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Posted on 04/16/2026 10:07:32 AM PDT by BeauBo
President Donald Trump announced Thursday that Israel and Lebanon have agreed to a 10-day ceasefire.
“I just had excellent conversations with the Highly Respected President Joseph Aoun, of Lebanon, and Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, of Israel. These two Leaders have agreed that in order to achieve PEACE between their Countries, they will formally begin a 10 Day CEASEFIRE at 5 P.M. EST,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“On Tuesday, the two Countries met for the first time in 34 years here in Washington, D.C., with our Great Secretary of State, Marco Rubio. I have directed Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Rubio, together with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dan Razin' Caine, to work with Israel and Lebanon to achieve a Lasting PEACE,” Trump added.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
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The Lebanese government has formally banned Hezbollah’s military activities and tasked the army with its disarmament. I think Trump has asked Israel to give Lebanon the opportunity to prove itself. The LAF’s ability and willingness to fully confront the group remain questionable.
Trump just keeps making things happen. No wonder half of liberals are in therapy.
Free Iran, Free Lebanon.
From Time:
“Following the meeting, both Yechiel Leiter, Israel’s ambassador to the U.S., and the State Department struck a positive tone in describing the talks.
Leiter told reporters that Lebanon must “completely” cut associations with Tehran and Hezbollah.
“We discovered today that we’re on the same side of the equation. That’s the most positive thing we could have come away with,” the ambassador said. “We are both united in liberating Lebanon from an occupation power dominated by Iran called Hezbollah.””
I hope that’s true.
Truces in this region is historically just an opportunity to regroup, rearm, repair battle damage and recruit new troops.
An endless cycle.
Hey man, miss your border wall posts. Any status reports? So much going on I lost track of miles built since January 2025.
Yes, it’s just a ploy to buy time to plan and prepare for the next attack. SSDD!
There’ll be an official report, saying they did disarm them. It might even be true. And then they’ll purchase more weapons.
They would accept a nuke from Iran taking out a few million folks if it meant PDJT looking bad. Yeah, that sick.
The Leb is an unusual country.
It is the meeting place between KGB and CIA for spy exchange.
It is where Saudi princes keep their mistresses.
It is where Iran ships weapons to the Palestinians for morning ship delivery to Gaza.
Hezbollah stronghold with funds and weapons supplied by Iran.
I’m sure there are many other real stories about Leb but these are the only ones I know for 100% sure.
Many Lebanese have friends in Israel but they are loyal to The Leb.
“miss your border wall posts. Any status reports?”
We are running about five miles per week, and accelerating - a mile per day soon.
The whole program was funded up front in the Big Beautiful Bill, and construction is scheduled to complete before the next Administration is inaugurated in January 2029.
Good to know. :)
“The Lebanese government has formally banned Hezbollah’s military activities and tasked the army with its disarmament.”
Just like the IRGC in Iran, the IRGC in Lebanon (Hezbollah) has muscled its way into domestic businesses, and grown like a cancer, destroying the Lebanese economy. The Lebanese Pound has crashed to something like 90,000 to the dollar.
Of course the Maronite Christians and Sunni and Druze Muslims want to be free of Iran/Hezbollah. It is a matter of capability, and confidence in success.
The time seems to be at hand.
Make Lebanon Christian Again
“The Lebanese government has formally banned Hezbollah’s military activities and tasked the army with its disarmament.”
This is true. But even with Hezbollah greatly weakened militarily and financially, it’s a hard task for the regular Lebanese Army.
I’m not sure they can do it.
“Truces in this region is historically just an opportunity to regroup, rearm, repair battle damage and recruit new troops. An endless cycle.”
It is an old joke: “It is not hard to make peace in the Middle Esat - its been done dozens of times...”
“There’ll be an official report, saying they did disarm them. It might even be true. And then they’ll purchase more weapons.”
With what money?
Hezbollah has about a $1.5 billion annual burn rate on money.
$700 million came directly from Iran
$400 million comes from the drug trade, mainly cocaine from South America but also mafia-like organized crime in general (stolen cars, human smuggling, blood diamonds, you name it). Interestingly, the drug boat hits and taking out of Venezuela dinged this, as did the destruction of its fuel business. Other drugs come from Syria.
$300 million came from its Al-Amana fuel business and convenience stores, all of which was destroyed by Israel. This also served to smuggle/distribute/launder its drug money. Also had cheap fuel from Iran, which is cut off.
$100 million are “charities” (hit with sanctions and cut off of USAID that was misdirected), shake-down “taxes” (mafia style) on local Shia communities, and diaspora donations (now increasingly subject to US Treasury seizure).
In short, it will be hard for Hezbollah to survive without its sponsor, Iran.
“even with Hezbollah greatly weakened militarily and financially, it’s a hard task for the regular Lebanese Army.”
This should have been war gamed in Israeli and American Military and Intelligence planning. Cutting off Iranian support, and providing what is needed from Israel and America (Intelligence, funding, weapons, perhaps even air support) could definitely tip the scales, if the outside actors are committed.
I would hope that Israeli Operations in Lebanon were conducted with a goal of setting the necessary pre-conditions for the Lebanese Army to clean up.
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