Remember that time in October 2007 when the Pentagon wanted to give Lebanon cutting edge military tech even though it was obvious that Hezbollah would eventually take over the government and grab the weapons? And then Hezbollah took over the government but the Pentagon still wanted to provide the security assistance? Guess how that’s a going to end up:
Israel is concerned with reports that the US plans to sell dozens of M60 main battle tanks to the Lebanese army, senior defense officials said over the weekend. “There is a possibility these tanks will fall into Hizbullah’s hands,” one official warned. “At the moment, Hizbullah does not yet have heavy armor in its arsenal.” On Friday, the An-Nahar daily reported the US was planning to deliver dozens of M60 tanks to Lebanon in several batches starting early next year… The M60 tank is an all-purpose tank made in the US with advanced firepower and mobility. Though superseded by the M1 Abrams, the M60 series remains in service throughout the world. Egypt has the most, with 1,700, Turkey is second with more than 900 and Israel is third with over 700.
So certain is it that Lebanese weapons will fall into Hezbollah’s hands that Iran is pursing the exact same policy as the Pentagon:
Lebanese President Michel Suleiman starts a two-day trip to the Islamic republic on Monday on what Iranian officials are calling “a historic visit” meant to accelerate economic, cultural and political cooperation between the countries. Teheran is expected to offer Lebanon military assistance for its army during the visit, according to the pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat, which quoted unnamed sources on Sunday.”Suleiman’s visit to Teheran and the willingness of the latter to provide Lebanon with ‘heavy weapons’ and possibly rockets, is within the context of a growing number of countries that have offered to contribute in the arming of the Lebanese Army,” according to the report.
Hezbollah is already three times stronger than at the end of Lebanon II – a real surprise because the State Department made sure to task the UN with preventing that. The only question at this point is whether Hezbollah will test this new influx of qualitatively better weapons on Lebanese political opponents – again – before turning them against Israel.
References:
* Pentagon Gets Brilliant Idea: Let’s Give Lebanon Cutting-Edge Military Tech, Training [MR]
* Iran Takes Over Hezbollah After Hezbollah Takes Over Lebanon (Plus: State Department Naturally Urging Israel To Cede More Land… To Hezbollah) [MR]
* Great News: US Providing Even More Weapons To Lebanese Military [MR]
* Jerusalem worried US will sell tanks to Lebanon [JPost]
* Report: Iran to propose military aid to Lebanon [JPost]
* Barak: Hizbullah 3 times stronger than at end of war [YNet]
* Confirmed: Rice Went Out Of Her Way To Screw Israel On Lebanon II [MR]
* The Lesson of Lebanon [Noah Pollak / Contentions]
Previously:
* Hezbollah Recruiting Thousands Of New Soldiers Thanks To US Diplomatic Failures, Lebanese Electoral Crisis (Plus: State Department Wants To Repeat Same Plan In West Bank And Wants Your Feedback)
* Smug Condescending Sophisticates Admit They’ve Been Lying Through Their Teeth About Israeli Security I – UN Admits Hezbollah Is Rearming
* Hezbollah: Yeah, We’re Definitely Going To Start Another War
