LEBANON: Christian leader says Hezbollah should train army

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If Lebanon’s army cannot win in traditional warfare with Israel, then why not turn members of the official armed forces into the Hezbollah-type guerrilla fighters who once successfully resisted against the Jewish state’s military attacks?

The idea was recently raised by an unlikely Lebanese political player, Samir Geagea, a warlord-turned-politician who allied with Israel during Lebanon’s 1975-90 civil war and now heads an anti-Syrian Christian party.

(He was profiled recently in the Los Angeles Times.)

Geagea was speaking at a Monday meeting in which Lebanon’s top political leaders gathered to discuss the future of Hezbollah’s weapons arsenal, the nation’s most disputed issue.

This third round of discussions was part of a series of high-profile talks aimed at designing a ‘national defense strategy’ to counter the Israeli ‘threat,’ after the devastating war between Hezbollah and Israel in the summer of 2006.

Lebanon’s Western-backed factions have been calling on the Lebanese Shiite militant group to disarm and give way to the official army to defend the country against external dangers.

Elaborating on his own vision for national defense, Geagea said at the meeting that Lebanon should adopt a ‘Swiss model’ of neutrality with regard to outside powers, local media reported. He argued that this strategic position spared Switzerland the woes of World Wars I and II.

He reportedly said that Lebanon could not possibly have the means to equip its army to engage in a direct military confrontation with Israel, which is believed to have an army far superior to that of any other regional power, including Iran and the Arab states.

Instead, Geagea proposed that the country should form a ‘special force’ to be trained in guerrilla warfare by Hezbollah while remaining under the control of the Lebanese army.

Suggesting an espousal of the ‘Swiss model’ has a special connotation in the minds of the Lebanese. During the prosperous days before the civil war, Lebanon was hailed as the ‘Switzerland of the East.’

There is much talk currently in international circles about upgrading Lebanon’s official army. Moscow made an unexpected announcement last week to offer advanced jet fighters to Lebanon’s ill-equipped armed forces. The U.S. has significantly boosted its military support to Lebanon and is offering tanks and training.

Hopes are that a stronger official army could eventually supplant Hezbollah’s Iran-backed militia.

In the aftermath of a high-profile agreement in May that put an end to civil violence and led to the formation of a unity government, Lebanon’s Western-backed leaders demanded that Hezbollah place its weapons on the table in a series of national talks.

But observers say the current discussion sessions, which started in October, are far from serious and were designed only to pass the time until next spring’s parliamentary elections decide which political faction will be in charge of the country.

The fourth round of talks is scheduled to take place Jan. 22 next year. Until then, a specialized committee of military experts will be formed to look into various defense strategies.

Hezbollah’s plan to safeguard the country against Israel is still not clear, but the group’s opponents say that the Party of God is not ready to give up its weapons under any circumstances.

In a commentary posted this week, the Lebanese online English-language news outlet Now Lebanon accused Hezbollah of taking the discussions lightly:

-- Raed Rafei in Beirut