USA Supplies weapons to Lebanese Army

Three foreign military transports have landed to Beirut airport. Diplomatic- and security sources say that the planes contain weapons, equipment and ammunition from USA. Supplies were due to arrive later this year, but recent fighting near Tripoli have lead to requests from Lebanese government to speed up the supplies.

This is news to me, i didn't know that USA was this commited to help Lebanese government?

Source YLE - in Finnish

This palestinian group supposedly has links to al-Qaeda. Once you get al-Qaeda in the equation, then the US gets involved.

this is more of a give a baby a gun and see what happens kind of situation...they want all the stuff there giving them to get into the wrong hands....so when the israel-lebanon war breaks out this summer its not just israel raping lebanon.

Uhhh! The US Government has supported the Lebanese Government since the 60's. So why is it an issue now?

I don't know if you know this, but Lebanon is almost pro-west. The U.S. is helping them so the U.S. can strengthen ties with a pro-west country in the Middle East. Good news to me because we don't have many freinds in the Middle East. It also helps that they are combating terrorist in their own country now. Plus I don't think the current U.S. administration minds if all the countries in the Middle East, except Isreal, go up in flames.

-Reform America

[edit on 29-5-2007 by Reform America]

Originally posted by JIMC5499
Uhhh! The US Government has supported the Lebanese Government since the 60's. So why is it an issue now?

Yup - been the case. Democracy is Democracy. We support it in all it's forms. Ever been to Lebanon? Fairly Westernized people - under the threat of Shia rule.

Lebanon is probably the most Pro-west country in the region if you only consider Lebanese people. But the huge Palestinian refugee population makes the situation a bit tricky. What if Hezbollah backed forces (political or military) couped the government...?

Besides there is allways the risk of Lebanese army dissolving along the ethnic lines, it happened during the '80s and it could happen again.

Does anyone have a recent information of what kind of relations Druze, Phalangists and Sunnis have these days and what is their current stance towards Palestinians, Hezbollah or Syrians?
Would there be alliances between the factions or just the traditional all vs. all fighting?

These supplies where requested by the Lebanese government for a while.. but requested that they be speed delivered because of recent tensions..

The current Lebanese army has not been upgraded for a very long time, while the United States assisted the Lebanese especially after the Israeli-Lebanon war of the1980's, the army is still weak, aged and decrepit.

They may be an army, but when it comes down to it, the Lebanese do not even have better fire power, 30 year old personal carriers and tanks, ect..

These supplies will simply help Lebanon get a foot up on the insurgent force there..

The government it's self is very pro-western in peaceful terms.. for instance they have the same problem with terrorist that Israel and other arab states have.. trying to move forward but held back by fundamentalist..

I'll be impressed when we sell them a couple Patriot batteries to keep the IAF out. Until then, IMHO our support for Lebanon's democracy is halfhearted at best. Where was our support when the IAF was bombing their cities?

Originally posted by xmotex
I'll be impressed when we sell them a couple Patriot batteries to keep the IAF out. Until then, IMHO our support for Lebanon's democracy is halfhearted at best. Where was our support when the IAF was bombing their cities?

You have to understand our expectations of Lebanon's army before you pass judgement. The U.S. knows, and accepts the fact that it cannot stand on it's own against Syria (coming soon), rather we hope that they become a sharp and agile "police" force against elements inside the government.

It sucks that we are allies with both Israel and Lebanon (we partially funded Israel in it's last incursion into the country - some request were granted, others denied - we are paying to rebuild Lebanon) - but at the end of the day, they will fight side by side.

We want Lebanon to secure itself - Israel and the United States will deal with any invaders. That is the summary of our plan.



[edit on 30-5-2007 by crisko]

Originally posted by northwolf


This is news to me, i didn't know that USA was this commited to help Lebanese government?

I am not sure if the U.S is committed to Lebanon but I think it is committed to the down fall of Hezbollah and Hamas. If the U.S thinks that Lebanon can aid in that down fall, it will support them.

Unfortunately, this almost sounds like history repeating itself to me. America also supported Osama and Hussein and they wound up being two of our greatest foes.

We want Lebanon to secure itself - Israel and the United States will deal with any invaders.

Err, Israel is the invader.
Israel's been invading Lebanon on a regular basis since 1978.

It Israel going to defend Lebanon from... Israel? I think not.

I think the Current Lebanese governmet could very well indeed agree to side with the Israelis if Syria would attack. Since Hezbollah (backed by Syria and Iran) pose a much greater threath to Lebanons Stability than the Israeli attacks that are aimed mainly against Hezbollah and the other Palesinian groups (that are generally disliked by the current Lebanese leadership)

Originally posted by xmotex
Err, Israel is the invader.
Israel's been invading Lebanon on a regular basis since 1978.

It Israel going to defend Lebanon from... Israel? I think not.

Lebanon has just been a doormat for the problems in the region. Syria and Jordan have had forces operating in Lebanon. When you add in Hamas and the rest of the factions antagonizing Israel you end up with the same situation as Laos in the early 70's. I attended briefings in 1983 about which factions would help us if our helo went down and which factions to avoid. You literally needed a scorecard to keep track. Israel might be an invader, but they are not the only one. The Soviets taught the PLO how to manipulate the media's attention and they appear to have been excellant students.

The whole Middle Eastern region is a confusing mess and has been for a very, very long time. I can certainly see, as ironic as it seems, Lebanon siding with Israel in a conflict against Hamas or Hezbollah. I think sooner or later it will become a reality. There will come a point in time when they will have to lean on one another in order to survive the onslaught of these people who kill without a whim.