BEIRUT—Hours after a catastrophic blast ripped as a result of Beirut on Aug. 4, hundreds of volunteers fanned out across devastated neighborhoods, caring for the wounded, assessing weakened properties and clearing rubble. The individuals of Lebanon had small religion their federal government could increase to the challenge.
Lebanon’s state establishments have failed the country—before and immediately after the blast. The tragedy was the result of years of federal government neglect that allowed a stockpile of explosive chemical substances to be saved in the coronary heart of the densely populated…