"... The time has come to reassess our relationship with Lebanon & the challenge posed by Hezbollah ..."

From (bless her heart) a 'friend' of the Arabs & a "great pair of legs" (as per President Elias Hrawi), Danielle Pletka, at the AEI/ here

"....... Despite a heightened awareness of terrorism and terrorist groups since 9/11, American policy toward Lebanon, Syria and Hezbollah remains confused--a mass of mixed signals and inconsistent approaches. Despite more than $1.6 billion in economic and military assistance to Lebanon since FY06 (including requests for FY2011), despite a concerted effort to reach out to the Assad regime in Damascus, and despite a willingness to overlook the increasingly dominant military and political role played by Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Obama administration has little to show for its efforts in the Levant.

In the wake of the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri in 2005--a murder in which Hezbollah was reportedly involved--the international community took a relatively hard line against Syria and its proxies. The resulting end to the Syrian military domination of Lebanon gave many of us hope that Lebanon was at last on track to regain the independence lost in 1976. Certainly, it seemed that Washington, at least, would no longer tolerate the exploitation of the Lebanese people by both Tehran and Damascus.

"this is 'included'..."

In the years that followed, there were troublesome developments that should only have fueled our commitment to helping Lebanon protect itself from Syrian and Iranian predations. In 2006, Hezbollah crossed Lebanon's southern border with Israel and kidnapped two Israeli soldiers, sparking a war between Israel and Hezbollah that resulted in substantial loss of life, including Lebanese civilians. How was it possible that one armed group could, without consultation or compunction, drag a nominally democratic nation into war? Worse still, Hezbollah's performance in that conflict revealed that what some in Israel and the U.S. had dismissed as a ragtag group of terrorists was a sophisticated, well trained and very well armed fighting machine.

The subsequent passage of U.N. Security Council resolution 1701 and its call for "no weapons without the consent of the Government of Lebanon and no authority other than that of the Government of Lebanon" appeared..... all but ignored in the face of repeated and flagrant violations.

And there were more frightening signs: revelations that Syria was pursuing a nuclear weapons capability; ... assassinations of anti-Syrian politicians in Lebanon; the collapse of the March 14 movement; Hezbollah's 2008 armed take-over of Beirut, and the subsequent capitulation of March 14 to Hezbollah's demands for a veto over government decisions.

During this political turmoil, Iran and Syria continued to rearm Hezbollah. Transfers, which were slow in the immediate aftermath of the 2006 war, ramped up quickly, and Hezbollah is now significantly better armed than it was in 2006. According to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, "Syria and Iran are providing Hezbollah with rockets and missiles of ever-increasing capability [and] we're at a point now, where Hezbollah has far more rockets and missiles than most government in the world." Consider the developments reported on AEI's Iran Tracker site from the last six months alone (citations and sources can be found on the site):

• The Times of London (suckles from the likes of Pletka!) reports that Israeli and American officials believe Syria transferred two Scud missiles into Lebanon, ...... According to the report, satellite imagery shows one of the secret arms facilities in Adra, Syria, where Hezbollah militants have living facilities and trucks to transport the missiles to Lebanon.)

• Hezbollah sources told the Kuwaiti paper al Rai (sometimes suckles from the likes of Pletka!) that the group had the capability to launch 15 tons of explosives at Israel every day....

• The Israeli Foreign Minister (no need for introduction!) said that the arms seized from a cargo plane in Bangkok in December 2009 were destined for Hezbollah and Hamas. .....originated in North Korea, was carrying 35 tons of weaponry including rockets and RPGs.

• In January, a busy month, the Washington Post (Hiatt & co. suckles from the 'fountain of Zionist Evil')reported that Hezbollah placed long-range rockets deep into Lebanon and the Beqa'a Valley; Hezbollah terrorists fired an anti-tank rocket at an IDF bulldozer that was clearing a minefield along the Israeli-Lebanese border, killing a soldier; and the Israeli navy seized an Iranian ship en route to Syria carrying weapons destined for Hezbollah from Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez; the Kuwaiti papers reported a U.S. official saying that Hezbollah operatives trained in Syria on SA2 anti-aircraft missile batteries; and finally UN peacekeepers uncovered 660 pounds of explosive devices near the border with Israel (this happened in December, but was reported in January).......

  In short, Hezbollah is effectively a state within a state in Lebanon, with an ever growing and ever more sophisticated long range arsenal. It is untrammeled by the Lebanese government to which it belongs and answerable to no one in that nation, but rather to the dictatorships in Damascus and Tehran. Sadly, hopes that Lebanese leaders answerable to the Lebanese people--and not to foreign powers--would regain control have not been realized. There is no more poignant symbol of that failure than the fact that as Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri was meeting with our own President Obama and his team, Lebanese President Michel Suleiman appeared on Hezbollah's television station, al Manar, praising Hezbollah and "calling on all Lebanese to embrace and protect [Hezbollah's] arms."

..... In short, Hezbollah is capable of waging war on its own behalf, ...... What this means for Lebanon is the continued erosion of the state, its subjugation to foreign interests, a loss of independent will and democracy and a potent threat to American allies and American interests. In the years since the Hezbollah-Israel war, the United States has pursued a policy aimed at bolstering the Lebanese state at the expense of Hezbollah..... If we hoped it would buy independence from Syria or Iran or an end to terrorist training camps--camps whose teachings have resulted in the death of American soldiers--we were wrong.

Rumors abound lately that the Obama administration is considering the wisdom of reaching out directly to Hezbollah to establish a dialogue. Recently, John Brennan, the White House's top counter-terrorism official, suggested the United States needed to find a way to "build up the more moderate elements" within Hezbollah, which he termed "a very interesting organization". His statements stand in stark contrast to those of other administration officials, including former DNI Denny Blair, who earlier this year refused to rule out a possible Hezbollah attack on the United States....

The time has come to reassess our relationship with Lebanon and the challenge posed by Hezbollah. I do not believe we will be served by greater rapprochement with Damascus or with their terrorist proxies.

Finally, at a certain moment it will be necessary for us to ask whether U.S. taxpayer dollars going to Lebanon are helping our friends, or subsidizing our enemies. If the support to Lebanon's army is not going to secure Lebanon's borders, and it's not going to rid Lebanon of terrorist groups, one might reasonably ask what it is going for. That's a question Congress has asked in years past, when Lebanon was a center of kidnapping, hijacking and murder. Thanks to Hezbollah, it is time to ask again."