Lebanon multi-sourcing weapons supply
On Sunday, I reported that the US Congress has lifted a hold that was placed on military assistance for the Lebanese Armed Forces. As a result of the hold being lifted on Friday afternoon, Lebanon received $100 million in military assistance immediately on Friday. Perhaps, before that money was handed out, someone should have checked what other military assistance Lebanon is getting, and whether the new US aid will have any effect on the balance of power in the region, particularly if that assistance happens to fall into the hands of Hezbullah. You see, unlike the days of the Cold War, when you got your weapons from either the United States or the Soviet Union, but not from both, now countries have multiple sources of supply. For his part, Hariri, who started Monday a two-day official visit to Moscow, announced a Russian military donation to the Lebanese army.What could go wrong?
The donation includes six Mi-24 combat helicopters, 31 T-72 tanks, 36 130-mm caliber cannons and ammunitions for medium machineguns and 130-mm field guns.
"We must put an end to Israeli continuous intransigence, because the region does not tolerate all this extremism that exists in it. Israel must accept the principles of the Madrid Conference and the Arab Peace Initiative announced by (Saudi) King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz from Beirut," Hariri said during the meeting with Putin.
Hariri noted that Russia has been playing a major role concerning the Palestinian cause.
"We hope that your role in this process will become stronger, because the region needs Russia's role," he told Putin.
Labels: Howard Berman, Lebanese Armed Forces, Russian weapons, Saad Hariri, Vladimir Putin
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:26 AM
2 Comments:
A lot of things.
A Hezbollah-led Lebanon will lead to a lot of sleepless nights in the Middle East.
What could go wrong indeed
Extradited! Let's hope he doesn't have any accidents at a stopover:
http://www.rferl.org/content/Thailand_To_Extradite_Arms_Dealer_To_US/2221221.html
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