LEBANON: To fight Hezbollah, back the army, reports says
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A new report by a Washington-based think tank recommends that the United States bolster Lebanon’s army to serve as a deterrent force against the country’s sometimes aggressive neighbors, Israel and Syria, as well as undermine ‘non-state actors’ in the country, namely Hezbollah.
The report, which was published recently by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank, criticized the policy of the U.S. toward the official armed forces in Lebanon as murky and counterproductive:
“U.S. policy towards the [Lebanese Armed Forces] is unclear and hurts U.S. efforts to bolster the LAF as a positive force in Lebanon and the region. These policy ambiguities should be revised and the U.S. must articulate clearly whether or not it will provide the LAF with the heavy combat systems it needs for force development.”
U.S. support for the Lebanese army has increased substantially in the last few years. Lebanon has received $293 million for its military from Washington since 2006, according to the report, titled, ‘The Lebanese Armed Forces: Challenges and Opportunities in Post-Syria Lebanon.’
American military assistance began with the deployment of Lebanese troops along with international peacemakers in southern Lebanon after the summer 2006 war between Israel and the Shiite militant group Hezbollah. A Sunni Islamist insurgency in the north of the country in 2007 also prompted the U.S. to help the Lebanese army.
Still, Lebanese complain that the U.S. was not serious in it efforts to boost the capabilities of the Lebanese army because of fears its arms would be directed against Israel. Some also say that the U.S. was attempting to strengthen the army so as to undermine Hezbollah.
But the report says that it was unrealistic that the army could be pitted against Hezbollah:
“Any attempt to strengthen the LAF so that it can fight [Hezbollah] will fail. Close to 30 percent of the officers corps is Shiite and, given that the LAF is a reflection of Lebanese society, it cannot be ordered to act militarily against one or another community. ‘
But, the report says, building up Lebanon’s security forces could weaken Hezbollah in the long run.
‘The U.S. needs to recognize that building up the LAF as a deterrent against Lebanon’s neighbors undermines [Hezbollah’s] logic regarding its weapons arsenal. Accordingly, the U.S. should focus on helping the LAF to lay the foundation for [Hezbollah] disarmament in the mid to long term rather than all-out confrontation in the short term.”
Following the withdrawal of Syrian troops in April 2005, the Lebanese army emerged as the only unifying institution capable of maintaining the country in check against the heavy political polarization between a Hezbollah-led group supported by Iran and Syria and a Western-backed coalition.
But its standing force of about 56,000 remains severely undermanned, under-equipped and underfunded.
According to the report, as political tension continues in the region, the Lebanese government should act fast to secure about $1 billion it requires for the essential force development of the army.
In addition to the U.S. aid, Russia pledged in December to provide Lebanon with 10 MIG-29 fighter aircraft.
-- Raed Rafei in Beirut