The fight
over foreign aid to Lebanon may be reaching a tipping point
due to the formation of a new Lebanese government that is dominated
by the terrorist organization Hezbollah and its allies.
Congress has gone back and forth over whether to
keep sending cash and equipment to the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), particularly
following a
clash between the Israeli army and the LAF along the Israel-Lebanon border
in August 2010 that left five people dead. Now Howard Berman (D-CA), the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs
Committee, is pushing a bill to end almost all U.S. assistance to Lebanon. He's
joined by the top Lebanese-Americans in Congress, including Darrell
Issa (R-CA), Charles Boustany (R-LA), and Nick Rahall (D-WV).
His bill, the Hezbollah Anti-Terrorism Act (HATA), is modeled on Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act
(PATA) that Congress passed after Hamas won the 2006 elections to the
Palestinian Legislative Council.
"When there is essentially a government in Lebanon
where a militia organization that has a political front and that is on our
terrorist list is determining the nature of that government, the fundamental
nature of Lebanon changes very much, from an election-based democracy into a
different kind of country," Berman said in a Friday afternoon interview with The Cable.
"Under those situations, with limited exceptions, I
don't think American taxpayers should be providing military or economic
assistance to help Hezbollah maintain its grip on the government of Lebanon,"
he added.
Berman had put a hold on assistance to Lebanon last
summer, but later allowed the money to go through because he wanted to
strengthen the LAF in its internal struggle against Hezbollah. But now the
situation is totally different and he won't back off, he said.
"The notion that the LAF will remain an island of
independence under a government that is dominated and welded together by
Hezbollah is a very different proposition," he said.
Berman's bill would still allow support for rule of
law and democracy programs, educational funding, and even training of Lebanese
forces in America under the IMET program. The president would also be able to
waive restrictions in the law in cases that were deemed to be in the national
security interests of the U.S.
His GOP counterpart, HFAC chairman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) is generally
supportive of the idea and is considering supporting the bill, Berman said.
But what about the notion that Iran will be more
than happy to make up any deficit caused by the withdrawal of U.S. aid?
"Iran has been supplying Hezbollah for years. This
is not a fear, this is a reality. We have to respond to this reality and I
think this is the way to do it," Berman said.
He released a
summary of the legislation, which could come up as a free-standing
bill or as an amendment to a larger piece of legislation.
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