Among the press releases from the Lebanese army reporting on field operations or donations of military equipment, an unusual announcement stands out: that of an agreement made on Monday February 15 for a supply of food rations by the French Embassy in Beirut. Over 2,000 packages containing oil or rice have been received. It will take more to feed the troop, composed of about 70,000 men. But these packages “Go benefit the families of soldiers most in need, assures a Lebanese military source. We do not deny the existence of a crisis to meet many needs of the army ”.
This aid intended for soldiers and their homes, which remains symbolic (it amounts to 60,000 dollars, i.e. a little less than 50,000 euros), is part of other French support actions for the army. . Several European partners of Lebanon are worried that the economic disaster is gradually leading to a decline in the number of troops, and that a possible weakening of the army, seen as a backbone, is accelerating the chaos.
Coming from poor backgrounds, the soldiers enlisted with the guarantee of coverage of their health costs and part of the education of their children, who remain insured for the time being. Like all public service employees paid in local currency, they have seen the value of their wages melt; food prices, mostly imported, are soaring. The basic income of a soldier is only worth around 120 euros, against more than 660 euros in 2019, before the outbreak of the financial crisis and the plunge of the Lebanese pound against the dollar.
Social earthquake
If erosion affects all institutions, the army is careful not to speak publicly about its difficulties. However, a sign emerged in the summer of 2020 with the announcement of a withdrawal of meat from the rations of the brigades. “The army has repeatedly shown difficulties in dealing with the economic situation which would jeopardize its operational capacity., explains an observer familiar with security environments. The endangerment of this system would be very dangerous, especially since the army is in operational overheating. “
Since the popular uprising of October 2019, she has been mobilized for the maintenance of order during demonstrations and eruptions of anger. She was also called upon to distribute humanitarian aid following the double explosion at the port of Beirut in August 2020. She maintains a capital of confidence. But as during the recent demonstrations in Tripoli against social degradation aggravated by confinement, punctuated by violence and acts of vandalism, she is regularly criticized by supporters of the uprising who accuse her of excessive use of force and of arbitrary arrests. The risk, points out the International Crisis Group think tank, is that the security forces meet again “To embody the face of the failure of the State, while they compensate for the absence of politics and governance by controlling a population whose grievances they share”.
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