France raised one billion euros “for the people of Lebanon,” with a declared goal “to provide humanitarian aid.” French President Emmanuel Macron even made a short speech on the topic of “long-standing ties that unite France and Lebanon” and the “massive aid from the international community” that the people of Lebanon need. The ugly truth that Macron knows pretty well but chooses not to mention is that Hezbollah, an Iranian proxy terrorist organization, consists of the people of Lebanon, and, due to the power balance in the country, Hezbollah would be the one getting a lion’s share, if not the entirety, of that international aid.
Hezbollah is in dire need of funds as Israeli forces have targeted several branches of the Islamic finance institution Al-Qard al-Hassan in Lebanon, which is responsible for funding Hezbollah’s activities in the region. They have lost both money and weapons, so a financial injection would be greatly appreciated.
Posing as a protector of Lebanon, Macron calls for a halt to the war in a peculiar manner. His reiterated support for United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701 seems to stem from a complete lack of knowledge of the resolution’s content.
1701 is a resolution that was intended to resolve the 2006 Lebanon War. It calls for a full cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, the withdrawal of Hezbollah and other forces from Lebanon south of the Litani River, the disarmament of Hezbollah and other armed groups, and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon, with no armed forces other than UNIFIL and Lebanese military (LAF) south of the Litani River, which flows about 29 km north of the border.
Since its establishment in 1978, UNIFIL has failed to fulfil its intended purpose. After the 2006 war and approval of the 1701, everything became even worse—UNIFIL soldiers were on the payroll of Hezbollah and its Iranian masters.
The Lebanese army also turned into Hezbollah’s procurement branch. According to Israeli and US sources, the weapons that are provided to the Lebanese army from the Western countries have a tendency to end up in the Hezbollah stockpiles and being used against Israel.
Recently, Macron called for an embargo on weapons deliveries to Israel. But he is not planning to stop providing weapons for the Lebanese army. Why? Maybe because he needs a conflict in Lebanon to perpetuate itself. This is the only way France can exert its influence on Lebanon, thus returning to French colonial traditions.
According to Fabrice Balanche, Middle East specialist at the University of Lyon, “Lebanon is a failed state with a huge national debt and a corrupt elite that has not had a president since October 2022.” He also added that the EU policy towards Lebanon since 2015 is decided not by France, but by Germany, which significantly limits France’s political influence: “France wants to fill the diplomatic gap created by the upcoming U.S. presidential election.”
Daniel Mouton from the Atlantic Council think tank in Washington notes that unlike the current President of the United States, Joe Biden, French President Macron will remain in power for some years and can use the pre-elections time “to help steer the conversation.”
Such French policy converges with the Iranian stance in the region. Iran needs Lebanon to be a failed state, so Hezbollah will be free to conduct its warfare with Israel. That is why Macron discusses the situation in Lebanon with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, saying that he hopes “the relations between France and Iran will improve.”
But it is not just Lebanon; the same convergence of interests takes place in the Caucasus, where France and Iran jointly arm Armenia against Azerbaijan. Their common cause is to disrupt the peace agreement between Yerevan and Baku. Reconciliation between those two countries will stop the age old conflict, thus letting Armenia escape Iranian, French and Russian influence. Armenia will be able to become an active part of the Middle Corridor, bypassing Iran and Russia. Armenia will also be able to become a link in additional energy corridors from Turkic states of the former USSR, to become less reliant on Iranian gas and Russian oil.
This will benefit the EU, which needs energy resources from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan – to substitute the Russian ones. However, it appears that France is indifferent to this, as it requires the ongoing Caucasian conflict to satisfy its neo-colonial impulses.
Isn’t it time for French colonialism to die?
