海角大神

For Lebanese, government dysfunction has a new, tragic cost

Faysal Itani hasn鈥檛 forgotten the sweltering summer he worked at the Beirut port as a teenager in the late 1990s, because after 15 years of civil war, it was a rare period of hope, optimism, and rebuilding for Lebanon.

Forced to take the menial job by his father as a 鈥渃haracter-building exercise,鈥� Mr. Itani inputted shipping data into obsolete computers at an aged administrative complex. Fellow workers teased him for his enthusiasm, 鈥渂ut spirits were high enough, and things did get done.鈥�

By then, the rejuvenated face of Beirut had already changed dramatically since the end of the war in 1990, when Mr. Itani used to play a game with his father about who could be the first to spot a building not scarred by fighting.

Yet Lebanon鈥檚 tragedy was far from over, a reality reflected in the downward trajectory from those days of optimism, directly through decades of government dysfunction and corruption, to the mammoth explosion at the port Tuesday.

The blast, one of the most powerful non-nuclear explosions in history, was attributed to 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate. The substance聽鈥� just two聽tons of it were used in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing 鈥� was stored with few safeguards after being offloaded in 2014 from a ship that ran into legal trouble and was abandoned by its Russian owner. Multiple warnings from lawyers, customs officials, and state security organs to remove the material were ignored.

The blast has claimed 157 lives so far, injured 5,000, left up to 300,000 homeless, wrought an estimated $3 billion in damages, and decimated a sizable portion of the city 鈥撀燼long with any residual credibility of Lebanon鈥檚 widely despised ruling elite.

Still, the event was so dramatic, analysts say, it could become a catalyst for reform, not only by reinvigorating the anti-establishment protests that swept the country last fall and winter, but also, perhaps, by ensuring that the flow of donor aid now beginning to pour into the country is channeled through 鈥渃lean鈥� hands and not given directly to the government.

Indeed for many Lebanese 鈥� already reeling from a pandemic and collapsing economy 鈥撀爐he culprit of the explosion is an ingrained political culture of incompetence and corruption stemming from calcified and unaccountable sectarian fiefdoms that fail to provide services, have enriched and empowered a few, and brought misery and poverty to most. It was a system codified, ironically, by the very power-sharing agreement that helped end the civil war.

鈥淭hese serial economic crises don鈥檛 quite capture the frustration and humiliation of daily life in Lebanon 鈥� the lying and cheating involved in navigating it, the sectarian pettiness, the corruption, the power cuts, the disappearing savings, the currency collapse,鈥� says Mr. Itani, who today is a deputy director at the Center for Global Policy and adjunct professor of Middle East politics at Georgetown University in Washington.

鈥淣o sane or decent person would accept to live that way,鈥� says Mr. Itani. Even by the early 2000s it was 鈥渃lear this experiment was falling apart.鈥�

Anger has only grown as Lebanese sweep up the glass from the destruction of one third of their capital. Trending on social media are the words, in Arabic, 鈥淗ang up the nooses,鈥� in reference to toppling the sectarian ruling class 鈥� the top demand of protesters who took to the streets nationwide last October.

A Lebanese surgeon, Bassam Osman, summed up his emotions on Twitter after ending 52 hours of nonstop work treating patients.

鈥淭he greatest feeling is not sadness, not anger, not despair, it is abandonment,鈥� wrote Dr. Osman, a surgeon at the American University of Beirut Medical Center.

鈥淲e already lost all hope in ... a criminal personnel that is governing us against our will,鈥� he wrote. 鈥淧eople don鈥檛 want to hear that they are strong or they will rise. They are not. They are broken, they are helpless, they are abandoned. 鈥� They need something to lean on, at least for a breath.鈥�

Lebanese officials announced that several past and present port officials had been put under house arrest. Prime Minister Hassan Diab vowed that the explosion 鈥渨ill not fly by without accountability,鈥� and that those responsible 鈥渨ill pay the price.鈥�

And yet,聽when President Emmanuel Macron of France, Lebanon鈥檚 former colonial power, arrived Thursday, he upstaged every member of Lebanon鈥檚 political elite by visiting devastated parts of Beirut before any of them had.

Mr. Macron was mobbed by crowds in the street calling for the 鈥渇all of the regime鈥� and for revolution. He replied by saying he would 鈥渢alk to all political forces to ask them for a new pact.鈥�

鈥淲hat is also needed is political change. This explosion should be the start of a new era,鈥� he said, adding that Lebanon would 鈥渃ontinue to sink鈥� without reforms.

Rami Khouri, a professor of journalism and the director of global engagement at the American University of Beirut, says Lebanon鈥檚 immediate focus is the humanitarian emergency, but a political reckoning is inevitable.

鈥淭here is going to be intense political focus on finally forcing the government to actually act responsibly, or get out of the way, and hold the real people accountable for this particular crime,鈥� says Professor Khouri, contacted in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

If there are trials and the guilty are imprisoned, he says, it could 鈥渙pen the door鈥� to ending impunity and going after those who are responsible for but failed聽to keep electricity running, water clean, and garbage collected.

The presence of such a large stockpile of hazardous chemicals in Beirut for so many years, for example, 鈥渋s typical of many levels of incompetence in many different arenas 鈥� we just don鈥檛 know about them,鈥� Professor Khouri says.

鈥淲hat鈥檚 going on with people distributing obsolete food, or medicine that鈥檚 no good? Or giving licenses away to people surreptitiously? There are so many things being done by government officials to make money, and we just don鈥檛 know about them,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t just happened that this, literally and figuratively, exploded into the open.鈥�

But perhaps even more corrosive to Lebanon鈥檚 social fabric over the decades has been the steady assault on good governance wrought by the system of dividing political posts and spoils 鈥� and thereby economic goodies 鈥撀燼ccording to sect.

鈥淧eople are hired for political or sectarian affiliation rather than competence, are demoralized, and are compromised by corruption,鈥� says Mr. Itani, who is not surprised that those in charge 鈥渄id not care enough鈥� to solve the problem at the port.

鈥淚t鈥檚 difficult to convey how this looks up close without a long series of anecdotes, but the notion of public good and civic duty in Lebanon is absent,鈥� he says.

One place to start could be handling the influx of aid by an oversight body composed of a few respected individuals, charitable societies, donors, and others with 鈥渃lean鈥� hands, says Mr. Khouri of AUB.

鈥淭heir job is to disperse the money and monitor how it is spent, quickly and properly where it is needed 鈥撀爊ot to go buy cars for somebody鈥檚 cousin,鈥� says Mr. Khouri.

Mr. Macron also heard worry from the streets that foreign aid will be stolen. 鈥淚 guarantee you this: Aid will not go to corrupt hands,鈥� he said.

Yet Mr. Khouri hopes his consortium idea could have a broader impact.

鈥淭he most important thing is this would be a model for beginning the process of reforms, that the government no longer has full sovereignty,鈥� he says.

鈥淭hat sends the message: 鈥榊our people don鈥檛 trust you, and we [donors] don鈥檛 trust you. And that鈥檚 because you鈥檝e shown for the last 30 years you鈥檙e not trustworthy. You鈥檝e failed your people.鈥欌��