It is not in defense of the Minister of Finance^[1] nor of Fouad Siniora that I pose the following question: where was the opposition at the beginning of the 1990s when Lebanon’s successive governments embarked on the current economic path that enjoyed the vote of confidence of most elected parliamentarians of that era? Why this sudden awakening to audit public spending in spite of the overwhelming support to bring back Fouad Siniora as Prime Minister following the Doha meetings?

It is said that there exist two types of numbers, those that we study and those we invent. It seems that the so called opposition does not study while the so called pro-government coalition is busy inventing.   

Furthermore, where were the leaders of March 14 when the country was being plundered during the civil war and again after the Ta’ef Accord? They want justice now? What about justice for those who disappeared at militia manned checkpoints during the civil war; what about those who perished in Nahr El Bared, what about the Lebanese soldiers that were killed in unexplained circumstances?

Here, it is appropriate to mention the saying: when seeking to achieve Justice, the innocent is often trampled. The fact is that the so called opposition does not truly want to stop the wasting of public funds and the so called pro-government coalition is not seeking justice.

They say, we have ‘politically’ accused Syria of Hariri’s assassination, we have ‘politically’ accused the so called pro-government bloc of treason, and we also ‘politically’ kept quiet about the wasting of public funds. However, today the truth is being sought through the International Tribunal, the indictment of the false witnesses and the auditing of public accounts. But the fact of the matter is that none of these will lead to the truth.

Nonetheless, the Lebanese people will be thrilled to have bookkeepers keeping score, amongst both the so called opposition and the so called pro-government coalition. Both have mastered the art of calculating the length of the path to justice and to curbing corruption. 

The situation in the country might explode politically and violently, if our Zua’ama are so instructed. Likewise, the situation may suddenly become quiet if they are instructed otherwise. 

In his article ‘The Myth of Irrational Numbers’, like 1/3 = 0.333…, 1/6 = 0.666…,  1/7 = 0.1428571, James Asher says:

“[…] irrationals are manufactured creating the myth that the irrationals are actually numbers. They are not. They are artifacts of a flaw in long division. They are a “red herring” to use a metaphor from Sherlock Homes. They led us on a merry chase through volumes of math books. The irrationals are not in the set of real numbers”.

Such is the story of truth, justice and numbers in Lebanon.

Jawad Adra