In a markedly revealing September 22nd interview with The National, U.S. special envoy to Syria Tom Barrack made a number of stunning admissions about the state of play in Lebanon.
Despite Western governments demanding for months that Beirut disarm Hezbollah, he acknowledged the resistance group had “zero” incentive to voluntarily do so, as “Israel is attacking everybody” across West Asia. As such, Hezbollah’s “argument gets better and better,” and its public support grows. Barrack went on to propose arming the Lebanese Armed Forces [LAF] for the purpose:
“[The LAF] is a good organization and it’s well-meaning, but it’s not well-equipped…Who are they going to fight? We don’t want to arm them so they can fight Israel…So you’re arming them so they can fight their own people, Hezbollah…our enemy…We need to cut the heads off of those snakes and chop the flow of funds. That’s the only way you’re going to stop Hezbollah.”
Barrack’s comments are a uniquely candid admission of Washington’s overarching strategy in West Asia: to construct intelligence, military and security apparatuses in pliable puppet states for the purpose of internal oppression, posing no threat whatsoever to the Zionist entity, while Tel Aviv attacks “everybody” in the region with total impunity.
Yet, efforts to bring Lebanon to heel, and neutralize Hezbollah’s influence in the country, have been ongoing for many years—with London secretly leading the charge.
Leaked documents reviewed by CovertAction Magazine expose how Torchlight, a well-remunerated British state contractor staffed by military and intelligence veterans, has insidiously penetrated Lebanon’s assorted spying agencies at their highest levels.
These efforts are conducted in express support of the British Embassy in Beirut’s “political access and influence objectives.” Under their auspices, British operatives and technology are implanted at the heart of the country’s security agencies, in the process training an unblinking eye on their operations and Lebanese citizens.
One leaked file notes Torchlight staff deployed for these clandestine projects are “highly experienced former UK police investigators, intelligence officers and forensic experts,” providing specialist instruction at one of Britain’s leading spy schools, the Joint Intelligence Training Group.
Furthermore, 90% of the company’s employees have high-level Whitehall security clearances, granting them “frequent and uncontrolled access” to top secret information. Torchlight itself boasts rare ‘List X’ accreditation, meaning the Ministry of Defence has entrusted the firm with storing highly sensitive, classified material on its premises.
Under the auspices of ‘Investigations Advisor and Mentor,’ an endeavor ostensibly aimed at improving the investigative processes of the LAF’s Intelligence Directorate, Torchlight ostensibly teaches the unit to move away from the use of “uncorroborated confession evidence” obtained via torture to “recognition and exploitation” of CCTV footage, phone records, biometrics, forensics and covert on-line and off-line surveillance.
The leaks make clear this drive is not motivated by sincere human rights concerns, but by a desire to “drive down risks” of public association with the Directorate.
“Beneficiary Concerns”
In reality, London seeks to build a “sustained relationship with an important UK [counter-terror] partner” in Beirut and, thus, “enable, support and assure any joint UK-Lebanese operational cooperation and collaboration.”
Intelligence gathered in Lebanon not merely by the LAF’s spying nexus, but Beirut’s other intelligence and security agencies, is fed directly back to SO15, London’s Metropolitan Police counter-terror unit, National Crime Agency and “other members of the UK intelligence community.”
Torchlight’s cloak-and-dagger embedment with Lebanon’s intelligence agencies avowedly grants the firm “enhanced understanding” of “the operational realities of present working practice” in, and “institutional rivalries” between, Beirut’s military, Internal Security Forces, General Security Directorate, and General Directorate of State Security.
Torchlight’s lead “mentor” for the program, William Semple, a veteran SO15 investigating officer, was “well-networked” across all these services, and “highly familiar” with their operating environments. This fly-on-the-wall insight allowed Torchlight to cultivate “strong relationships” with the agencies’ “strategic and tactical operational heads.”
The company is likewise “well-networked” with Lebanon’s military courts, having met with Fadi Sawan, Beirut’s chief military investigating judge, on “multiple” occasions. Coincidentally, Sawan was initially charged with investigating the ever-mysterious August 2020 Beirut blast, but promptly removed from his position due to political pressure.
Moreover, Torchlight’s in-country team includes a number of “highly networked” former Lebanese intelligence operatives, advising the firm on “constructive” engagement with their former employers, “[facilitating] introductions and meetings” and ensuring the project avoids “pitfalls and obstacles” to “buy-in” from senior leadership.
“Passive resistance” from high-ranking staff was forecast to be a potential pitfall in another secret program, through which Torchlight equips Beirut’s Military Intelligence Directorate with technology to process and manage digital evidence.
A leaked file notes 90% of Lebanese citizens use the internet, while 75% have smartphones, which “presents major opportunities for intelligence and law enforcement to use digital forensics techniques to drive and support investigations, providing high quality evidence”—and British spooks to closely monitor the local population in the process.
The leaked files outline how Torchlight overcame even sterner resistance from “negative blockers” within the LAF’s Intelligence Directorate, upon launch of the firm’s “mentoring” initiative. The agency’s top brass harbored entirely legitimate “suspicions” about the true purpose of the project.
However, having conducted analysis to “understand the root causes of beneficiary concerns” and allayed them, the effort not only went ahead, but Torchlight was allocated a dedicated office within the Directorate’s headquarters.
Nonetheless, “complex political and institutional landscapes” were predicted to “likely present engagement challenges” throughout the program, in particular “sensitivities with regards to access to data.”
Given the “possibility of reluctance” to allow British intelligence full access, “rapidly developing relationships of trust” was key.
The “privilege” of Torchlight’s office within LAF headquarters was to be leveraged for the purpose. Perhaps more illuminatingly than intended, one file concludes by stating that, for Torchlight, “the most important consultancy skill is listening.”
“Elite Incentives”
While local stakeholders were “unlikely to say ‘no’ to project proposals” as a result of Torchlight’s penetration, the company suggested its work could still “meet with passive resistance.” It is clear certain elements and individuals within Beirut’s power structure were extremely wary of London’s activities.
A document outlining engagement strategies for Lebanese government personnel notes the country’s military court commissioner was “unsupportive” of London’s involvement. However, due to having recently been “mired in controversy,” his tenure in the post was reportedly “coming to an end.”
The nature of the controversy is not stated, and the commissioner is not named in the file. The post was at that time held by Judge Peter Germanos, who briefly garnered Western media attention in March 2019 after he ruled homosexuality was not a crime in Lebanon and, thus, refused to prosecute military officers charged with “homosexual activity.”
Just as Torchlight predicted, he duly resigned in February 2020. It is a matter of speculation whether Germanos’s downfall was British-engineered.
Leaked files related to a “rule of law initiative” in the former Yugoslavia covertly run by the British National Security Council’s Stabilisation Unit make amply clear London does not tolerate high-level opposition to its overseas skullduggery, and readily employs active measures to comprehensively crush any and all resistance:
“In contexts where elite incentives are not aligned with [Britain’s] objectives/values…an approach that seeks to hold elite politicians to account might be needed…We can build relationships and alliances with those who share our objectives and values for reform. It is critical that the media have the capacity and freedom to hold political actors to account.”
We must ask ourselves whether Britain’s wide-ranging infiltration of Lebanon’s corridors of power has been pivotal in encouraging Beirut’s leaders to support Hezbollah’s disarmament.
President Joseph Aoun, who was inaugurated in January 2025, quickly made clear that neutralizing Hezbollah was one of his primary objectives. When Iran vehemently objected in August, Aoun robustly responded: “We reject any interference in our internal affairs.” His riposte was sickly ironic, given Beirut’s Internal Security Forces, which Aoun led for many years, is also heavily penetrated by the British.
On October 2nd, it was announced that the Trump administration had dispatched $230 million to Lebanon to disarm Hezbollah, just prior to the end of Washington’s fiscal year. The effectively British-run ISF and LAF will use the funds to forcibly take over the resistance group’s responsibilities. The pair may have quite a fight on their hands—but London, Tel Aviv and Washington no doubt stand poised to assist. West Asia could be on the brink of yet another war.
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About the Author
Kit Klarenberg is an investigative journalist exploring the role of intelligence services in shaping politics and perceptions.
Follow him on Twitter @KitKlarenberg.
