rival forces battling for control of Lebanon army

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As Lebanon hovers precariously on the brink of new upheaval, rival forces are battling for control of the army: the Western-backed government and the United States on one side, Hezbollah and its Iranian and Syrian mentors on the other.

The outcome of this increasingly intense competition will to a large extent determine where Lebanon is headed — and whether Iran secures complete uncontested control of a frontline base on Israel’s doorstep.

And right now Hezbollah seems to be winning. It has become the strongest military force in Lebanon, thanks to a steady flow of weapons, training and funding by Iran and Syria over the years but particularly since the Shiite group’s 2006 war with Israel.

When the 15-year Lebanese civil war ended in October 1990, Hezbollah was the only major militia to hold on to its arms, claiming it needed them to fight Israeli occupation. That ended May 24, 2000, when the Israelis withdrew from their last foothold in South Lebanon 22 years after its first invasion.

But Hezbollah, with strongholds in the north, Beirut and the south, still refused to disarm, raising fears it — or Iran — had designs on eventually taking over the country.

It still refuses to give up its arsenal, or merge with the state army, in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions.

And no one, least of all U.S.-backed Prime Minister Saad Hariri, is prepared to the take risk of trying to make it do so.

“Faced with the impossibility of trying to resolve the question of Hezbollah’s weapons, both Hezbollah and Hariri are trying to draw the army closer to their side, in order improve their political position,” Oxford Analytica said in Sept. 3 analysis.

“Given the structural constraints that work against the army’s clear alignment with either, it has tried to stay neutral and passive.

“This stance may be unsustainable in the event of wider clashes. However, a more active approach would create a significant risk of fragmentation along sectarian lines.”

Not for the first time. During the 1985-90 civil war, the army splintered along sectarian lines: Maronite Catholic, the main Christian sect, as well as Shiite, Sunni and Druze Muslim.

In 1984, Muslim forces, including troops, took over West Beirut, breaking with the Maronite presidency in East Beirut.

Once Syria withdrew the last of its military forces from Lebanon in April 2005, under international pressure triggered by the February assassination of billionaire former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, Lebanon’s leading statesman, the Americans saw an opening to build up the army to support the pro-Western government that emerged from the upheaval.

Since 2006, Washington has provided the Lebanese armed forces, which has traditionally been kept weak by the political barons who control the various sects, with military aid worth $700 million.

But after the 56,000-strong army, still outgunned by the battle-hardened Hezbollah, clashed with Israeli forces in August, the first such engagement in years, the U.S. Congress cut off the aid.

The bipartisan lawmakers involved said they feared the army was moving too close to Hezbollah and that U.S. equipment could find its way to Hezbollah to be used against Israel.

Up to that point, the army had stayed on the sidelines in the sectarian feuding, although an estimated 60 percent of its personnel is Shiite.

Given Hezbollah’s confrontation with the government of Saad Hariri, the Sunni leader and son of the slain prime minister, over the U.N.-mandated special tribunal’s widely expected indictment of Hezbollah operatives in the 2005 assassination, there are fears in some quarters the group may seek to mount a coup.

The controversial visit last week of firebrand Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Lebanon was widely seen by Hezbollah’s opponents as a sign Tehran now sees Lebanon firmly in its grip.

Hezbollah denies it has it has a coup in mind. But it has turned its guns on its fellow Lebanese before — something Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah had vowed his movement would never do.

In May 2008, its fighters invaded Sunni West Beirut after the government sought to dismantle the group’s private communications network. More than 80 people were killed in what was a serious setback for Saad Hariri’s coalition.

On Aug. 24, Hezbollah clashed again with Beirut’s Sunnis in the Bourj Abi Haidar district. Three people, including a Hezbollah chieftain, were killed. UPI

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26 responses to “rival forces battling for control of Lebanon army”

  1. Thanks for the article and its definitely a dangerous especially if the Army stood by the Shiites against other Lebanese it might divide the army again as it did in the civil war. Hezbollah will not care if it did, since its mostly made up of Shiites, therefore it will take over the rest. But if the Shiites in the army or any other LAF soldiers have any brains they would try to stay United and do not let this happen. Karami succeeded in dividing the army instead of letting it fight the PLO and stop the civil war. Hezbollah already blacklisted by many Lebanese and internationally it would be bad for it in the long run. Iran will be defeated as its trying to antagonize the West and Israel which will lead to war. It will not be easy but having less crazy regime like that gone from the axis of evil will certainly help. Hezbollah will be defeated by summer long and it will pay heavy price for its arrogance and belligerence. this cannot stay like that for too long and enough is enough.

  2.  Avatar

    Thanks for the article and its definitely a dangerous especially if the Army stood by the Shiites against other Lebanese it might divide the army again as it did in the civil war. Hezbollah will not care if it did, since its mostly made up of Shiites, therefore it will take over the rest. But if the Shiites in the army or any other LAF soldiers have any brains they would try to stay United and do not let this happen. Karami succeeded in dividing the army instead of letting it fight the PLO and stop the civil war. Hezbollah already blacklisted by many Lebanese and internationally it would be bad for it in the long run. Iran will be defeated as its trying to antagonize the West and Israel which will lead to war. It will not be easy but having less crazy regime like that gone from the axis of evil will certainly help. Hezbollah will be defeated by summer long and it will pay heavy price for its arrogance and belligerence. this cannot stay like that for too long and enough is enough.

  3. To whom it may concerns and feel like reading this article from Debka. I am not sure I believe it myself and I was not up to date on the Iranian President which areas he visited in Lebanon but i do find this article interesting if this is really happened.
    Despite Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad’s efforts to ham up his groundbreaking visit to Lebanon last week, debkafile’s military sources quote Western and Arab observers as summing it up as a dud and a shambles. Lebanese leaders clamped down on his performance in the South on Thursday, Oct. 10, and spoiled his plan for a grand display of hostile power opposite Israel.

    That day, after receiving a University of Beirut honorary doctorate, the visitor was tackled over lunch by Lebanese President Michel Suleiman and chief of staff Gen. Jean Qahwaji who demanded that he rearrange his South Lebanon itinerary.

    The original plan was for Ahmadinejad, with Hizballah chief Hassan Nasrallah beside him, to drive down the coast to the south past cheering and waving crowds. The Hizballah leader was to be the co-star of the event and their cavalcade’s security escort entrusted to armed Hizballah men and Iranian Revolutionary Guards instead of Lebanese military soldiers.

    In the event, Suleiman and Gen. Qahwaji insisted on cutting Hizballah out of any security tasks and the national army be exclusively responsible for his safety throughout the visit.

    This decision set off furious arguments, with Nasrallah threatening to torpedo the entire event if he was not permitted to accompany Ahmadinejad on his tour of the Lebanese-Israel border.

    According to debkafile’s sources, the visitor finally bowed to his hosts’ demand. As a result, Ahmadiinejad’s trip South started late Thursday afternoon and had to be rushed through the two hours remaining before nightfall. The triumphal coastal drive was called off and the Iranian president carried to Bin Jbeil in S. Lebanon, some two kilometers from the Israeli border, by a Lebanese army helicopter. The troops refused to let Nasrallah climb aboard the chopper and he was left behind.

    So furious was the Hizballah chief at being thrown of the helicopter and left out of the high point of his boss’s visit that he ordered his top commanders to boycott the ceremonial welcome for Ahmadinejad at Bin Jbeil. They were therefore conspicuous by their absence. By the time the speech was over, the light was fading and the Lebanese officers accompanying Ahmadinejad told him that the helicopter flight in the dark to his next stop at Maroun a-Ras, right on the border, was too risky to undertake so late.

    Ahmadinejad had to give up his ultimate provocation of reviewing the battlefields of the 2006 Israel-Hizballah war within the sight of Israel and standing alongside the golden replica of Al Aqsa in Jerusalem which Hizballah had constructed in his honor.

    In this way, the Lebanese president and chief of staff managed to keep the Iranian president away from the border with Israel and staging the confrontational poses to which his visit had been building up.

    At the time, the delay in Ahmadinejad’s arrival in the South was explained as caused by his effort to persuade Prime Minister Saad Hariri to dismantle the UN tribunal and so avoid having Hizballah officials indicted for complicity in the murder of his father Rafiq Hariri five years ago.
    The subject never arose between them, our sources report. The Lebanese prime minister was already packing ready to fly to Riyadh and report to King Abdullah on the Ahmadinejad visit which the Saudis deeply resented.

    The following Sunday, Oct. 17, debkafile’s Middle East sources disclose that Jeffrey Feltman, US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, arrived in Beirut for a brief stop. He had been instructed to assess the damage Ahmadinejad’s visit had wrought to US interests in the country and report back to President Barack Obama.
    The American official was informed that the Iranian president had opted for giving his visit a Lebanese national character rather than reflecting Hizballah factional interests. The report he brought back to Washington was therefore favorable. Neither Ahmadinejad nor Nasrallah had obtained any of their objectives from the event.

  4. To whom it may concerns and feel like reading this article from Debka. I am not sure I believe it myself and I was not up to date on the Iranian President which areas he visited in Lebanon but i do find this article interesting if this is really happened.
    Despite Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad’s efforts to ham up his groundbreaking visit to Lebanon last week, debkafile’s military sources quote Western and Arab observers as summing it up as a dud and a shambles. Lebanese leaders clamped down on his performance in the South on Thursday, Oct. 10, and spoiled his plan for a grand display of hostile power opposite Israel.

    That day, after receiving a University of Beirut honorary doctorate, the visitor was tackled over lunch by Lebanese President Michel Suleiman and chief of staff Gen. Jean Qahwaji who demanded that he rearrange his South Lebanon itinerary.

    The original plan was for Ahmadinejad, with Hizballah chief Hassan Nasrallah beside him, to drive down the coast to the south past cheering and waving crowds. The Hizballah leader was to be the co-star of the event and their cavalcade’s security escort entrusted to armed Hizballah men and Iranian Revolutionary Guards instead of Lebanese military soldiers.

    In the event, Suleiman and Gen. Qahwaji insisted on cutting Hizballah out of any security tasks and the national army be exclusively responsible for his safety throughout the visit.

    This decision set off furious arguments, with Nasrallah threatening to torpedo the entire event if he was not permitted to accompany Ahmadinejad on his tour of the Lebanese-Israel border.

    According to debkafile’s sources, the visitor finally bowed to his hosts’ demand. As a result, Ahmadiinejad’s trip South started late Thursday afternoon and had to be rushed through the two hours remaining before nightfall. The triumphal coastal drive was called off and the Iranian president carried to Bin Jbeil in S. Lebanon, some two kilometers from the Israeli border, by a Lebanese army helicopter. The troops refused to let Nasrallah climb aboard the chopper and he was left behind.

    So furious was the Hizballah chief at being thrown of the helicopter and left out of the high point of his boss’s visit that he ordered his top commanders to boycott the ceremonial welcome for Ahmadinejad at Bin Jbeil. They were therefore conspicuous by their absence. By the time the speech was over, the light was fading and the Lebanese officers accompanying Ahmadinejad told him that the helicopter flight in the dark to his next stop at Maroun a-Ras, right on the border, was too risky to undertake so late.

    Ahmadinejad had to give up his ultimate provocation of reviewing the battlefields of the 2006 Israel-Hizballah war within the sight of Israel and standing alongside the golden replica of Al Aqsa in Jerusalem which Hizballah had constructed in his honor.

    In this way, the Lebanese president and chief of staff managed to keep the Iranian president away from the border with Israel and staging the confrontational poses to which his visit had been building up.

    At the time, the delay in Ahmadinejad’s arrival in the South was explained as caused by his effort to persuade Prime Minister Saad Hariri to dismantle the UN tribunal and so avoid having Hizballah officials indicted for complicity in the murder of his father Rafiq Hariri five years ago.
    The subject never arose between them, our sources report. The Lebanese prime minister was already packing ready to fly to Riyadh and report to King Abdullah on the Ahmadinejad visit which the Saudis deeply resented.

    The following Sunday, Oct. 17, debkafile’s Middle East sources disclose that Jeffrey Feltman, US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, arrived in Beirut for a brief stop. He had been instructed to assess the damage Ahmadinejad’s visit had wrought to US interests in the country and report back to President Barack Obama.
    The American official was informed that the Iranian president had opted for giving his visit a Lebanese national character rather than reflecting Hizballah factional interests. The report he brought back to Washington was therefore favorable. Neither Ahmadinejad nor Nasrallah had obtained any of their objectives from the event.

  5.  Avatar

    To whom it may concerns and feel like reading this article from Debka. I am not sure I believe it myself and I was not up to date on the Iranian President which areas he visited in Lebanon but i do find this article interesting if this is really happened.
    Despite Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad’s efforts to ham up his groundbreaking visit to Lebanon last week, debkafile’s military sources quote Western and Arab observers as summing it up as a dud and a shambles. Lebanese leaders clamped down on his performance in the South on Thursday, Oct. 10, and spoiled his plan for a grand display of hostile power opposite Israel.

    That day, after receiving a University of Beirut honorary doctorate, the visitor was tackled over lunch by Lebanese President Michel Suleiman and chief of staff Gen. Jean Qahwaji who demanded that he rearrange his South Lebanon itinerary.

    The original plan was for Ahmadinejad, with Hizballah chief Hassan Nasrallah beside him, to drive down the coast to the south past cheering and waving crowds. The Hizballah leader was to be the co-star of the event and their cavalcade’s security escort entrusted to armed Hizballah men and Iranian Revolutionary Guards instead of Lebanese military soldiers.

    In the event, Suleiman and Gen. Qahwaji insisted on cutting Hizballah out of any security tasks and the national army be exclusively responsible for his safety throughout the visit.

    This decision set off furious arguments, with Nasrallah threatening to torpedo the entire event if he was not permitted to accompany Ahmadinejad on his tour of the Lebanese-Israel border.

    According to debkafile’s sources, the visitor finally bowed to his hosts’ demand. As a result, Ahmadiinejad’s trip South started late Thursday afternoon and had to be rushed through the two hours remaining before nightfall. The triumphal coastal drive was called off and the Iranian president carried to Bin Jbeil in S. Lebanon, some two kilometers from the Israeli border, by a Lebanese army helicopter. The troops refused to let Nasrallah climb aboard the chopper and he was left behind.

    So furious was the Hizballah chief at being thrown of the helicopter and left out of the high point of his boss’s visit that he ordered his top commanders to boycott the ceremonial welcome for Ahmadinejad at Bin Jbeil. They were therefore conspicuous by their absence. By the time the speech was over, the light was fading and the Lebanese officers accompanying Ahmadinejad told him that the helicopter flight in the dark to his next stop at Maroun a-Ras, right on the border, was too risky to undertake so late.

    Ahmadinejad had to give up his ultimate provocation of reviewing the battlefields of the 2006 Israel-Hizballah war within the sight of Israel and standing alongside the golden replica of Al Aqsa in Jerusalem which Hizballah had constructed in his honor.

    In this way, the Lebanese president and chief of staff managed to keep the Iranian president away from the border with Israel and staging the confrontational poses to which his visit had been building up.

    At the time, the delay in Ahmadinejad’s arrival in the South was explained as caused by his effort to persuade Prime Minister Saad Hariri to dismantle the UN tribunal and so avoid having Hizballah officials indicted for complicity in the murder of his father Rafiq Hariri five years ago.
    The subject never arose between them, our sources report. The Lebanese prime minister was already packing ready to fly to Riyadh and report to King Abdullah on the Ahmadinejad visit which the Saudis deeply resented.

    The following Sunday, Oct. 17, debkafile’s Middle East sources disclose that Jeffrey Feltman, US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, arrived in Beirut for a brief stop. He had been instructed to assess the damage Ahmadinejad’s visit had wrought to US interests in the country and report back to President Barack Obama.
    The American official was informed that the Iranian president had opted for giving his visit a Lebanese national character rather than reflecting Hizballah factional interests. The report he brought back to Washington was therefore favorable. Neither Ahmadinejad nor Nasrallah had obtained any of their objectives from the event.

  6. Eli Starr Avatar

    In the past, Maronites used to say “France is our mother” and were loyal to Paris more than Beirut. During the civil war, France didn’t help them at all. They realized that only Lebanese can help another Lebanese and became convinced that Lebanon comes first in loyalty. Sunni’s thought that Arabs are their protectors and were loyal to Abd Alnaser more than Lebanon. During the 1982 Israelis invasion of Lebanon, Sunnis shouted and screamed from the bottom of their hearts on the Arabs to help them, but got nothing. They changed their tones and became loyal to Lebanon more than any other Arab country. Now, Nusrallah, the head of Hizballah has declared openly that “Lebanese presidency doesn’t concern him and his complete loyalty is toward Iran.” Also he said openly that “Wilayat Al-Faqeeh” is his aim and objective. Mark my word, soon Nusrallah will realize that Iran isn’t his friend and protector, as it serves its own interest in the Middle East and using him as a proxy to fulfill its objectives. We will welcome Nusrallah and his followers to the Lebanese family, as he’ll soon find that only his Lebanese brothers and sisters of any religion or sect are truly his protectors, as the Christians and Sunnis have found before. It is time for the Lebanese to wake up and give full loyalty and efforts to their beautiful country first.

    1. Eli we are from the same school of thought … I agree 100%

      1. Abousteif Avatar

        I would like to second that ๐Ÿ˜€

        1. You would like to second what exactly …?

      2. Abousteif Avatar

        I would like to second your statement with regards to your opinion of EliStarr’s take on the matter of Hizballah and the Shiaa sect.

        I think it makes complete sense and I just hope it happens sooner and not later Inshallah, cause we dont want a war to take place in order for them to realize it.

        So with your permision Choueri:

        Eli we are from the same school of thought.. I agree 100%

        ๐Ÿ™‚ Cheers and Peace Choueri

    2. Hannibal Avatar

      Don’t touch ummuna el 7anuun ha ๐Ÿ˜› lol

  7. Eli Starr Avatar

    In the past, Maronites used to say “France is our mother” and were loyal to Paris more than Beirut. During the civil war, France didn’t help them at all. They realized that only Lebanese can help another Lebanese and became convinced that Lebanon comes first in loyalty. Sunni’s thought that Arabs are their protectors and were loyal to Abd Alnaser more than Lebanon. During the 1982 Israelis invasion of Lebanon, Sunnis shouted and screamed from the bottom of their hearts on the Arabs to help them, but got nothing. They changed their tones and became loyal to Lebanon more than any other Arab country. Now, Nusrallah, the head of Hizballah has declared openly that “Lebanese presidency doesn’t concern him and his complete loyalty is toward Iran.” Also he said openly that “Wilayat Al-Faqeeh” is his aim and objective. Mark my word, soon Nusrallah will realize that Iran isn’t his friend and protector, as it serves its own interest in the Middle East and using him as a proxy to fulfill its objectives. We will welcome Nusrallah and his followers to the Lebanese family, as he’ll soon find that only his Lebanese brothers and sisters of any religion or sect are truly his protectors, as the Christians and Sunnis have found before. It is time for the Lebanese to wake up and give full loyalty and efforts to their beautiful country first.

    1. Eli we are from the same school of thought … I agree 100%

      1. Abousteif Avatar

        I would like to second that ๐Ÿ˜€

        1. You would like to second what exactly …?

      2. Abousteif Avatar

        I would like to second your statement with regards to your opinion of EliStarr’s take on the matter of Hizballah and the Shiaa sect.

        I think it makes complete sense and I just hope it happens sooner and not later Inshallah, cause we dont want a war to take place in order for them to realize it.

        So with your permision Choueri:

        Eli we are from the same school of thought.. I agree 100%

        ๐Ÿ™‚ Cheers and Peace Choueri

    2. Hannibal Avatar

      Don’t touch ummuna el 7anuun ha ๐Ÿ˜› lol

  8.  Avatar

    In the past, Maronites used to say “France is our mother” and were loyal to Paris more than Beirut. During the civil war, France didn’t help them at all. They realized that only Lebanese can help another Lebanese and became convinced that Lebanon comes first in loyalty. Sunni’s thought that Arabs are their protectors and were loyal to Abd Alnaser more than Lebanon. During the 1982 Israelis invasion of Lebanon, Sunnis shouted and screamed from the bottom of their hearts on the Arabs to help them, but got nothing. They changed their tones and became loyal to Lebanon more than any other Arab country. Now, Nusrallah, the head of Hizballah has declared openly that “Lebanese presidency doesn’t concern him and his complete loyalty is toward Iran.” Also he said openly that “Wilayat Al-Faqeeh” is his aim and objective. Mark my word, soon Nusrallah will realize that Iran isn’t his friend and protector, as it serves its own interest in the Middle East and using him as a proxy to fulfill its objectives. We will welcome Nusrallah and his followers to the Lebanese family, as he’ll soon find that only his Lebanese brothers and sisters of any religion or sect are truly his protectors, as the Christians and Sunnis have found before. It is time for the Lebanese to wake up and give full loyalty and efforts to their beautiful country first.

    1.  Avatar

      Eli we are from the same school of thought … I agree 100%

      1.  Avatar

        I would like to second that ๐Ÿ˜€

        1.  Avatar

          You would like to second what exactly …?

      2.  Avatar

        I would like to second your statement with regards to your opinion of EliStarr’s take on the matter of Hizballah and the Shiaa sect.

        I think it makes complete sense and I just hope it happens sooner and not later Inshallah, cause we dont want a war to take place in order for them to realize it.

        So with your permision Choueri:

        Eli we are from the same school of thought.. I agree 100%

        ๐Ÿ™‚ Cheers and Peace Choueri

    2. Don’t touch ummuna el 7anuun ha ๐Ÿ˜› lol

  9. joseph_phdmath Avatar
    joseph_phdmath

    i think the army will do there job ;they wo,nt be only defending the state but also there families and there future and livlehood why would they want to risk loosing evrything just for the sake of the persians if they disobey the army they lost evrything!!!
    as far as the persian they are unpredictable they have lied before they can lie now they could not be trusted so beaware the rest of the country and be prepared just in case

  10. joseph_phdmath Avatar
    joseph_phdmath

    i think the army will do there job ;they wo,nt be only defending the state but also there families and there future and livlehood why would they want to risk loosing evrything just for the sake of the persians if they disobey the army they lost evrything!!!
    as far as the persian they are unpredictable they have lied before they can lie now they could not be trusted so beaware the rest of the country and be prepared just in case

  11.  Avatar

    i think the army will do there job ;they wo,nt be only defending the state but also there families and there future and livlehood why would they want to risk loosing evrything just for the sake of the persians if they disobey the army they lost evrything!!!

    as far as the persian they are unpredictable they have lied before they can lie now they could not be trusted so beaware the rest of the country and be prepared just in case

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