Inside the Pentagon has an interesting story on America's assistance to Lebanese special forces. Seems like a good idea to me, though I'm sure each side would have rather kept the deal quiet. No one in the Middle East wants to appear like a US stooge, but Lebanon's army is really the glue that holds together a fractured society.
Could Lebanon's army be a model for Iraq's? They're dealing with a similar set of paradoxes in terms of religiosity and sectarianism. Anyway...
The other things that's cool about this Lebanon deal is that my boy Dave Woroner was pretty close to inking a deal to supply the Lebanese army with his popular TacRail system. The deal didn't go through, but it's kinda cool to see a DT friend playing in this big deal.
From Inside the Pentagon:
Amid U.S. concerns that Iran and Syria are destabilizing Lebanon by supporting Hezbollah, the Pentagon is poised to bolster Beiruts military with new shipments of weapons, trucks and other gear.
The Pentagon will spend $7.2 million to equip Lebanons special forces with small arms, vehicles, night-vision sights for guns, Global Positioning System devices and clothing, Inside the Pentagon has learned.
Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Eric Edelman informed Congress of the details last month, noting the gear will enable Lebanons elite troops to conduct counterterrorism missions in both daylight and limited-visibility conditions.
Let's just hope those NVGs and small arms don't wind up in the hands of Hezbollah militiamen. But, yeah, that's right, they get their weapons straight from Iran.
-- Christian
