What's Behind Resignation of Lebanese PM?

by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org - Home - Stephen Lendman)

Things aren't always as they seem. Unrevealed motives usually lie behind them.

Future Movement leader Saad Hariri, current Lebanese PM, is the son of former PM Rafic Hariri, assassinated by Israel in February 2005, his killing falsely blamed on Hezbollah.

On November 4, Hariri resigned, claiming an Iranian-backed Hezbollah plot to assassinate him, a phony accusation. 

He provided no evidence supporting it. None suggests Iran or Hezbollah conduct assassinations anywhere. 

Operating as global mafia hit squads, the CIA and Israel's Mossad are notorious for this type lawlessness, taking out enemies of the state the old-fashioned way - by bullets, bombs, slit throats and other ruthless tactics.

Hariri's televised resignation sounded like a script written in Washington, Tel Aviv or Riyadh. 

He lied accusing Iran and Hezbollah of sowing strife in the Middle East, seeking "to destroy the Arab world," warning Tehran that its (nonexistent) "evil" will backfire, "cut(ting) off the hands that wickedly extend to it."

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi blasted Hariri, calling his spurious accusation "unfounded and baseless," saying his resignation is a US/Zionist plot to heighten regional tensions.

"The sudden resignation of Mr. Hariri and its announcement in another country (Saudi Arabia) are not only regrettable and astonishing, but also indicative of him playing in a court that the ill-wishers in the region have laid out," he stressed, adding:

"The Islamic Republic of Iran always seeks the safeguarding of peace and stability in regional states and has defined its interests in the security, stability and economic prosperity of all regional and neighboring countries."

The timing of Hariri's announcement came days after Lebanese President Michel Aoun called Iran's regional role significant, part of the solution to ongoing conflicts and chaos.

"Iran is present and has its influence in the Middle East, and it must be taken into account," he stressed, adding Tehran has "no ambitions in Lebanon" other than mutually cooperative relations.

Hariri's resignation also came after he met with Saudi crown prince Muhammad Bin Salman in Riyadh and the CIA released phony documents, claiming an Iranian/al-Qaeda link, mortal enemies of each other, not allies of convenience ever.

They're ideological opposites, Iran helping Damascus and Moscow eliminate the presence of its fighters in Syria.

In the run-up to US 2003 aggression on Iraq, Saddam Hussein was accused secret ties to al-Qaeda, nonsensically claiming they might conspire to attack America, one of the pretexts for waging war to replace him with pro-Western puppet governance, the disturbing state of the country today.

Washington is militantly hostile to Iran, especially under Trump and neocon generals in charge of foreign policy and warmaking.

Longstanding US plans call for transforming the Islamic Republic into a US-controlled vassal state, Big Oil able to loot its vast hydrocarbon reserves, Israel's arch regional rival eliminated.

The combination of Trump's decertification of the JCPOA nuclear deal, perhaps ahead of pulling out and imposing unacceptably harsh sanctions on Iran, the phony CIA documents linking its government to al-Qaeda, America's losing imperial war on Syria, and Hariri's resignation accusing Tehran and Hezbollah of wanting to assassinate him is worrisome.

Is it prelude to war on Iran, a lunatic scheme if launched, certain to inflame much of the region? Israel would likely be involved it if happens.

Its cities and nuclear facilities could be struck in response. So might US regional forces. Russia could get involved the way it did in Syria, wanting its regional interests protected, not wanting its allies replaced by regimes hostile to its security.

Hariri's inflammatory resignation perhaps also intended to incite civil strife, turning Lebanon into another regional battleground.

Political leaders usually resign for undisclosed reasons, often political ones, in Hariri's case likely evil intentions.

A US/Israeli/Saudi conspiracy against Iran and Hezbollah seems likely, perhaps intending to embroil the region in greater conflict than already - a potential nightmarish scenario if plays out this way.

A Final Comment

Hariri's resignation and inflammatory remarks may be connected to the arrests of 11 Saudi princes and 30 ministers on corruption charges - by a notoriously corrupt and ruthless regime, state terror its official policy, in regional countries like Syria and internally against its own people.

Events as they play out ahead will provide greater clarity into what's going on.

VISIT MY NEW WEB SITE: stephenlendman.org (Home - Stephen Lendman). Contact at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

My newest book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html