Petraeus Visit Highlights Growing Strategic Prominence of Lebanon

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The New York Sun

UNITED NATIONS — With Israel increasingly concerned about Hezbollah’s military buildup on its northern border and about the growing political influence of the Iranian-backed organization in the Lebanese capital, General David Petraeus made an unannounced visit to Lebanon yesterday to discuss American support for the country’s national army.

The presence in Beirut of General Petraeus, confirmed recently as head of U.S. Central Command, which is responsible for the Middle East, is an indication of the growing strategic prominence of Lebanon in the complex regional map. The general’s discussions about increased military aid to the government of Prime Minister Siniora, however, come amid growing Israeli alarm at that government’s deference to Hezbollah.

Israeli officials are pointing in particular to a little-noticed new policy statement from the Lebanese government this week asserting Hezbollah’s right to arm itself and fight Israel. They also are noting a discernible weapons buildup by the Shiite group, especially of its missiles and antiaircraft systems.

General Petraeus yesterday met with President Suleiman, a former Lebanese army commander; the new army chief, Shawki al-Masri; Defense Minister Elias Murr, and Mr. Siniora to discuss how to “strengthen the army’s defensive capabilities, training and logistics,” according to an Army statement.

In 2007 America increased its military assistance to the Siniora government fivefold, to $270 million. But an agreement reached in Qatar in May established a unity government in Beirut, ending a political standoff there. The composition of the government gives Hezbollah the power to veto any government decision and in effect dominate the country’s decision-making process.

In Jerusalem yesterday, Prime Minister Olmert’s security Cabinet met for a special session to discuss conditions on Israel’s northern border, a government official told The New York Sun. Military briefers told Cabinet members that Hezbollah now possesses 40,000 rockets capable of reaching Israel, more than three times as many as it had on the eve of the 2006 war.

“The situation in Lebanon is worrisome, and we are communicating our concerns to everyone, including the Americans,” the Israeli official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told the Sun.

Hezbollah in Lebanon now poses a larger threat to Israel than Iran, a military intelligence official told the Cabinet, Israel Radio reported. “You can turn it around and say that Iran’s foothold in Lebanon, via Hezbollah, now threatens Israel,” the Israeli government official said.

Meanwhile, a policy statement from the Lebanese government during the weekend asserted the “right of Lebanon’s people, the army, and the resistance to liberate all its territories.” The statement contained a direct reference to the Shebaa Farms and other areas Hezbollah considers Lebanese territories occupied by Israel; “the resistance” is a name universally used in Lebanon for Hezbollah.

Last week, Defense Minister Ehud Barak of Israel told Secretary-General Ban that the U.N. Security Council resolution that ended the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah “simply isn’t working.” Resolution 1701 envisioned a zone on a strip south of the Litani River in which no weapons, other than those of the Lebanese army and a U.N. force, would be allowed. It also reiterated a call for nongovernment militias to disarm.

The Lebanese government’s statement raises even more concerns about “the core elements of 1701,” an Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, Daniel Carmon, said. “Instead of disarming this terror organization — whose name, Hezbollah, everyone here is afraid to even whisper — the Lebanese government now officially approves its military status,” he said.

U.N. spokesmen categorically denied a report on Tuesday in a pro-Hezbollah Lebanese newspaper, al-Akhbar, which cited a memo issued by the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon ordering all its troops to arrive first at the site of any plane crashes to prevent Hezbollah from capturing downed Israeli pilots. Israeli press outlets are suggesting that the report is a sign of Hezbollah’s increased confidence after a recent buildup of antiaircraft systems in southern Lebanon, aided by Iran and Syria.

In a statement, a spokesman for Unifil denied that the report “accurately represents the way Unifil operates,” adding, “Israeli over-flights of Lebanese airspace are a violation of resolution 1701” and that the U.N. force routinely protests such flights.

Israel’s “overflights are a clear defensive and preventive measure, meant to counter violations that include unprecedented arms transfers from Iran and Syria, through the Syrian border, to Hezbollah in Lebanon, including in southern Lebanon,” Mr. Carmon said yesterday. “Such violations present real danger to the north of Israel. Since no one stops the violations, Israel has the right, and duty, to defend its citizens.”


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