ANSD : Rome II just the start of the road for Lebanon

SUN 24 - 11 - 2024

Date: Mar 17, 2018
Source: The Daily Star

Rome II just the start of the road for Lebanon

_{Joseph Haboush| The Daily Star}
The level of support shown at the Rome II conference Thursday illustrated again that Lebanon’s security remains the red line for the international community but also underscored the work the government must do to obtain major additional assistance.

In his opening remarks at the summit in the Italian capital, Prime Minister Saad Hariri asked the world to give Lebanon “a chance and time to accomplish [its vision].”

Statements were made and meetings were held for almost three hours, after which the Lebanese Army and Internal Security Forces presented their five-year plans to those interested in helping.

France, the United Kingdom and the European Union all made announcements of funding, in decisions that appeared to have been hashed out in their respective capitals after numerous meetings with Lebanese officials in Beirut in the preceding weeks.

The U.S. made a statement of support that highlighted the $1.7 billion that has been given to the Army and over $160 million to the Internal Security Forces since 2006. It also announced a new $9 million investment in ISF training and facilities, subject to Congressional approval.

The rest of the countries spoke of their willingness to provide aid, but in time.

“We will support Lebanon’s Army and security forces depending on their needs. The Army shall decide what it needs and Saudi Arabia will see what it can [do], but it [Saudi Arabia] is definitely going to help,” a Saudi diplomat in Rome told The Daily Star Friday.

The largely well-meaning statements that lacked no specific timelines indicated that international partners want to see certain action taken in Beirut before they step in with more help.

A similar tone was heard throughout speeches made about U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, with speakers reiterating that the Army is only legitimate force in Lebanon. Although no mentions were directly made of Hezbollah, it was clear that reference to 1701 and a National Defense Strategy were referring to the Iranian proxy in Lebanon.

Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Defense Minister Mohammad bin Abdullah al-Ayesh acknowledged the difficult political situation in Lebanon but stressed the “importance of the Lebanese people, before the Army, to feel unified and backed by the international community truly next to them.”

After President Michel Aoun announced that a National Defense Strategy would be discussed after the parliamentary elections in May, the international community jumped on the comments and seemed to say, “We’re here to help, but you must help yourselves first.”

In another sense, diplomats told Beirut to sort out internal Lebanese complexities and figure out what is needed in order to reach a defense strategy that partners can get behind.

After last year’s “Fajr al-Joroud” military operation by the Army to push Daesh (ISIS) militants from the northeast borderlands, reports of cooperation between the Army and Hezbollah – although denied strongly by the Army – did not go down well with some in the international community, especially those major supporters of the Army that see Hezbollah as a terrorist group.

This could have prompted Rome II’s pivot to also support the ISF, General Security and State Security – coupled with the more stable situation along Lebanon’s Syrian-facing perimeter – to consolidate the gains made in domestic security.

In turn, the Army would look to recruit, expand capability and show themselves to be doing what Hezbollah has long claimed the mantle of – defending the nation.

The expansion of the Army in south Lebanon to take on more roles with and instead of U.N. peacekeepers is crucial to this.

Once the Army and ISF have the capability to maintain a secure border and contain internal threats, focus can turn to the country’s crippled economy.

Hariri himself underlined why Rome II was held a month before April’s CEDRE conference for infrastructure investment. “Stability and security are underlying conditions for economic growth and prosperity,” he said at Thursday’s conference.

With control of domestic security and a well-backed National Defense Strategy, the thinking goes, consumer and investor confidence in Lebanon will increase and lead to a virtuous economic cycle of growth. In a prosperous, strong Lebanon, Hariri can start frank conversations with the international community about reining in Israeli threats against Hezbollah and the country in exchange for the major challenge of bringing all arms under the state’s control.

Hariri declared Lebanon’s intention of moving “from a state of cessation of hostilities to a state of permanent cease-fire,” but said challenges such as “Israel’s continue[d] ... plans to build walls on areas with reservations along the Blue Line” challenged this.

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