Hawkish Republican Senator Lindsey Graham has said “it’s time for Hezbollah to go” – and he’s willing to use military force to do it.
“They are trained by Iran, they are loyal to Iran, and we’re looking for military power in Lebanon to be loyal to the Lebanese people and a good partner to the region,” Graham, who is the Chair of the Senate Budget Committee, said at a press conference in Tel Aviv.
He made the comments soon after meeting with both Lebanese and Israeli officials. The Trump administration has been heavily pressuring the Lebanese government to disarm Hezbollah, even after it was greatly weakened after Israel took out its top leadership, including the slain longtime Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah, last year.
Graham declared: “If we cannot reach a peaceful disarmament solution for Hezbollah, then we need to look at Plan B. Plan B is disarming Hezbollah by military force.”
“Also, there is a decision made to eliminate UNIFIL as a U.N. peace keeping organization in the next 15 months. Now that presents an opportunity for the Lebanese Armed Forces to replace a very ineffective UNIFIL and prove to not only the Lebanese people, but Israel and others, that Lebanon has a capability it did not possess before,” the US senator went on to say.
He didn’t specify whether he envisions that American troops could be involved in such a military intervention – and he likely has foremost in his mind the Israelis and Lebanese taking action – but he’s one who has never shied away from using American soldiers in overseas conflicts.
US envoy to the region Tom Barrack had led the American delegation that visited Beirut this week, and there was plenty of controversy unleashed by the visit, and specifically when he chastised the Lebanese over being ‘civilized’ and not ‘animalistic’…
Hellbound and Down 