Lebanon: International Implications of March 8 Goverment

Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA) has introduced a new bill to “prohibit U.S. foreign assistance to a Hezbollah-dependent Lebanese government,” defined as a government where the terrorist organization is part of the majority coalition, such as the one recently announced by Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati. The bill has built-in exceptions for humanitarian, education and democracy assistance as well as military training. The U.S. has given Lebanon $800 million in military aid since 2005.

Elias Muhanna writes that Hezbollah does not stand to gain strategically from postponing the inevitable findings of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. Rather, it is in the organization’s interests to position itself for a favorable Lebanese government response to the indictments.