Berri hails Army’s achievements as ‘ray of light’ in dark days

BEIRUT: Speaker Nabih Berri hailed Tuesday as an “important accomplishment” the Lebanese Army’s regaining of two strategic hilltops in northeast Lebanon. “Offensives make up the best defense strategies,” Berri argued.

“This Army is among the best [armies] of the region,” Berri told his visitors, adding that the Army sometimes lacked “the personnel, the weapons, the equipment and sometimes the political will.”

The speaker said that in light of the darkness witnessed on the Lebanese scene, the “Army is perhaps the only ray of light.”

Berri said he wished the political class had listened to his advice two years ago to recruit 5,000 additional soldiers. “They would have been fully operative and ready to fight by now,” he said.

Berri said investing in the security sector was crucial to establishing security and political stability.

Last week, an Army operation drove jihadi militants off two strategic hilltop positions along the northeastern frontier with Syria, in a pre-emptive operation aimed at protecting residents of border villages from extremist groups.

Since then, the Army has been repelling attempts by Syria-based militants to infiltrate Lebanese territories in search of safe havens on a near daily basis.

Commenting on ISIS’ smashing of antiquities at a museum in Mosul, Berri said that “anyone who finds it easy to kill human beings will find it easy to destroy statues.”

Berri maintained that the only solution to put an end to the atrocities the region was witnessing was to revert back to the principles of Arab nationalism. “Arab nationalism is the solution,” Berri said. “Only Arab nationalism can put an end to labels such as Sunni, Shiite, Christian, Druze and others.”

Berri also saluted the Kurdish forces’ combat against ISIS, saying it was the Kurds clinging to their nationalism and identity that led to their triumph in Kobani (Ain al-Arab). He added that by adhering to their national identity, the Kurds transcended religious differences.

“Frankly speaking if I am left to choose between Arab nationalism in its current state and Kurd nationalism, I would definitely opt for the later,” Berri said.