Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Mysterious source of instability in Lebanon

White House --

On August 1, 2007, by Executive Order 13441, the President declared a national emergency with respect to Lebanon pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701-1706) to deal with the unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States constituted by the actions of certain persons to undermine Lebanon's legitimate and democratically elected government or democratic institutions; to contribute to the deliberate breakdown in the rule of law in Lebanon, including through politically motivated violence and intimidation; to reassert Syrian control or contribute to Syrian interference in Lebanon; or to infringe upon or undermine Lebanese sovereignty. Such actions contribute to political and economic instability in that country and the region. Certain ongoing activities, such as continuing arms transfers to Hizballah that include increasingly sophisticated weapons systems, serve to undermine Lebanese sovereignty, contribute to political and economic instability in Lebanon, and continue to constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States.

The rest of the statement says that the President will continue to exercise the powers under the order for another year. It's very difficult to tell what exactly is being done under the order. The list of sanctioned individuals seems to include just 4 people: Assaad Hardan, Hafez Makhluf, Wiyam Wahhab, and Michel Samaha. All seem to relate to old-style Damascus meddling in Lebanese politics, which is of a different order these days given the Assads' dependence on Hezbollah.

So what is this unmentioned source of these sophisticated weapons systems to Hezbollah which constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat to the security of the USA?

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