Judging from the 15 years it took before a UN-appointed tribunal basically admitted its impotence on the latter event, there won’t be any official certainty about the circumstances of the terrible explosion at Beirut’s port in the foreseeable future. Presidents, prime ministers, ministers of transport, chiefs of key security apparatuses and port administrators are all equally to blame. The expectation was that international pressure would force the implementation of these demands and provide a counterweight to the local ruling class. The logic of this position regarding Lebanon is that Macron has systematically acted to maintain Hariri-Hezbollah coalition rule in the country. Instead of a big bang, this would mean Macron is actively working to turn Beirut’s blast into a backward-propelling force – surely a recipe for increased discontent and further turmoil.

Source: The Guardian August 25, 2020 06:56 UTC