August 19th, 2010 by Farid

Writing in The National, Michael Young says that while the Lebanese government “reacted with bravado” after several members of the U.S. House of Representatives decided to cut off military assistance to the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), Hezbollah is continuously gaining influence in the country. Nevertheless, Young writes that the State Department has “declared that the US would not re-evaluate plans to supply the Lebanese army.” The administration is taking a risk by failing to acknowledge the wishes of Representative Howard Berman and the Foreign Affairs Committee, Young explains, since future allocations must be approved by the committee before being executed. The extant fear in the U.S. is that if the U.S. cuts military assistance to the LAF, Lebanon might seek assistance from elsewhere — primarily Iran and Syria. However, Young dismisses this concern as a misconception, stating, “The army is equipped mainly with American hardware and is therefore reliant on American ammunition and spare parts.” While some analysts argue that isolating Lebanon would only benefit Hezbollah, Young says that Prime Minister Saad Hariri “is partly responsible for this state of affairs,” adding that he has “paid lip service to the resistance” because of his “patrons in Saudi Arabia” and a lack of “clear American policy toward Lebanon.”

Posted in Hezbollah, Lebanon, Military, US foreign policy |