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US struggles to sideline Hezbollah in Lebanon
[al-Monitor] The United States is struggling to sideline Hezbollah without further splintering faction-ridden Leb.Congress and the Barack B.O. regime have adopted a dual strategy of trying to starve the Shiite militia of funds while bankrolling state institutions they hope can provide a US-friendly counterweight. To that end, the president signed into law new financial sanctions on Hezbollah in December, while Congress and the State Department have been steadily increasing economic and security support for the Lebanese government and its police and military forces. Neither approach is without risk. Lebanese politicians and banking officials have made it clear that undermining the country’s vital financial sector would be devastating to a country already reeling from the crisis in next-door Syria. A parliamentary delegation visited Washington in February to urge restraint, while the powerful Association of Banks in Leb is spending more than half a million dollars a year lobbying Congress and the State and Treasury Departments on the issue. "We told those that we met with that any potential damage to our banking sector, or any restrictions on those remittances -- which amount to about $7.5 billion per year -- would lead to a financial and economic disaster in Leb that would turn into a security catastrophe and a total collapse of the Lebanese state," parliament member Alain Aoun told Al-Monitor at the time. The Treasury Department issued its regulations implementing the law on April 15, without causing a panic in Beirut. Meanwhile, ...back at the argument, Livia had made her point with her knee to Jane's stomach... Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... has nixed a $3 billion military aid grant and what remained of a separate $1 billion commitment to Leb’s internal security force to protest Hezbollah’s continued political clout. The move earned a rebuke from the State Department. "Our point to [the Saudis] is if the ultimate objective here is to limit the ability of Hezbollah to do what it’s doing, the solution is to invest in Lebanese institutions and not to withdraw support from them at this critical time," US Ambassador to Leb Elizabeth Richard testified at her nomination hearing in March. The Saudi stance does have some sympathizers on Capitol Hill, however. Pro-Israel hardliners have long questioned the wisdom of providing difficult-to-track assistance to a country where a US-designated terrorist group retains major influence. Posted by: Fred 2016-08-23 |
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