HOW Not TO Finance An Army

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By Ghassan Karam

After the incident that took place on August 3, 2010 between a small force of the Lebanese Army and the Israeli Defense Force at Adeisseh in Southern Lebanon Mr. Suleiman, the Lebanese President has been on a mission to finance the Lebanese army through personal contributions. These misguided efforts, although emotionally appealing, have been endorsed enthusiastically by many in Lebanon including Elias Murr, the Defense Minister, who declared yesterday, with pride, the opening of a special account at the Bank of Lebanon to receive such donations. The initial deposit was a miserly $650,000 that was raised over two weeks.

The above described incident has lead some members of the US congress and also some in the French parliament to request that the already approved military aid to Lebanon be suspended pending an accounting of the Adeisseh clash during which 2 Lebanese army personnel have died and one reporter from Al Akhbar newspaper in addition to the wounding of a reporter for Al Manar TV station.  One Israeli Colonel was also shot dead apparently by a Lebanese army sniper. A transparent and thorough accounting of what led to this unfortunate incident has not yet been made public by the Lebanese army. What were the rules of engagement? Who issued the order to fire? Did UNIFIL inform the Lebanese army that the Israelis will be pruning a tree on their side of the border? How did the media know about the probability of friction at this particular point and at this specific time? A responsible and accountable democratic system of governance deserves to know precisely what happened especially since this incident could have ignited a very costly war indeed.

Luckily for both sides, cooler heads prevailed and the incident is best described as a skirmish during which the Lebanese side lost a personnel carrier and a local Army building that served as the headquarters in the area in addition to the 4 dead on both sides. This relatively heavy cost appears to have been paid for no reason since the Israeli army was permitted to proceed with its tree pruning the next day without an incident. So the Lebanese tax appear has the right to know who issued this order and why? If this incident was the result of violating the rules of engagement then was the responsible party held accountable?

President Suleiman does not act as if he is concerned in any way in finding what happened, at least not in making it public. He visited the border where the skirmish occurred and had nothing but praise to laud on the army personnel for its courage, steadfastness and sacrifice. He has also decided that the Lebanese army is ready to handle sophisticated weapons and that he will acquire these weapons by initiating a personal pledge drive.

The US contributions to the Lebanese army over the past four years have totaled $500 million. The bulk of these were transport vehicles basic, ammunition, communications gear and other basics without which no army can operate. So the first question that needs to be asked in this regard is whether the Lebanese authorities are willing to cut their nose in order to spite their face. Would the Lebanese new initiative lead say to the loss of $100 million in aid that is crucial for basic army needs in order to replace that by maybe only $50 million spent on more advanced weapons that under normal circumstances serve as trophies? If so then who is to plug the $100 million newly created gap in the basic s?

Even if one was to assume that no loss of aid was to be encountered then is a campaign for personal donations the proper way to finance an army?  It is fair to assume that those that are willing to resort to unconventional means of finance are doing so because of a deep belief that the need for these weapons is crucial for the existence of the state. If an act is deemed to be that essential then is it appropriate to finance it through a personal pledge campaign instead to giving it the priority that it deserves in the budget.

The Lebanese GDP is expected to be close to $ 37 billion for the current year and possibly $40 billion for 2011. The total budget for 2010 is just over $ 4 billion in debt service and $9.3 billion in other expenditures the largest single item being $1.15 billion allocated to the Presidency of the Council of Ministers. It is very difficult to conceive of a personal pledge drive that is going to raise more than a hundred times what has already been raised. This very optimistic figure will only mean a total of $65 million on a one shot deal basis. Shouldn’t a country with a GDP of $ 40,000 million be able to raise through fees and or taxes an additional guaranteed flow of funds of $65 million. That is only 0.0015 % of the total. Equivalently, if this amount of financing is so essential would it is that difficult to find $65 million out of a total of $9,300 million in the regular expenditure budget; that is only 0.0075% of that portion of the budget. It can even be suggested that the whole $65 million could be cut from the excessive budget of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers; in that case the required $65 million would only mean a decrease of just over five percent of the 2010 budgetary allocation. And last but not least let us assume that the debt service for next year is not $4100 million but is $4165 million; does anyone doubt in that case the government’s ability to find the required funds.

It is clear that the current plan not to share with the public the details of the Aideisah skirmish, the off the cuff decision by the President to purchase for the army weapons that it might not be ready for and whose needs is not well established, the declaration that the new purchases will be financed through personal contributions when the amount of money at issue is easily absorbed through the regular budgetary process lead to the inescapable conclusion that the political process is broken and that these leaders are interested only in shallow, peripheral and meaningless acts.

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39 responses to “HOW Not TO Finance An Army”

  1. Prophet Avatar

    You are right, unless Lebanese officials and politicians ,who have been on roll stealing public money, make enough “donations”( like the donation The Murr family made) to make up for what the usa is holding back. LOL. I couldn’t help it.

    1. Ghassan Karam Avatar
      Ghassan Karam

      Prophet,

      I would love to have a breakdown of the $1.15 Billion allocated to the Presidency of the Council of Ministers. That is almost 11 % of all the expenditures excluding the debt service.

      1. ghassan transparency is always good. i agree with you that its good for the citizens to know where the money goes.

      2. Prophet Avatar

        You might have a better luck finding out who killed Hariri then getting the breakdown,lol

      3. Prophet Avatar

        I don’t know why I just remembered this incident. Last time I was in Lebanon, I wanted to pay some old electricity bills on my closed Apartment. I was told I needed to know someone (WASSTA)because “it’s such a complicated process”. It ended up costing me much more (paying someone who decided to help) to get it done than the actual electric bills.

  2. yeah ghassan for lebanon to lose 100 million that comes with conditions and replaces it with 50 million that has no conditions is a better scenario in the long run for the independence of our country.

    turkey is a good option and so is russia for replacements. even china is another option. i dunno why everything has to stop if the US stops funding us. mish 3ayzeen ijmeleetoon and that i agree with DM.

    having said that, i totally agree with you that this private funding if any at all should go first and foremost to bring the citizens electricity, clean water and anything else that brings comfort.

    i wasnt aware that the tree incident wasnt dealt with. according to all the articles on ya libnan, lebanon has lodged a step by step occurance to the security council as to what happened and the army commander stated that they fired warning shots and israel fired back like idiots thus the shootings that went on.

    i do think that any private funding should be for private matters so the army shouldnt be included in such matters.

    the army is a state owned body and the state should figure out how to arm it not private lenders.

    whats privately donated should be for the private sector and whats publically donated should be for the public sector.

    fyi i was happy to see the president visiting the area and showing support. it was an emotional moment for ALL lebanese when our men die for such an unfortunate incident.

    1. Ghassan Karam Avatar
      Ghassan Karam

      Tony A,

      Lebanon , like any country, is free to seek the source and the weapons that suit it best. In this case I am only suggesting a scenario where you lose 100 million of say Humvees and you go and raise 4%0 million to buy Turkish vehicles. what would you have achieved in that case besides shooting yourself in the foot?

      The Lebanese army might like to have the latest in weapons with all the bells and whistles but the question that needs to be asked is whether the army structure is ready for that and furthermore whether it needs these. I might love to have a 24 room mansion on top of a hill with private tennis courts, a Lambourghini and a heated swimming pool. I cannot afford such a spread and I do not need it either.

  3. ghassan habeebi my main goal for lebanon is not to get money with conditions. enough of that. we need to seek funding elsewhere and if it means we get range rovers instead of humvees so be it.

    lebanese army getting armed in my opinion is all a symbolic gesture at the end of the day for HA to dismantle and be absorbed.

    at the end of the day, all of HA’s weapons will end up with the army anyway. i can sincerely see a cooperation happening between HA and the army and i can also sincerely see that HA is not taking things into its own hands again like 2006.

    think about it ghassan habeebi. the US is punishing lebanon cos the LAF and HA coordinated the tree incident where HA told the LAF we’re here if you need us and they stood on high alert to back the army. they actually allowed the army to do its job.

    lebanon is being punished for that cos the last thing israel wants is for any of us to actually allow HA to integrate into the army cos then israel’s attacks wont be justified on the world stage when they’re attacking a legitimate army instead of the illegitimate one that we currently have.

    i believe the army structure is ready for whatever its gonna get cos i’m sure the soldiers are tired of having sling shots as weapons so any rifle right now or car is better than what they got.

    as for your lamborghini ghassan and your mansion, i would like to urge all lebanese to start a fund so we can buy ghassan my brother a mansion and lamborghini on one condition – we can all stay at your mansion and borrow the lamborghini on the weekends. 🙂 🙂

    FYI here in vancouver for $2500 per month you can join a club here where you can drive any exotic car like a ferrari and lamborghini and porsche anytime you want. hefty price tag for the ordinary folks but for those who have disposable income, not a bad toy huh!!!!!

    i love your articles ghassan as you bring intelligent thinking to the table my friend. ya3teek alf 3afyi habeebi. peace to all

  4. VOICE OF TRUTH Avatar
    VOICE OF TRUTH

    ya ghassan,

    great article and a very important subject about the adeisseh incident and its ramifications.

    i think what the lebanese government is currently

    doing could be summed up in the following sentence: “houroub ila l amam” or the lebanese government typical mo of covering up their mistakes with new mistakes.

    israel is our official ennemy and we will stand by our army if push comes to shove and war breaks out and i will repeat this credo for all those who keep saying it is not time to criticize the army but we should all stand “saffan wahidan” facing the ennemy.

    can you imagine 4.5 million standing in one line????? first,that would never happen with lebanese and second, militarily speaking in such a battlefield

    formation they will end up

    being slaughtered.

    but then again, if we demand an honest and clear explanation of what really happened there,

    it is because we care about our country and our soldiers and we dont want to throw them in harms way unless they are seriously threatened by an imminent danger coming from a foreign ennemy.

    ghassan, as you mentioned the incident that cost 3 lebanese lives not to mention the wounded and the material damage to the laf over a silly bush cropping routine job that happened to be not in lebanese territories needs to be investigated in a more serious fashion because:

    1- despite what the pro syrian and the pro hezballah folks wish to happen,lebanon cannot afford to antagonize the west with the

    us and france on top and loose their military assistance,

    no matter how insignificant some people think it really is,and most importantly their political support.

    2- no country on earth at least in the developed world will agree to supply the laf with serious sophisticated weapons without preset conditions.

    the pro western nations have basically all of them the same condition , they want to make sure their weapons targeted to a centralized lebanese army do not

    end up in hezballah’s hands.

    and most importantly:

    THEY WILL SURELY REQUEST THE LEBANESE GOVERNMENT TO DO SOME THING ABOUT HEZBALLAH’S MILITARY ACTIVITIES BEFORE RECEIVING THE

    NEW WEAPONS.

    as far as weapons that could originate from non western countries, like iran, north korea…etc… i seriously doubt their degree of sophistication.

    and besides,to supply the laf with their alternative weapons sources,

    these countries will also

    have a set of conditions that could probably please the pro hezballah crowds but that will have also a high price tag in terms of lebanon’s independence sovereignty and international relations,probably risking to antagonize the west,not to mention the severence of ties between lebanon and its world wide

    expats located most of them

    in western countries.

    so, for the time being the best solution is the statu quo,

    and in the mean time,

    the incident of adeisseh should be a wake up call for the lebanese government to wise up, cool it

    and realize it was an accident for sure not to be repeated.

    one word of wisdom at the end:

    if we make the stone we want to cast at our ennemy too heavy

    for us to bear we will end up being crushed by it.

    1. Voice of Truth,

      Ultimately, the sad thing about the plan that the president and the Minister of defense , among others, are pushing is nothing else but an extemporaneous plan. Such governance ends up in creating more harm than good.

  5. You guys talk like war and peace are a joke.

    Just to give you a reality check.

    Israel is planning to bomb all Lebanese millitary installations in the next few months or years when the war breaks out.

    I do not give a flying hoot where we get the weapons from but we should have them as soon as possible in order to maintain the safety of the soldiers and the civilians of the country.

  6. John,

    And you think that thw few million dollars that would have been pledged by then would be sufficient to buy new sophisticated weapons have the army trained to use them and have them delivered. Guess who needs a reality check? 🙂

    1. thats why HA is good for the time being. they’re damned for protecting us and they’re damned for threatening us. one day one army one people and thats the only reality check.

  7. Prophet,

    Your experience with the Electric company reminds me of those that had their cars stolen and then were asked to buy the cars back. I have to remember your tale.

  8. prophet Avatar

    Yes Ghassan,

    Bribing someone to pay what you owe,and having to thank him is a tough equation to understand.

    I had never felt so stupid in my life.Only in my beloved Lebanon.lol

  9. Sebouh,

    Note also the inability of the Lebanese state to finance what it regards to be essential in order to allocate 40% of the annual budget to debt service.

  10. An excellent article.

  11. The Arab world should arm Lebanon to preserve the state and protect it’s citizens.

    We should have nothing from America they are only interested in the Isrealis and don’t give 2 hoots about the Lebanese nations or their sovernity.

    Better still Lebanon should ask Iran and Russia to arm them and forget the western world.

  12. Bla bla bla US doesn’t give lebanon but basic weapons, training, equipment bla bla bla…. I am SICK of this crap.

    Yes ofcourse any country that is going to DONATE their resources to you will have a set of preconditions. Their is no such thing as FREE MONEY. Iran will donate to you their rusty tanks or whatever with preconditions we are ALL aware of.

    You want sophisticated weaponry and to hold up as a strong nation with a strong army? Get your country out of debt, start relying on yourselves instead of pity donations from wealthy countries and than demand with your funds the weapons you want.

    1. tim what about the extortion from israel on the US people everyday. there seems to be no conditions on money that israel gets.

      what do you expect when israel rules america

  13. Tim ,One of the problems in Lebanon and 2nd or 3rd rated countries the politicians think about their pockets first and people close to them, that is why in Lebanon government money disappears fast, in USA there is legal bribery during election time ,donation to politicians during campaigns by special interest group benefit their agenda ,rules and regulations, so you are right in some respect if the mind frame do not change in Lebanon most Lebanese will suffer and few will prosper on peoples behalf.

  14. Tony, Israel’s situation and the assistance they receive from the US yes is drastic, but at cost. Most of the military technology used in the US is developed by Israel, most of the US Military RND done in Israel. Israel will bomb any country US wants them to at a request order.

    Would you be willing to open lebanon for an American Army base? Would you be willing to do RND for the US and fight their wars if need be?

    Rafik, true the american democratic system isn’t perfect, but it is much better than the Lebanese system. Accountability is their at every stage of the governing body.

    Rafik, before you start judging who other people govern them selves look at how your country is doing.

    1. tim do you not think its sad that the US has such high umemployment while israel steals obs from the very people thta support it.

      israel is like an amoeba that feeds off its prey till it dies.

      the US economy was such a powerful one at one point and israel the mooch kept increasing the funding every chance it received.

      israel has forced the US to certain confrontations my friend just by threatening to use low nukes which actually if the american people knew about this they would more than lobby.

      but cathy, you say what will the lobbying do, in time, the lobbying will become very effective cos the christians and muslims in the US way outnumber the jewish population so, if we wake up 1 american at a time, eventually they will become a formidable voice that will be respected.

      1. Prophet Avatar

        Tony, I never had the chance to tell you why so many Christian rights support Israel.

        Christian rights are very supportive of Jews and Israelis for their own reasons. It has been one of the strangest alliances in American History. (The Christian Right’s support of Israel is based on a skewed interpretation of Bible prophecy that, according to the various scenarios, predicts the death of millions of Jews, all part of end-time events to precede the second coming of Jesus. Meanwhile those Jews who aren’t slaughtered will accept Jesus as the Messiah and become, in the words of Hal Lindsey (one of the best-selling purveyors of this theology): “144,000 Jewish Billy Grahams turned loose at once!”

      2. Prophet Avatar

        You might find this link helpful. You can read the rest of the strange alliance story.

        Liberty magazine.

      3. prophet i’m very aware of this catch 22 vision of the christians. they are helping israel achieve its “doomsday” so that they can fullfill the doctrines that the second coming of christ will come to save them.

        my argument has always been which god and which christ is gonna come to save a people who is trying hard to destroy another people so that they can be saved.

        absolute baffling thinking.

  15. Tim, my friend, that may be the official situation and stance between Israel and the US but Israel’s leaders have been caught time and time again saying that THEY are the ones that have the US wrapped around their finger and even about Iran, Netenyahu and some other leader were saying that if Israel wants to bomb Iran, then it will, with or without the US’ approval.

    don’t forget Joe Biden’s visit and their announcement of the settlements on the same day…this was an indirect message to the US that Israel will do what it wants, when it wants….

    many americans are starting to realize this and are even petitionning(whatever that can accomplish) to stop unconditional support of Israel.

    1. Jean Haddad Avatar
      Jean Haddad

      Cathy, I am totally in agreement regarding Israel. For Israel is like live or die in case of nukes they will wait till hhe Iranian insert the last screw on the reactor and here they become unstoppable to hit Iran without any further approval.

      1. Exactly Jean!

  16. Tim, also, I am not sure where you got the info that Israel develops US military techonology? do you have any source?

    this is an article I found, it seems the US funds some R&D but for israli military techonology and not the other way around.

    “U.S. Arms Transfers and Security Assistance to Israel

    An Arms Trade Resource Center Fact Sheet

    by William D. Hartung and Frida Berrigan

    U.S. press coverage of Israeli attacks on the Palestinian Authority and Palestinian towns on the West Bank often treat the U.S. government as either an innocent bystander or an honest broker in the current conflict, often without giving a full sense of the importance of the United States role as a supplier of arms, aid, and military technology to Israel. In its role as Israel’s primary arms supplier, the United States could exert significant potential leverage over Israeli behavior in the conflict, if it chooses to do so.

    Military and Economic Aid

    Since 1976, Israel had been the largest annual recipient of U.S. foreign assistance. According to a November 2001 Congressional Research Service report, Israel: U.S. Foreign Assistance, U.S. aid to Israel in the last half century has totaled a whopping $81.3 billion.

    In recent years, Israel remains the top recipient of U.S. military and economic assistance. The most commonly cited figure is $3 billion a year, with about $1.8 billion a year in Foreign Military Financing (FMF) grants from the Department of Defense and an additional $1.2 billion a year in Economic Support Funds (ESF) from the Department of State. In the last decade FMF grants to Israel have totaled $18.2 billion. In fact, 17% of all U.S. foreign aid is earmarked for Israel.

    For 2003, the Bush administration is proposing that Israel receive $2.76 billion in foreign aid, with $2.1 billion in FMF and $600 million in ESF. An additional $28 million will go to Israel for the purchase U.S. manufactured counter terrorism equipment.

    Weapons Sales and Grants

    Israel is one of the United State’s largest arms importers. In the last decade, the United States has sold Israel $7.2 billion in weaponry and military equipment, $762 million through Direct Commercial Sales (DCS), more than $6.5 billion through the Foreign Military Financing (FMF) program.

    In fact, Israel is so devoted to U.S. military hardware that it has the world’s largest fleet of F-16s outside the U.S., currently possessing more than 200 jets. Another 102 F-16s are on order from Lockheed Martin.

    The United States has also underwritten Israel’s domestic armaments industry, by giving:

    $1.3 billion to develop the Lavi aircraft (cancelled)

    $625 million to develop and deploy the Arrow anti-missile missile (an ongoing project)

    $200 million to develop the Merkava tank (operative); the latest version, the Merkava 4, uses a German V-12 diesel engine produced under license in the U.S. by General Dynamics

    $130 million to develop the high-energy laser anti-missile system (ongoing).

    While overall aid to Israel is slated to decrease over the next five years, military aid will increase significantly. One of President Clinton’s last acts was to sign an agreement with Israel, phasing out the ESF by 2008. At the same time, FMF funds to Israel will increase $60 million each year, reaching $2.4 billion by 2008.

    Free Weapons to Israel

    The U.S. also gives Israel weapons and ammunition as part of the Excess Defense Articles (EDA) program, providing these articles completely free of charge. Between 1994-2001 the U.S. provided many weapons through this program, including:

    64,744 M-16A1 rifles

    2,469 M-204 grenade launchers

    1,500 M-2 .50 caliber machine guns

    .30 caliber, .50 caliber, and 20mm ammunition

  17. Before I go any further I hope everyone is aware I was born in Lebanon and currently a very proud american citizen. After this call me a jew sympathizer call me whatever you want I have seen things with my own eyes when I was a lebanese living in Lebanon, a Lebanese living abroad, and an American living in US and Lebanon.

    A) Regarding American unemployment of %10 which is some what at the highest point in decades, I am not sure where you got your info that it is related to Israel job outsourcing while we have hundreds of thousands of jobs outsourced to China, India and Pakistan. Not to mention the millions of illegal immigrants with american jobs. So to answer your question EVERYONE is leaching off US in one way or another.

    B) In the case of Israel as I mentioned before when it comes to Arms “YES” their are lots of american military support actually the highest is to Israel, and in any case in such scenario some israelis can certainly say they control US. But they don’t. When Israel plans on taking military actions it IS a fact that they need permission from US.

    C) Again I’ll outline some of the major benefits of Israel’s US relation.

    1. RND which despite what was mentioned by Cathy or whoever google American Israeli Arms Research and you’ll find out more. How do you think the Iron Dome system was created? Many laser systems right now are being developed by joint ventures.

    2. US loves to have someone like Israel to do their dirty work when need be.

    3. Israel always take the brunt of any American incursion or invasion in the Middle East and therefore must be assisted at all cost.

    When it comes to Lebanon and the assistance to LAF I am ALL for assisting the LAF gradually from basic necassities to advanced technology but in due time. The fact remains Lebanon is considered by many US thinktanks as a failed state. You can not provide advanced weaponry in a country where they easily can be taken by your enemies.

    Personally I think Lebanese officials need to tuck their tail between their legs, apologize for this mishap and continue letting things go the way they were and if possible on the side the increase the LAF budget and persue some advanced weaponry else where this way instead of wondering between the 100M assistance of the US and 65M budget they would have a 165M to work with.

    I hope eventually we’ll have some rational thinking in lebanon that would conquer and who knows realize what we are, where we are, and how to truly become a nation.

    1. yo guys what tim is trying to say is that he’s a sell out. he probably vomits when he has to lie and say he’s lebanese. what arab will ever sympathise with israel or try to defend it? oh yeah, we do have israeli spies dont we?

      tim bro, how can you possibly say that lebanon is a failed state when it has rebuilt itself 7 times and each time has come back more beautiful and wiser.

      lebanons equal distribution of seats in proportion to its sects has as a matter of fact prevented it from sinking to various outside forces that have tried to sway it one way or another.

      many articles point to this fact.

      the LAF isnt a bunch of beginners. these are guys who’ve tasted blood and lived it.

      it wont take these boys more than 8 weeks to train on a weapon cos the bravado is in their blood and you cant learn that. you might act tough, but, look at hizbollah in 2006 with their primitive weaponry.

      again, i’m not talking about who won or lost here.

      but look at the 160 israeli killed ALL MILTARY PERSONNEL. how much machismo could one possibly have to be this accurate.

      israel with all its advanced weaponry killed 1200 civilians and hardly any militaary personnel.

      the LAF is ready and i would give it everything i got if i can cos they’re thirsty to prove themselves and i have faith in my men.

      as for your unemployment issue, i was merely stating to you that israel builds all american weaponry, well, i wasnt agreeing with you but i was stating what a contradiction that would be when the unemployment is high and israel is stealing US money and jobs.

      israel doesnt care about the US nor does it respect its leaders. they walk in the white house like they own it and there are a few disgruntled men of high ranks voicing concerns and i bet you, small upheavals will begin to take place in the next 10 years.

      should the US turn its tap off for one day financially, imagine what would happen to israel. they would cry bloody murder.

      imagine what would happen if the money tap is closed for 2 days?

      slowly but surely the days will come when these taps will begin to dry up cos the US is being bought up by china, saudi, dubai, japan and others so, if these countries pull out of the US, it will crumble and if it crumbles, israeal will be finished.

      israel’s glory days are numbered cos more and more companies and universities and countires are divesting from israeli companies so the noose is tightening in other areas which means the US wont be the sugar daddy saviour anymore, israel will have to answer to the world.

      1. **i was merely stating to you that IF israel builds all american weaponry**

      2. Yes I am a sell out… This is what is wrong with Lebanese you can not have an intellectual arguement without being called a traitor or whatever else you want even a spy now adays.

        I didn’t say Lebanon is a failed state, this all comes from Washington Reports on Lebanon. If you read the news as much as you comment on it than you saw this comment some where.

        I have no idea how the heck my comments are considered defending Israel. I am simply stating how the dynamics between US and Israel and how does the US politics consider Israel. This is NOT my personal opinion this is why/how US treats Israel the way they are now.

        Personally I do not agree with them, nor do I condone them.

  18. Sorry Lebanon do not tuck its tail and its israel who needs to applogize to Lebanon. Every war they leave cluster bombs and many people are killed because of that. did they ever applogize for the innocent civilians that get killed or heavly injured because of that alone. Israel has bombarded lebanon with no mercy and never felt bad about lebanon. They bombed areas in 2006 where no sites of hezbollah. they keep pushing lebanon around for many years and take it for granted. Now i am not a hezbollah supporter but finally someone is standing up to them and they don’t like one damn bit. Who pushed George Bush into war with Iraq instead of going into afghanistan in the first place and finish off Al Qaada.. Who pushed the Palestinians to Lebanon and then when the PLO tried to fight them to get back, they showed no mercy on lebanon. Maybe Lebanon you say took them, but did israel ever give lebanon anything to pay for their welfare? israel wants us and Jordan to take the palestinians so they can have all the lands. Maybe long time jews lived in Palestine. If it was their land why did the leave it in the first place? Israel wants it every way and it doesn’t give anything back. I still remember reading a book by an ex-mossad agent who wrote about the bombing of the american barrakcs in Lebanon. The truck was full of explosive heading toward the school and Mossad had a hidden checkpoint according to him. They knew about it and where it was going. Some asked let’s inform the americans about it. At the time there were frictions between the Marines and IDF. Based on his words(Mossad agent). they mossad in charge said F.. the americans let them get what they deserve. Maybe these are not the exacts words but what he meant is we’re not telling them after what the marines tried to stop us from advancing in certain areas in Beirut. Their aim to drive a bigger rift between the Shiites and the Americans and it worked really well. Of course the rift already started with Khomeini. But again that shows how much israel cares about the US. Now let’s suppose the Mossad informed the Americans about the truck can you imagine they would have saved 256 marines just in the school housing them. And the same for the embassy. The fact is the jews care about themselves and they keep building settlements despite the American request not to do so. So you tell us that the US can request israel to bomb and they do it? i think you’re wrong Tim and its the other way around.

    israeli Lobby owns the us Congress and Senate. They choke anyone there who goes against them. The control the world financial market. They want to control who gets what weapons and if these countries posses high tech weapons to stop it. I am not a fan of iran but why should israel have nuclear weapons but not Iran? has israel signed any profilation treaty? why is it so special? you don’t think israel will not use nuclear weapons if it wanted to? its using many weapons during its war with Lebanon and some are banned? so what guarrantees us the israel will not attack Lebanon with nuclear weapons if cornered? why do we have to live in the shadow of israeli threats for the rest of our lives. Please ask them to take the Palestinians in Lebanon. Give us bank the farms and Ghajjar and leaves us the hell alone once and for all. We don’t want to make peace with them and we don’t want to deal with them because we can never trust them.

  19. I have not once said Israel is an angel or should be given a nobel peace prize. Israel has committed horrible crimes against humanity in Lebanon and Palestine and completely agree that Israel should also be accountable for their Nuclear weapons. I am with you %100 with this.

    But the idea that Israel has total control over the Congress and Senate thats close to rediculous. If so how come US donated to the LAF in the first place?

    Leave Lebanon the hell alone? Excuse me but do you think the world enjoys butting in everytime that the lebanese scream for help? Probably the highest amount of resolutions and paper work ever recorded in the UN would include “Lebanon” in them. You want to be left alone, than try to be an independant country first.

    1. Maybe israel do not have total control of congress. But there are very powerful senators and congressmen who are in total support of israel. Part of israel accepting weapons to LAF was to fight hezbollah. Second the weapons were increased after the LAF showed weakness to fight Fatah Al Islam. that was G. Bush idea to help fight terrorism in Lebanon and in doing so it doesn’t spread beyond the border. So the idea was for the LAF to fight maintain security internally. But you’re asking the LAF to applogize? i mean if they were mistaken, didn’t israel make mistakes with lebanon before? Isn’t israel already stealing Lebanon water, next the Gas and oil. everybody in the world want to butt in especially the countries whom they feel they’re helping lebanon. Syria butts in on regular basis. And as of late isn’t the israeli lobby succeeding in stoping the funds for the LAF? And its taking only 2 senators only. It was the AIPAC who pressured congress to approve military action aginst Iraq..yes Saddam was a butcher, but what have we accomplished so far? even as we say we want to withdraw. the iraqis are saying do not go or the country will be split. Why did we butt in there for? we accused them of aiding al Qaada and saddam hated al qaada and every muslim extremist out there. No body saying lebanon seems to be helpless and allowed ourselves to be i hate to say. But also instead of the US and arabs agreeing to syria enter the war in lebanon whom Henry Kissinger ploy to have the PLO take over Lebanon in order to keep the Palestinians away from israel. Wasn’t it many times israel tried to push the idea the Jordan is for palestinians and tried to get Arafat to take over? if we didn’t have palestinians, we would have probably wars between us and israel. And who pushed them to lebanon? we can try to be independent but how can we when we have so many outside influences interfering in the country.

  20. Guys I read all your interesting posts and you all seem to assume and take it for granted then our army knows what kind of weapons they need in the forst place 🙂 sorry if i sound sarcastic, but we all need to realize that each country according to its geography, foregin policies, demographies, etc… designs its Attack and Defensive Army/arms structures….i honestly dont ever think our army have ever did this exercise as of yet…henceforth, regardless to what USA, Iran, France, Saudi, etc… donates in terms of money or weapons to LAF it is still useless if we do not create the balance between the defensive strategy/weapons and the Offensive strategy/weapons….you need a defensive strategy to even protect your own amunitions and arms from being destroyed before you use them to attack your enemy…did you know that??!!!

    Guys what i am trying to say that our beloved highly respoected LAF has heart but does not have guidance/experience in highly sophisticated warfare. It would take years and years for LAF to get upgraded in terms of Arms,Strategy (Def. and Offensive), man power, training, etc… So does that mean we should never think of upgrading LAF ….ABSOLUTELY NOT… yet we need to be reasonable and manage our expectations here…. Regardless to what preconditions LAF or the Goverment signs with donating countries like the USA, France, etc…. they will never give you the kind of arms that will make our LAF outgun and small betalion in the Isreali Army, so let us get real here…

    Let our LAF know what they want in terms of type and quantity of weapons that will suit it is Offensive and Defensive Strategy, make an estimated budget and a timeframe for implementation, so once you have a NUMBER(BUDGET) you have a timeframe for implementation then as a country and as LAF you will have the decency to say we have done our homework we know what we need and here are the numbers….it is only then countries and the private sector will be serious enough to help our army…WE JUST NEED TO DO OUR HOMEWORK AND PRESENT OUR CASE PROFESSIONALLY.

    Who on earth said that the best weapons only win wars…it is the better strategy that wins war that does not cost much money now does it….THINK ABOUT IT 🙂

  21. Elias,

    Dude it’s not like I am not aware of what has Israel done to Lebanon. I friggin lived the civil war my entire childhood was ruined because of that trust me I am VERY aware of the atrocities Israel caused.

    Not anywhere have I said lets go have peace with Israel this is a complete different story, what I said is simple their are times to fight and times to play it wise for the sake of the nation.

    Lets face it “pride” is VERY costly. We are begging for assistance we can’t be beggers and choosers. Choose your fights wisely and get what you can. Once Lebanon can stand on it’s own feets pay off it’s debts and become a true strong nation and we can afford our own pride than by ALL MEANS do it. It’s ALL about politics sometimes you simply “survive to fight another day”.

    I understand my words are very harsh, but it is the truth and the truth sometimes is very hard to accept.

    Jad I am %100 in agreement with your statement. This is why this whole donation system from the US is perfect for our necassities right now it provides training, and basic material to kickstart our road to advanced tactical warefare.

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