American military assistance to Lebanon should be reevaluated in the coming year, top congressional sources and experts tell THE WEEKLY STANDARD, following reports that equipment provided to the Lebanese army had been transferred to the Hezbollah terrorist organization and used to boost the Assad regime in Syria.
The calls come weeks after Hezbollah staged a military parade in Syria showing off M113 armored personnel carriers (APCs), which analysts suggested had been illegally transferred to the Iran-controlled group after they were supplied to the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) by Washington.
“We need a quick review by the new administration,” California congressman Ed Royce, the Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs committee, told TWS. “If these troubling reports are true, U.S. assistance to the Lebanese Armed Forces must be altered.”
The incoming Trump administration would support the congressional push to reevaluate assistance to Lebanon, sources said.
“The Trump team is stacked with people who believe, correctly, that Iran has hijacked Lebanon and is directing some of the state’s resources toward Hezbollah,” according to a congressional advisor who works closely with Capitol Hill offices on Middle East issues. “They’re going to look at security assistance to the LAF as security assistance to Hezbollah, and they’re likely to work with Congress to cut it.”
Administration officials have in recent days denied that the machinery seen during the Hezbollah parade belonged to the LAF.
“As we noted when this first came up, the Lebanese Armed Forces stated publicly that the vehicles depicted online were never part of their equipment roster,” State Department spokesman John Kirby told AFP. He added that a Defense Department analysis also concluded that the troop carriers were not provided by the LAF.
A Pentagon spokesman said that Hezbollah has a “small number” of M113s that “could have come from a variety of sources.”
“It’s a relatively common vehicle in the region,” he said.
But recent analysis from the Middle East concluded that the troop carriers were American vehicles provided to Beirut.
A senior Israeli defense official said Wednesday that the APCs were supplied to the LAF by Washington and transferred to Hezbollah.
“We know these were given to the LAF. It’s not an assumption. These were given to them by the USA,” the official said. The official was unsure whether the equipment was “given voluntarily” or “overtaken,” but described the transfer as part of “a kind of a deal” between the LAF and Hezbollah.
Experts suggested to TWS that the LAF played a critical role in Hezbollah’s procurement of the troop carriers that requires further investigation.
“Where was the LAF when Hezbollah was driving American-made APCs into Syria?” said Tony Badran, a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. “How are these [vehicles] maintained? Where are the spare parts to maintain them coming from? Was that included in the investigation?”
A review of security assistance is overdue as Lebanon’s new government is expected to strengthen the country’s ties to Hezbollah, according to Badran. He pointed to recent appointees who are Hezbollah allies, including defense minister Yacoub Sarraf and the rumored pick for LAF commander, brigadier general Camille Daher.
“With … the general makeup of the new Lebanese government, the whole security sector in Lebanon is going to be entirely compromised. The synergy with the LAF is only going to increase,” Badran said. “A review is very much in order, because right now, the LAF is little more than an auxiliary force for Hezbollah.”
