Clinton still supports military aid to Lebanon
By Ben Birnbaum
The Washington Times
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Wednesday that she supports continuing U.S. military aid to Lebanon even though its new prime minister is backed by the Islamist terrorist group Hezbollah.
“I believe still at this point that we should continue supporting the Lebanese armed forces,” Mrs. Clinton said during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing. “I know that’s been the subject of some debate here in the Congress.”
Mrs. Clinton said that although the Lebanese government has not yet formed, “once it is, we will review its composition, its policies and its behavior to determine the extent of Hezbollah’s politicial influence over it.”
She praised the Lebanese military as a “nonsecatrian institution” that “cooperates with the United Nations mission in the south, to try to keep the peace there.”
The United States has provided $720 million in aid to Lebanon's military since the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, whose armed forces control wide swaths of Lebanon’s Shi’ite-dominated south.
In August, Rep. Howard L. Berman, California Democrat, who then was chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, froze funding to Lebanon's military, saying he wanted a policy review of its ties to Hezbollah.
The congressional chorus calling for an end to arming the Lebanese military intensified in January, when Hezbollah toppled the pro-Western government led by Saad Hariri and saw its handpicked nominee, Najib Mikati, win the premiership.
But Mrs. Clinton said ending aid to Lebanon's military would yield dire consequences.
“We worry that if the United States does not continue supporting the Lebanese armed forces, its capabilities will rapidly deteriorate, security in the south and along the border with Israel will be at risk,” she said.
She also stressed the United States’ strong “military-to-military ties with the Lebanese armed forces,” arguing that a similar relationship with the Egyptian military had paid dividends.
The Washington Times
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Wednesday that she supports continuing U.S. military aid to Lebanon even though its new prime minister is backed by the Islamist terrorist group Hezbollah.
“I believe still at this point that we should continue supporting the Lebanese armed forces,” Mrs. Clinton said during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing. “I know that’s been the subject of some debate here in the Congress.”
Mrs. Clinton said that although the Lebanese government has not yet formed, “once it is, we will review its composition, its policies and its behavior to determine the extent of Hezbollah’s politicial influence over it.”
She praised the Lebanese military as a “nonsecatrian institution” that “cooperates with the United Nations mission in the south, to try to keep the peace there.”
The United States has provided $720 million in aid to Lebanon's military since the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, whose armed forces control wide swaths of Lebanon’s Shi’ite-dominated south.
In August, Rep. Howard L. Berman, California Democrat, who then was chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, froze funding to Lebanon's military, saying he wanted a policy review of its ties to Hezbollah.
The congressional chorus calling for an end to arming the Lebanese military intensified in January, when Hezbollah toppled the pro-Western government led by Saad Hariri and saw its handpicked nominee, Najib Mikati, win the premiership.
But Mrs. Clinton said ending aid to Lebanon's military would yield dire consequences.
“We worry that if the United States does not continue supporting the Lebanese armed forces, its capabilities will rapidly deteriorate, security in the south and along the border with Israel will be at risk,” she said.
She also stressed the United States’ strong “military-to-military ties with the Lebanese armed forces,” arguing that a similar relationship with the Egyptian military had paid dividends.
posted by philippe at 4:27 PM
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