Dealing with Hizbollah is a complex situation which the government has all but avoided until 2005. Over the past few months Lebanon's political leaders have tried to come to some sort of agreement through the National Roundtable Dialogue, however the Secretary General of Hezbollah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, has refused to budge.

The continued existence of Hezbollah's military wing violates the 1990 Taif Agreement that ended the Lebanese civil war, which requires the "disbanding of all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias" and requires the government to "deploy the Lebanese army in the border area adjacent to Israel."

Hezbollah is the main political party representing the Shia community, Lebanon's largest religious block. What Lebanon desperately needs is a solution that rises above petty political divides for the sake of the future of our country. With our limited resources we cannot survive any longer with competing military and civilian organizations.

The following is a politically neutral solution to the Hizbullah dilemma.

Economies of scale

Hizbullah leads a massive army. In addition to its military wing, Hizbullah maintains a civilian arm, which runs hospitals, news services, educational facilities and participates in the Lebanese Parliament. They also lead numerous economic and infrastructural development projects in Shia-populated areas of Lebanon.

Lebanon spends nearly 4% of it's GDP on the military. Duplicative efforts on the part of the Lebanese Army and Hizbullah are grossly unnecessary, especially given the dire state of national debt and the economy at large. Merely an economic standpoint, consolidating makes perfect sense.

After merging Hizbullah's troops into the Army we can finally abolish the compulsory military service. Military service enrollment should become voluntary, with incentives that include career and educational development opportunities. To be on the safe side, a clause can be included that allows the reinstatement of a mandatory draft in the time of national crisis or war.

Getting rid of Lebanon's mandatory military service will go a long way towards helping the economy. Lebanon has been dealing with a brain drain of the worst kind; where it's bright, freshly educated youth flee the country to avoid the mandatory military service. Recently the service was reduced from 1 year to 6 months; however most of the youth still view the service as shackles holding them back from the start of their careers.

A stronger national force

Lebanon's military contains 75,000 active troops, and more than ten times that in reserves. Hizbullah's huge army will do wonders if mixed in with the rest of the country. They bring in specialized training which will prove to be critical in protecting the borders throughout the country. This will ultimately result in increased security inside Lebanon, through ensuring illegal insurgents are prevented.

The discipline and organization of Hizbullah's forces can help shape the Lebanese Army into a more effective and efficient operation. The merger of the two will be critical in horizontally aligning defense and intelligence to sustain stability. Through leveraging national and international intelligence, senior leadership will be kept abreast of potential threats and will enable an agile national defense strategy.

Lebanon needs to strike the right balance with a suitably sized military. Spreading our already thin resources across our underpaid army limits their morale and effectiveness. We should spend enough on our military to secure our country, but we obviously don't want to be another North Korea with a 1 million-plus isolated army. Major future wars will require strong alliances with larger countries who can afford to splurge on their militaries.

One nation, one army

In alignment with the model employed by the Lebanese Army, the new influx of soldiers should be distributed throughout Lebanon to ensure a balanced mix of sectarian membership. Special attention should be given to ensure the proper use of relevant expertise, particularly to soldiers with specialized training, to spread knowledge transfer in other parts of the country.

Hizbullah's troops will be laterally transferred into their respective equivalent positions. Officers will retain their equivalent rank based on the standards defined by the army.

Hizbullah claims to have over 12,000 rockets, among other weaponry. Along with the arsenal of the Lebanese military, the combination will result in a well armed defense across the nation.

A national defense council needs to be formed, with representation from Hizbullah's top leaders. Membership will also include the President, Prime Minister, Minister of Defense, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of the Interior and the army's top generals. The council will be responsible for deciding upon what is in Lebanon's best interest whenever a situation arises.

Source: Ya Libnan