Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Jim Risch told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Lebanese must weaken Hezbollah’s grip over their country and work on “bucking the presence of the party once and for all.”
He said the Republican and Democratic parties want to support the Lebanese army and empower it in preserving security along the border with Syria and Blue Line with Israel.
Risch will be granted the Philip C. Habib Award for Distinguished Public Service by the American Task Force on Lebanon (ATFL) on Wednesday at a ceremony attended by former mediator between Lebanon and Israel Amos Hochstein and Lebanese-American businesswoman Micheline Nader.
Risch noted that Lebanon was a “at a critical moment. After decades, the Lebanese people have an opportunity to break free from Iran’s tyrannical stranglehold on Beirut.”
“The new leadership has an opportunity to restore Lebanese sovereignty and deliver a prosperous future for its people. But there is significant work to do,” he remarked.
“The new government must implement reforms to end corruption in Lebanon and buck the presence of Hezbollah once and for all,” he urged.
“Government control of customs, the airport, and routes in and out of Lebanon are critical to ensure we continue to weaken Hezbollah’s hold,” he stressed.
“Thanks to the courage of the people, Lebanon is on the right path. American support of the Lebanese Armed Forces has paid off and the LAF is finally in the position to displace Hezbollah once and for all,” Risch added.
“I will continue to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle and the Administration to support a safe, secure, and prosperous Lebanon,” he vowed.
Meanwhile, ATFL President Edward Gabriel told Asharq Al-Awsat that he had returned from Lebanon recently feeling more optimistic after he sensed a commitment by senior officials, including President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, to the ceasefire and economic reforms that will set the country on the right path.
Lebanon’s efforts are receiving direct assistance from US President Donald Trump’s administration and through Deputy Envoy to the Middle East Morgan Ortagus, who is expected to visit Beirut soon.
An American source told Asharq Al-Awsat that the US Congress had offered the Lebanese army great assistance in recent years.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, it said these funds were dedicated to training and equipping the military, raising its tactical and operational capabilities, and developing its forces to take on more duties, including border security with Syria and Israel.
Congress is hoping that the army would provide greater security along all of Lebanon’s borders as the country strives to impose control over its northern borders and rid areas south of the Litani of terrorist Hezbollah infrastructure, said the source.
Officials from the ATFL paid a visit to Lebanon recently where they met with Aoun, Salam, over 12 ministers and lawmakers, Army Commander Rodolph Haykal and Central Bank Governor Karim Souaid and others.
Gabriel told Asharq Al-Awsat that every one of the Lebanese officials is aware that time is not on Lebanon’s side if it wants US support in its reconstruction.
The US has made it clear that the implementation of reforms was a condition for any aid in reconstruction, he stressed.
For her part, Nader told Asharq Al-Awsat that she had urged President Aoun to confront the deep crisis of trust in Lebanon after years of economic collapse, political meddling in the country’s judiciary and rampant corruption.
She proposed some main steps that the Lebanese diaspora across the world can offer to their home country to help restore trust in Lebanon, including rebuilding the economy and financial sector after the Lebanese citizens were deprived of their deposits, estimated at around 93 billion dollars, because the state failed in paying its debts and because of the collapse of the banking sector.
