US Sending More Arms to Lebanon to Fight Militants

http://www.commondreams.org/news/2014/08/15/us-sending-more-arms-lebanon-fight-militants



A Syrian refugee mother waits in line with her child to collect aid. The photograph was taken in Arsal before the latest displacement in the Lebanese town.

US Sending More Arms to Lebanon to Fight Militants
Deirdre Fulton, staff writer
Friday, August 15, 2014

The U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon announced Thursday that the United States will soon supply the Lebanese military with additional weaponry to help "secure Lebanon’s borders, protect Lebanon’s people, and fight these violent extremist groups."

The assistance comes after Lebanon requested emergency aid following deadly clashes earlier this month with Sunni militants in the eastern Arsal region of the country, on the Syrian border. In five days of fighting in early August, 19 Lebanese soldiers and more than 50 civilians were killed, with many more wounded; seven soldiers are still being held hostage by Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), and nine more are being held by Al-Nusra Front, a branch of Al Qaeda operating in Syria and Lebanon.

In addition, the battle forced thousands of women and children to flee, including Lebanese civilians and Syrian refugees seeking shelter from their own country's civil war. The UN estimates that by the end of this year, there could be close to 1.5 million Syrian refugees in Lebanon, which has long been the site of proxy wars in the Middle East.

Since 2006, the U.S. has provided more than $1 billion in military training and assistance to Lebanon's armed forces, $120 million of that since October 2013.

--

We have been militarizing our police since 1992 and our Department of State $ales office keeps arming the world.