Bassil, who "accuses" his ally Hezbollah or his opponents of behaving in a presidentially chaotic manner, pushes his positions towards a more dangerous path of chaos. Any targeting that affects the army and leads to its instability means the instability of the country. However, neither Bassil's direct campaign nor Hezbollah's "matrakage" has affected the work of the army leadership, the morale of the military, or the confidence of the parties that provide aid to the army in its commander. There is no "danger" to the financial and material aid provided to the military institution.
Informed sources indicate that two fundamental factors influence the support of Western and Arab countries, led by the United States, for the army: the first and most important is the decision to prevent Lebanon from entering into comprehensive and complete chaos, which cannot be controlled, as happened in the 1980s during the civil war. The army is the only public institution capable of maintaining security and stability and controlling chaos that may occur in the street, according to these countries, which have strengthened their approach to the situation in Lebanon after Russia's war on Ukraine, and which is summarized as "no collapse, no prosperity."
The second reason is external confidence in General Joseph Aoun personally, with a guarantee of his integrity, transparency, and good management of the military and financial institution and his proper use of aid, which enabled the military to persevere and the institution to continue and perform its tasks to the best of its ability, even in the most difficult challenges faced by the country, at least since the end of 2019.
Starting from that, visitors to Yarzeh, including diplomats and foreign delegations, confirm to the army commander the continuation of supporting the military institution and providing it with assistance. A visit by a delegation of assistants to American congressional members from both the Democratic and Republican parties to General Joseph Aoun, last Friday, in the presence of the US ambassador to Lebanon, to "explore ways to continue supporting the military institution," is evidence of this continued assistance.
The delegation's message was clear, praising "the professionalism of the army and its good use of aid," confirming "the continued provision of aid." It should be noted that a delegation from Congress visits the army commander annually to prepare assistance programs for the institution for the next year.
Likewise, French Senator Eileen Maury visited the army commander yesterday in the presence of the French ambassador to Beirut and confirmed her country's continued support for the army. Meanwhile, Qataris continue to provide monthly assistance to support the salaries of the military, while the American project to support salaries is on track for implementation.
As for the army commander, he deals with any targeting that affects him in the context of the presidential bazaar, such as his dealing with his name being nominated among the top candidates for this position, and that is with "silence." He knows how to convey the necessary message if necessary. The army commander's message to the "leaders" of the campaign against him was one and clear, on an appropriate occasion.
In his speech during the "medical conference" organized by the medical command on February 16 of last year, he said, "The military institution is the only one that now provides medical services to its members, all thanks to the aid that continues to reach us, and their trust (residents, expatriates, and friendly countries) in us... and they know that their money reaches its rightful beneficiaries, away from incitement, rumors, and accusations that we will not stop at, and that will not affect the morale of the institution or its members."
Apart from this message, the military institution and its leadership will continue to work "silently," focusing on general security and social security, especially preventing any disruptions.