Propping Up Lebanon

The New York Times reported October 26 that the United States is providing military equipment and weaponry to the Lebanese Army in an effort to bolster a nation trying to stem the influence of neighboring Syria and the less direct power play being made by Iran through the militant group Hezbollah.

The Lebanese Army has long been a hollow force, with many within its ranks openly supporting Hezbollah. According to the Times, "The new wave of aid, the first major American military assistance to Lebanon since the 1980s, is meant to build an armed force that could help stabilize Lebanon's fractured state, fight a rising terrorist threat and provide a legitimate alternative to the Shiite militant group Hezbollah."

This is a tall order, to say the least. The Lebanese government is dysfunctional at best, and its control over the Lebanese Army is highly questionable. Given past loyalties to Hezbollah within the military establishment, it is quite possible that some of the arms and equipment being provided to Lebanon will end up in the hands of Hezbollah fighters.

Indeed, the Times reports that some U.S. officials, at both the Defense and State Departments, "...have expressed concern about extensive military aid to a country so recently free of Syrian control and in which Hezbollah, which has close Syrian and Iranian ties, has continued to gain political power."

The United States has long sought an independent and stable Lebanon, but recent years have been anything but what the United States had envisioned. Hezbollah controls a state within a state in southern Lebanon, and the control exercised by the Lebanese government is contingent upon cooperation from both Hezbollah and Syria.

Still, the Times cites American officials who "...say they have faith in the independence and professionalism of the army, which has become thoroughly integrated to include all of Lebanon's many religious and ethnic factions, and has avoided interfering in politics." According to the Times, "American-driven audits have shown that almost nothing given to the army has ended up in Hezbollah's hands."

Lebanon should certainly be a nation focused on by the United States. Lebanese territory has been used as a launching pad for Hezbollah attacks against Israel, and both Syria and Iran, two of the leading state sponsors of terrorism in the world, exercise significant influence in Lebanon. But I'm extremely wary of providing weapons and military equipment to an Army of questionable loyalty. There's no question the Lebanese government has to be able to defend itself, but extreme caution should be exercised in delivering arms to a government and an army that could funnel them to a known terrorist group.