About a year ago the Pentagon was like "let's give a ton of weapons to Lebanon" and I was like "but it's about to be taken over by Hezbollah. And then a few months later it was taken over by Hezbollah. But the thing about our foreign policy experts - very trustworthy. Once they've chosen an idiotic policy, for instance, they can be trusted to stick with it:

Meanwhile, the New York Times reported Saturday that the United States is providing light arms and brand new equipment to the Lebanese army in line with its policy of supporting the Western-backed Beirut government. Officials in the Pentagon and State Department are weighing a Lebanese request for far more substantial weaponry, including tanks, anti-tank missiles and an air defense system to deter Israeli air force sorties in Lebanese airspace, though significant arms sales require that Congress be officially notified, the Times reported.

The thing about Lebanon, though, is that we don't really have to wait for a full Hezbollah takeover to see US weapons getting turned against Israel - the "Western-backed Beirut government" does that all on its own. It's just that the fuckup is going to be that much more elegant when Hezbollah formally seizes power.

The article also explains that UNIFIL is letting Hezbollah smuggle weapons and rebuild their army. Which is the kind of thing you'd expect given how UNIFIL soldiers literally get shooed away when they discover Hezbollah arms caches.

I'm personally pretty psyched about the non-aggression pact that Israel is reportedly mulling. Especially since Hezbollah has given up on trying to avenge Mugniyah, even though they're convinced that Israel killed him. That's the kind of thing they can be trusted to forgive and forget. A Hezbollah-controlled Lebanese government with US arms from one direction and Syrian arms from another - definitely a recipe for long-term peace.

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]
* Lebanon Celebrates Infusion Of US Security Assistance By Shooting At IAF Planes [MR]
* Israel mulling non-aggression treaty with Lebanon [Ha'aretz]
* Hezbollah: We have proof Israel killed Mughniyah [Ha'aretz]

Previously:
* UNIFIL Soldiers Catch Hezbollah Moving Weapons, Get Shooed Away
* Biden's Delusions Of Genius And Relevance Getting Obnoxious (Plus: Liberal Foreign Policy Experts Also Just Don't Know Stuff)
* Financial Times: Hey, Hezbollah Kind Of Rocks Don't They?