You know that Lebanon has a long history of blaming its own problems on outsiders (and seeking salvation from outsiders). In his memoirs, first president after bogus Lebanese indpendence, Bisharah Al-Khuri (a good memoirs by a literary and corrupt president), popularized the proverbial saying that when in doubt, the Lebanese "blame the Italians." (Al-Haq `ala At-Tilyan (literally, the fault is with the Italians))