U.S. official says supports funding for Lebanese army, denied aid halted
If the matter had not been leaked to the media, he said, no one would have event notice, because the process had not gone on long enough to even constitute a delay.
By TOVAH LAZAROFFDavid SchenkerAssistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs David Schenker(photo credit: COURTESY THE WASHINGTON INSTITUTE)
The United States supports the Lebanese Armed Forces and has not halted its financial assistance, Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs David Schenker told reporters in Jerusalem on Wednesday.“We consider the funding of the LAF to be a good investment,” Schenker said.He spoke just two days after Reuters reported that US President Donald Trump's administration had withheld $105 million in security aid for Lebanon, just after the resignation of Lebanese Prime Minister Sa'ad al-Hariri.The State Department told Congress on Thursday that the White House budget office and National Security Council had decided to withhold the foreign military assistance, the two officials had told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.Schenker said the US had not changed its policy with regard to supporting the Lebanese Armed Forces. He explained that the funds were undergoing “an internal process for reviewing financial assistance” adding that the State Department was a “good stewards of the tax payer dollar.”If the matter had not been leaked to the media, he said, no one would have event notice, because the process had not gone on long enough to even constitute a delay.“This not on hold, per se. This is part of the process. No money has been delayed in providing to the LAF. They did not miss getting any equipment. If there hadn’t been a leak there would not have any story. This continues to go through the legal process,” Schenker said.The internal process has nothing to do with an Israel request that financial assistance to the Lebanese army be conditioned on its activity against Hezbollah’s stockpiling of precision missiles to be used against Israel.“The US has a lot of confidence in the Lebanese Armed Forces. We think they are an excellent partner in fighting Sunni Jihadist terrorist,” Schenker said.“Of course, we listen our ally Israel, and we will take their request into consideration,” he said.
With regard to the disputed maritime border between Lebanon and Israel, Schenker said that the Lebanese were not yet ready to make a deal with Israel. The US, he said, is prepared to mediate such a deal, Schenker said.Schenker, who arrived in Israel on Wednesday night and is slated to leave on Thursday also addressed the issue of Iran and said that Trump was willing to meet his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani.“The president has demonstrated he is willing to meet with anyone [including] presidents [and] heads of state, with whom the US has profound disagreements, Iran is no different than that. Absolutely, the president is willing to meet with his counterpart,” Schenker said.The meeting has not happened because the Iranians have not wanted to speak with Trump.“I think the administration made clear they are willing to engage with the Iranians. We have pursued this maximum pressure campaign to bring Iran to the table. The [Iranian] regime had planned on waiting out the [Trump] administration but the economic pressure is so severe, double digit negative growth, for example, that they could not wait,” said Schenker.Iran has instead escalated its military activity, which he said was an obvious expression of frustration against the Trump administration “pressure campaign” of economic sanctions.There has been “amazing unthinkable strategic patience on the part of the President, but one has to ask whether his patience in infinite,” Schenker said.Reuters contributed to this report.