Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is lobbying Congress hard on behalf of the Obama Administration to continue massive military aid to Hezbollah - oh,pardon me, the Lebanese armed forces now run by Hezbollah since their recent takeover of Lebanon.
The U.S. has given the Lebanese military $720 million since the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, and the Obama Administration now wants earmark a further $100 million for them.
The reason? Listen to this:
Mrs. Clinton praised Lebanon's military as a “nonsectarian institution” that “cooperates with the United Nations‘ mission in the south.”
“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 added.
The stupidity (I can't call it anything else but that) and willful blindness of this is absolutely mind boggling.
The Lebanese military was totally infiltrated by Shi'ite Hezbollah supporters a long time ago, and the Army's former commander in Chief who is now Lebanon's President, General Michel Suleiman, is a Hezbollah ally who refused to allow the Lebanese Army to fight against Hezbollah even when Hezbollah was killing Lebanese civilians during a series of attacks against the March 14 Lebanese government in May of 2008. Suleiman and the Lebanese Army also did absolutely nothing to respect or implement UN resolution 1701, stop Hezbollah from receiving new weaponry from Iran and Syria or keep them from moving back into Hezbollah's old positions in South Lebanon.
The Lebanese military has worked hand in hand with Hezbollah for years, and that was true even during the 2006 war when Suleiman allowed Hezbollah to use the army’s facilities, including a coastal radar station used to aim and fire the missiles which hit and damaged an Israeli ship. And that was only one of many instances of Lebanese armed forces aiding and abetted Hezbollah during the war.
As Lebanon's president, Suleiman personally made a pilgrimage to Tehran to sign a five year defense pact between Iran and Lebanon, has praised Hezbollah's war against Israel and has openly said he considers Hezbollah's militia part of Lebanon's armed forces.
To assume that US military aid earmarked for the Lebanese forces won't somehow end upo being used by Hezbollah is an exercise in fantasy beyond the norm even for the Obama Administration.
Hopefully, wiser heads in Congress will prevail. Howard Berman, ranking Democrat on the House Committee On Foreign Affairs has joined Rebublicans in being especially skeptical of continuing aid to Lebanon, where it wil likely end up in the hands of the terrorist group that holds the number two position behind al-Qaeda when it comes to killing Americans.
2 comments:
a small bit of contrast if i may......
first, this from ff essay:
The stupidity and willful blindness of this is absolutely mind boggling.
now compare that to this statement, today, from rasmussen daily tracking:
Overall, 46% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the president's performance.
see that?
46%.
46% approve of stupidity and willful blindness.
OT
note to b.poster.
i have, on occasion, been critical of your pessimistic view(s) of our nations future. henceforth, i shall regard your views as optimistic.
Anytime you are dealing with a Democrat, of any stripe, blue dog or liberal, you have to bear in mind they tend to believe in regional balances of power. They honestly believe that maintaining that balance will be more likely to prevent wars. That's what they believed during the Cold War, which was why the Soviet Union lasted as long as it did, actually. And they believe it now. They show no regard for nuance. Nuance in this case being defined as one side being religious fanatics who want to totally eradicate the other side and who dying as a martyr in the course of killing said enemy is something to aspire to, not avoid.
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