Free Republic

While nearly everyone agrees that it was a colossal intelligence failure on the part of Israel and its allies that led to the slaughter on October 7, the ensuing war in Gaza, and other instability in the region, the little-known truth is that it was US military aid to Lebanon provided by Joe Biden's national security brain trust that effectively prevented Israeli intelligence from sniffing out the plan and preventing the attack. To understand this, one has to look at our history with Lebanon since the Bush (43) administration. If you find yourself asking how the United States ended up...

The Biden administration has told Israel that attacks intentionally or inadvertently against Lebanon’s armed forces are “unacceptable” over fears that the conflict in the Middle East could expand, according to a report. US officials believe that since Oct. 7 at least 34 Israeli strikes have hit areas where members of the Lebanese Armed Forces were present, resulting in eight injuries and one death, CNN reported Friday. ... “The United States is proud of its partnership with the LAF, an essential institution, not only to the stability and security of Lebanon, but of the entire region,” the spokesperson said.

It wasn’t a US Army sniper who killed IDF Lt.- Col. Dov Harari and seriously wounded Capt. Ezra Lakia on Tuesday. But the Lebanese Armed Forces sniper who shot them owes a great deal to the generous support the LAF has received from America. For the past five years, the LAF has been the second largest recipient of US military assistance per capita after Israel. A State Department press release from late 2008 noted that between 2006 and 2008, the LAF received 10 million rounds of ammunition, Humvees, spare parts for attack helicopters, vehicles for its Internal Security Forces “and...

The Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) has accepted an offer by Iran to provide it with weapons produced by the Iranian defense industries, a newspaper in Lebanon reported on Wednesday. According to Al-Akhbar, the proposal was sent from the Iranian Embassy in Beirut. In their response, LAF officers said the army was in need of anti-aircraft weaponry. Israeli officials have expressed concern that the existence of such weapons in Lebanon, whether in the hands of Hizbullah or the army, would constitute a change in the strategic balance between Israel and Lebanon.

Lebanese defense officials believe there is a secret pact between Hizbullah and top officers in the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), the Kuwaiti paper Asiyassa reported on Monday. According to the account, a LAF battalion will operate within the Hizbullah framework and have independence and access to the group's arsenal. The paper said Israel gave the United States and European governments which have UNIFIL contingencies (France, Germany, Spain and Italy) information which proves Hizbullah was training dozens of LAF soldiers to prepare them to fight alongside Hizbullah guerrillas in case the IDF attacks Lebanon. Israel conveyed the information on July 1,...