Al-Hayat Editor Compares Nasrallah to Hitler and Stalin
Al-Hayat’s political editor, Hazem Saghieh, has a new opinion piece on line today. It’s written tongue-in-cheek, and I suspect has lost something in translation. So don’t give up half-way through. Here’s an extract; bolding mine.
This is harsh talk, because Saghieh is comparing Nasrallah and Khomeini to Hitler and Stalin. I don’t know much about Saghieh, but he certainly has courage.
Those insignificant corrupt people, who lose sleep over earthly possessions should clear the way for those who lose sleep solely over history.
Those who shed tears, like Fouad Siniora, should fade away, abandoning the scene for those who do not even bleed when cut.
But Hitler, Stalin, and Khomeni were infatuated by history. For them, property and material commodities were meaningless. Corruption never came near them and they never approached it. Doubt never arose, even in the minds of those who hated them, to accusations of corruption. Their only cause was existence itself, along with immortality, obviously. And for existence and immortality, they exercised an iron-fisted, organized, cohesive and dynamic leadership. They controlled their cliques and loyalists as one does with hand watches. They invoked a sense of reverence from their followers that ordinary politicians fail to do.
As for how much their leadership was worth: not tens of
thousands or even millions of dollars, but millions of
people.
There is no doubt that Hassan Nasrallah and Hezbollah are followers of this school of thought. Both enjoy a sort of solidness, cohesiveness, and dynamism that were not known to the history of political life in Lebanon.
However, Lebanon is not in need of all these qualities except to prolong endurance during wartime, and consequently, to do away with politics. In small amounts, these qualities could serve to clean political life, provide standards by which it is to be monitored, and add a degree of seriousness to it. In excess, these qualities not only kill politics, but life and freedom in a country that thrives on diversity, contraction, commerce, tourism and the knowledge of languages.
This is harsh talk, because Saghieh is comparing Nasrallah and Khomeini to Hitler and Stalin. I don’t know much about Saghieh, but he certainly has courage.
