Pete
04-05-2011, 05:04
U.S. Freezes Weapons Shipments to Lebanon
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/143359
"The U.S. has quietly frozen weapon shipments to Lebanon's military after Hizbullah toppled a pro-Western government in January.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the arms freeze was recently approved by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, but the decision has not been made public so as not to interfere with "delicate internal negotiations" in Lebanon over the new government and its policies.
Since 2006, the U.S. has provided more than $720 million in support to Lebanon's armed forces.
Defense officials told WSJ the Pentagon is reviewing all U.S. security assistance to the Lebanese Armed Forces "during this period of government formation" and that any decision to renew shipments would depend on the U.S.'s assessment of the composition and policies of the next government.
The selection in January of Hizbullah-affiliated billionaire Najib Mikati as the new prime minister, confirmed the strength of the Islamist movement's position. Mikati took over for Saad Hariri, who enjoyed Western backing.
Israeli officials who met with their American counterparts asked that the U.S. suspend arms transfers to Lebanon "out of fear that [arms] would end up in the wrong hands and eventually be used against us," an Israeli official said.
According to new Israeli intelligence estimates, Hizbullah has built as many as 550 bunkers in southern Lebanon, as well as 100 storage units with missiles. Hizbullah has an estimated 40,000 to 60,000 rockets, far more than during the 2006 Lebanon war.............."
Damn, that's a lot of rockets. 60,000 divided by 100 = a lot of big booms.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/143359
"The U.S. has quietly frozen weapon shipments to Lebanon's military after Hizbullah toppled a pro-Western government in January.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the arms freeze was recently approved by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, but the decision has not been made public so as not to interfere with "delicate internal negotiations" in Lebanon over the new government and its policies.
Since 2006, the U.S. has provided more than $720 million in support to Lebanon's armed forces.
Defense officials told WSJ the Pentagon is reviewing all U.S. security assistance to the Lebanese Armed Forces "during this period of government formation" and that any decision to renew shipments would depend on the U.S.'s assessment of the composition and policies of the next government.
The selection in January of Hizbullah-affiliated billionaire Najib Mikati as the new prime minister, confirmed the strength of the Islamist movement's position. Mikati took over for Saad Hariri, who enjoyed Western backing.
Israeli officials who met with their American counterparts asked that the U.S. suspend arms transfers to Lebanon "out of fear that [arms] would end up in the wrong hands and eventually be used against us," an Israeli official said.
According to new Israeli intelligence estimates, Hizbullah has built as many as 550 bunkers in southern Lebanon, as well as 100 storage units with missiles. Hizbullah has an estimated 40,000 to 60,000 rockets, far more than during the 2006 Lebanon war.............."
Damn, that's a lot of rockets. 60,000 divided by 100 = a lot of big booms.