Anti-Hezbollah politicians accused the party of expert manipulation that, according to such commentaries, trapped the LAF into doing their dirty deeds. It was unclear whether such was the case but what was troubling was the near silence from Yarze [Army Headquarters] on the matter.
Lebanese citizens from all religious denominations backed the army and perceived it as the sole remaining state institution that lived up to its reputation.
LAF sacrifices after 2005, when the Syrian military occupation ended, earned full support although many wondered whether it could now fulfil its responsibilities if it became increasingly politicised.
Others speculated why its brave fallen or kidnapped members remained anonymous. A few even contemplated the possibility of John Kerry calling on Russia and China to help with the release of those captured, asking the latter two to intercede with Syria and Iran.