Hale: Daesh Posed No Threat to Lebanon until Hizbullah Went into War in Syria
U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon David Hale noted Tuesday that Washington has not given any “green light” for Hizbullah's military intervention in neighboring Syria, describing the party's involvement as the “magnet” that drew the extremist groups into Lebanon.
“I'm absolutely confident that the Lebanese army has both the will and the capacity to defend its borders,” Hale said in an interview with LBCI television.
Asked whether the U.S. silence on Hizbullah's involvement in the Qalamoun battle was some sort of a “green light” from Washington, Hale replied: “We've not given anyone the green light to do anything. What we're doing is focusing on the army and its mandate.”
“We very much support Lebanon's policy of dissociation from the conflict there and we think those who are breaking that policy of dissociation are responsible for a lot of the instability that Lebanon is facing today,” the U.S. envoy added.
Answering a question about al-Nusra Front, which is leading the fight against Hizbullah near Lebanon's border, Hale described the Qaida-linked group as a threat to “all civilized people” and to “all decent people in Lebanon.”
He added: “I would say that Daesh (Islamic State group) posed no threat to Lebanon until Hizbullah went into the war in Syria and that provided the magnet that drew these terrorists here.”
“I'm afraid that those external parties that are continuing to defend that regime are merely perpetuating the conflict and the suffering in Syria and in many ways pushing it into Lebanon,” Hale warned.
Asked about the Syrian regime's situations in light of the rebels' recent military gains, Hale noted that “it is clear that the Syrian regime is incapable of restoring order in Syria and of ending the battle.”
“So it is quite evident to us that there is no military solution and what needs to be found is that political transition which the Geneva process promised, and which is still on the table, and which ultimately is gonna be the only answer to the suffering of Syria,” he added.
As for the fate of Syrian President Bashar Assad in any political settlement, Hale stressed that “he cannot be part of any political solution by definition.”
Y.R.
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