Hitlery Clinton: US should fund Lebanon army

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http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4036964,00.html

Secretary of state says ending US funding for Lebanese army would risk Israel.

WASHINGTON - US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told Senate Wednesday that America should continue to fund the Lebanese army, despite concerns that Hezbollah's growing influence in Lebanon may ultimately threaten Israel.

 

“I believe still at this point that we should continue supporting the Lebanese armed forces,” said during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing. “I know that’s been the subject of some debate here in the Congress.”

Clinton: US should continue to fund Lebanon army.

 
Clinton said Wednesday that US support for Lebanon's armed forces was in American and regional security interests. She said the army is professional and non-sectarian with a national presence. She said annual US funding of about $100 million!!! to the armed forces is important to stability in Lebanon, particularly along its southern border with Israel.

The Lebanese army "cooperates with the United Nations mission in the south, to try to keep the peace there," she said. “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."

 

Some lawmakers are concerned that the military may be compromised by the rise of Hezbollah. Clinton said there was not yet any evidence that this had happened.

 

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110310/pl_afp/lebanonpoliticsunrestusmilitary

US should keep up Lebanon military aid: intel chief

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The United States should maintain military aid to the Lebanese army even if the government becomes controlled by Hezbollah militants, US intelligence chief James Clapper said Thursday.

"I would think that to the extent that we can sustain influence and insight and help counterbalance the Hezbollah military wing, that it would be a good idea," Clapper, the director of national intelligence, told US lawmakers.

But he said it would be up to policymakers to take such a decision.

In late January, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned against Hezbollah -- designated by the US as a terrorist group -- coming to power, saying it would clearly impact the ties between Lebanon and the United States.

Washington is above all concerned whether the Lebanese army will be able to control Hezbollah, which has backed billionaire businessman Najib Mikati as prime minister and was appointed on January 25 to form a new government.

The Shiite party, which is supported by Iran and Syria, toppled the Western-backed government of Saad Hariri in January after he refused to cut ties with a UN tribunal investigating his father's 2005 murder.

"The concern has been continually for not only ourselves, but for some of our allies, is in terms of the (Lebanese Army) and its ability in the southern part of the country to exert the control over other factions that are in there, such as Lebanese Hezbollah," said Lieutenant General Ronald Burgess, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency.

"So what this means to the future of that is something that we are following very closely at this time."

Washington has given Lebanon more than 700 million dollars in aid to help train and equip the army since a devastating war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006.

The UN's Special Tribunal for Lebanon is expected to indict members of the powerful militant group Hezbollah in connection with Rafiq Hariri's 2005 murder.

Hezbollah has accused the tribunal of being manipulated by Israel and the United States.

Political confusion remains in Lebanon, with Mikati yet to name his cabinet members amid haggling among rival parties.