Obama Wants To Restore Military Aid To Lebanon

I blogged yesterday about a report from Naharnet quoting a Kuwaiti paper that chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Howard Berman had agreed to lift a ban to supply the Lebanese army with weapons and equipment estimated at $100 million--aid that was frozen following the Lebanese ambush of the IDF during the prearranged trimming of trees on the Lebanese-Israel border.

Now Haaretz is reporting that though the matter has not reached the point of removing the ban, things are moving in that direction:

The Obama administration wants lawmakers to restore millions of dollars in U.S. military aid to Lebanon's army that they suspended over concerns it could be used to target Israel.

Senior administration and congressional officials told The Associated Press on
Thursday that a review of the assistance has concluded its resumption was in the interest of America's national security and Middle East stability. Lawmakers had asked for the review after placing holds on $100 million in aid to the Lebanese Armed Forces last month.

According to the report, while Rep. Howard Berman, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, and Rep. Nita Lowey, were all key figures in placing the ban--thus far only Lowey had been briefed by the administration in its position.

I imagine lifting that ban was one of the issues discussed when George Mitchell dropped by in Lebanon yesterday to discuss the peace prospects. At a time when just getting Netanyahu and Abbas to see eye to eye is a herculean task, the Obama administration is indicating how much more work remains ahead:

Mitchell said that for Washington a peace deal meant an "agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, between Israel and Syria and between Israel and Lebanon and the full normalization of relations between Israel and its neighbors."

I don't recall a previous US administration ever including Lebanon as a key piece in a Middle East. In any case, since the Obama administration is so big on gestures, what would be simpler to demonstrate to Lebanon its sincerity than to release the ban on that military aid to Lebanon?

That would seem to fit Obama administration policy: no peace without appeasement.

Technorati Tag: Lebanon and Lebanese Military Aid.