Leadership Quote by Walid Jumblatt

A politician’s most powerful weapon is often a sentence that launders blame. Walid Jumblatt’s claim that “Syrian soldiers and workers dressed in civilian clothes” carried out violence and arson in Lebanon isn’t just an accusation; it’s a framing device engineered for a country where “who did it” is inseparable from “who gets to rule next.”

The specificity does the work. “Syrian” names an external culprit with long, toxic resonance in Lebanese politics, given Syria’s decades-long military and intelligence presence and its reputation for operating through proxies. “Dressed in civilian clothes” is the key twist: it implies clandestine state action while anticipating the inevitable rebuttal that footage shows civilians, not uniforms. In one stroke, it turns ambiguity into evidence. What looks like domestic unrest becomes covert occupation; what sounds like chaos becomes choreography.

Jumblatt’s intent is also protective. By shifting culpability away from Lebanese factions, he reduces pressure for internal reprisals that could spiral into sectarian score-settling. At the same time, he raises the political cost of tolerating Syrian influence: if the state can melt into the crowd, then every “spontaneous” riot becomes suspect, and every rival can be cast as an instrument of Damascus.

There’s a second audience, too: foreign governments and journalists looking for a clean narrative. The line offers one, with a built-in moral hierarchy: civilians are victims, “civilians” may be agents, and Lebanon is the stage on which a stronger neighbor performs denial. That’s the subtext: sovereignty isn’t only invaded by tanks; it’s eroded by plausible deniability.