The dollar continues its insane rise, along with a growing fear of a situation that could spiral out of control at any moment, leading to dire consequences. The shooting and chaos witnessed in Tripoli resemble a "rehearsal" for what we could experience. So, does the first spark ignite from deprived areas?
Retired Brigadier General George Nader announced, via MTV, "We are in the process of preparing steps that will 'hurt' in the coming days, and we are consulting with everyone because the situation can no longer bear it. We see the outrageous inflation and the insane rise of the dollar, which is what we originally expected and warned against."
Nader, however, considered that "the big problem we face is which authority we will turn to, in the absence of a President, a paralyzed executive authority, and a paralyzed parliament. Therefore, which authority should we demand and speak with? Thus, bold and unprecedented steps must be taken, and we are working on studying the extent of public response to these steps and their effectiveness if we implement them."
Regarding the scene in Tripoli yesterday, Nader stated: "Those who take to the streets are reacting naturally as a response to starving people who unleash their anger; one cannot blame them, even if this move is misplaced. Raising arms and shooting at a trader or closing a shop does not achieve the intended goal, for that trader is not the cause of the dollar's inflation. We will not blame them, but we should not encourage them to riot. Such actions are very dangerous, and we do not want to reach a stage where we cannot control the situation, leading to everyone paying the price."
Concerning their action plan, Nader confirmed that "any step we take will be carefully planned from all sides without rioting and without burdening the people. Yesterday, we saw the danger after what happened in Tripoli with gunfire and a soldier getting injured; we do not want to reach that stage, as the army is not the face of authority, and the citizen is not an adversary, nor is a shopkeeper. Therefore, anger must be channeled in the right place, and we must mitigate the intensity of violent acts."
Is there a real fear of security breakdown or chaos? Nader answers: "Of course, I fear chaos. Since last year, I said we would reach a major problem we would not be able to control," adding, "I am very afraid of the coming phase, which is why we are communicating with our youth in Tripoli and in various regions to calm down; we understand their pain as we are part of the people. However, there are parties in authority and agents for external parties who have an interest in escalating the situation; yet, violent and armed explosions destroy everything that remains of the nation and unfortunately the state's dignity has ended."
Nader emphasized that "the fear is of the hungry mingling with the unruly; the hungry seek to vent their anger, while the unruly want to exploit that anger for theft and looting and to execute plans. Hence, it is important to distinguish between the two, which is why we are contacting the area's residents to protect the hungry while leaving the unruly for the security forces to handle."
