Lebanon - Overview
The current president of Lebanon is Emile Lahoud who was recently granted another term by the Lebanese parliment in September 2004 under great pressure from Syria. Though Lahoud is President and exercises considerable influence due to the backing of Syria, he is not the official commander-in-chief of the Lebanese Armed Forces. Lebanon has a unique system of government that shares power among the country's religious sects. The constitution of the country was amended in 1991, under a plan for national reconciliation called the Ta'if Accord. The accord established a new political order in which Muslims and Christians share legislative power through a unicameral National Assembly. Hizbollah, once a ragtag militia, is currently one of the most powerful parties in the National Assembly, occupying 12 of the National Assembly's 128 seats. It is a Shiite Muslim organization led by Sheik Hassan Nasrallah with 20,000 active members. Founded in 1982, Hezbollah has twin objectives -- the destruction of Israel and the creation of an Islamic state in Lebanon. The party runs hospitals, television stations and newspapers and is widely supported by the Lebanese. The Lebanese government regards Hizballah's mission as a legal resistance against Israel and allows it to operate freely within the country so long as the organization adheres to the law.
General Michel Sleiman is the current commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces. He has been in the Army since 1976 and slowly climbed up the chain of command finally being appointed as commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces in 1998. The Lebanese Armed Forces underwent their last transformation in 1991 and currently maintains a standing army of approximately 60,000 men. However, the miltary branches are not a balanced for joint military operations. The Navy and Air Force are vastly underfunded compared to the Ground Forces and lack the resources and equipment of a capable modern military. The Navy relies on small tracker boats and the Air Force mainstay are helicopters from the United States. In practice, both the Navy and Air Force are components of the internal security forces because their missions and operations are focused on domestic concerns.
The earlier incarnations of the Lebanese Armed Forces were marred by infighting, internal upheaval and general ineffectiveness as a national army. After the 1982 Israeli invasion, President Amin Jumayyil was convinced that a strong and unified army was necessary to rebuild the nation. He announced plans to create a 12-brigade 60,000-man army which would be equipped with French and American arms and trained by French and American advisers. He also planned to increase The Internal Security Forces to 20,000 men. Unfortunately weak recruiting could muster only about 22,000 men and the government decided on November 24, 1982, to impose a conscription law called the Law of Service to the Flag. The conscription law mandated one year of military service for eligible males. Additionally, other changes saw hundreds of new appointments were made on a nonsectarian basis.
The United States was instrumental in helping the Lebanese government rebuild the armed forces. In 1982 the United States proposed a Lebanese Army Modernization Program to be implemented in four phases. The first three phases entailed organization of seven full-strength, multiconfessional army brigades, to be created from existing battalions. The fourth phase focused on rebuilding the Navy and Air Force. The total cost of the first three phases was estimated at US$500 million but the United States pledged to pay US$235 million of this sum, with the Lebanese government paying the balance.
Initial progress was rapid. A new tank battalion equipped with M-48 tanks donated by Jordan was established and a new supply depot was built at Kafr Shima. About 1,000 vehicles, including hundreds of M-113 armored personnel carriers, were also transferred from the United States to Lebanon.
Still, there was a lack of effective military leadership which remained the Achilles heel. United States experts were aware of this problem and devoted considerable resources to solving it. A cadre of Lebanese lieutenants was given infantry officer basic training in the United States. Then a team of eighty United States military advisers, including fifty-three Green Berets, provided officer training in Lebanon. Lebanese officers were also attached to the United States MNF contingent for training in military unit operations.
Despite all these changes, new training and new equipment the Lebanese Army was routed in the 1983-84 battles in the Shuf Mountains and all suffered defeats by militia forces in West Beirut. In 1988, General Aoun who was Interim Prime Minister, declared a “War of Liberation” against the Syrians. Several months of fierce fighting followed but General Aoun has temporarily defeated Syria and its militia allies. The General's next campaign to absorb some of the remaining Lebanese militias met with disaster and months of fighting brought enormous losses and the destruction of Lebanese air and navla bases. Syria capitalized on Aoun's weak position and launched an air strike at the Presidential palace and the Ministry of Defence, followed by heavy artillery shelling. After he realized he could not win, Aoun surrendered and went to exile in France.
Following Aoun's departure a new pro-Syrian government rebuilt the army again into its current form.
The Lebanese Armed Forces are not the only military force in Lebanon which at its height during the civil war was the battleground for 40 different armies. Syria maintained approximately 20,000 troops in the country a visible reminder of the power they have with the government. The Syrians originally had upwards of 30,000 troops in Lebanon but lowered its troop numbers after Israel withdrew from south Lebanon in 2000. Hizballah also has their own militia force of approximately 3,000 mostly located near the southern border in the Bekaa valley.
The autonomy of Lebanese Armed Forces' officials was limited due to widespread Syrian influence with government officials. Syria played a key role in Lebanese affairs and makes sure that high-ranking government officials are sypathetic to Damascus and Syrian interests. Consequently, international pressure on the Lebanese government and military officials to take action against groups like Hizballah that are operating in the country had little effect.
As of 2003 approximately 20,000 Syrian troops occupied the north of Lebanon above Tripoli, the Beqaa Valley north of the town of Rashayah, and the Beirut-Damascus highway. These numbers compare to 35,000 troops at the beginning of Syria's occupation. Between May 1988 and June 2001, Syrian forces occupied most of west Beirut. In October 1989, as part of the Taif agreements, Syria agreed to begin discussions on possible Syrian troop withdrawals from Beirut to the Beqaa Valley, two years after political reforms were implemented (then-Lebanese President Hirawi signed the reforms in September 1990), and to withdraw entirely from Lebanon after an Israeli withdrawal. While Israel has, according to the United Nations, complied with its obligations, the Syrian withdrawal discussions, which should have started in September 1992, had not begun as of early 2004.
A September 2004 vote by the Chamber of Deputies to amend the constitution to extend President Lahoud's term in office by 3 years amplified the question of Lebanese sovereignty and the continuing Syrian presence. The vote was clearly taken under Syrian pressure, exercised in part through Syria's military intelligence service, whose chief in Lebanon had acted as a virtual proconsul for many years. The UN Security Council expressed its concern over the situation by passing Resolution 1559, also in September 2004, which called for withdrawal of all remaining foreign forces from Lebanon, disbanding and disarmament of all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias, the deployment of the Lebanese Armed Forces throughout the country, and a free and fair electoral process in the presidential election.
Former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri and 19 others were assassinated in Beirut by a car bomb on February 14, 2005. The assassination spurred massive protests in Beirut and international pressure that led to the withdrawal of the remaining Syrian military troops from Lebanon on April 26. In the months that followed Hariri’s assassination, journalist Samir Qassir and Lebanese politician George Hawi were both murdered by car bombs, and most recently, Defense Minister Elias Murr narrowly avoided a similar fate when a car bomb exploded near his convoy. The UN International Independent Investigative Commission (UNIIIC) headed by Detlev Mehlis iinvestigated Hariri’s assassination and reported its findings to the Security Council.
Parliamentary elections were held May 29-June 19, 2005 and the anti-Syrian opposition led by Sa’ad Hariri, Rafiq Hariri’s son, won a majority of 72 seats (out of 128). Hariri ally and former Finance Minister Fouad Siniora was named Prime Minister and Nabih Berri was reelected as Speaker of Parliament. Parliament approved the first “made-in-Lebanon” cabinet in almost 30 years on July 30. The new cabinet’s ministerial statement, a summary of the new government’s agenda and priorities, focuses on political and economic reform.
On July 12, 2006 members of Hizballah infiltrated the Lebanese-Israeli border near Shtula, an Israeli farming village, and claimed responsibility for an ambush conducted on two Israeli Army Hummvees. The attack resulted in the capture of two Israeli soldiers and the deaths of three others. Five more Israeli soldiers were killed in the ensuing pursuit of Hizballah members into Lebanese territory. The combined capture of two soldiers and the deaths of 8 others; was considered the worst loss for Israeli military forces in more than four years. Hizballah also claimed responsibility for two separate Katyusha rocket attacks on Israeli towns resulting in the death of 1 civilian and the injury of 25 others.
The 12 July 2006 attack resulted in immediate retaliation by the Israeli military, which responded to the hostilities against their troops and citizens by bombing roads, bridges, and power plants inside Lebanon. The specific targeting of al-Manar, the Hizballah controlled television station, and the Lebanese international airport as well as the blockading of Lebanon’s sea ports was an attempt to force the return of the captured Israeli troops and place greater pressure on Hizballah. These retaliatory actions by Israel resulted in the deaths of dozens of Lebanese civilians and threats of further rocket attacks by Hizballah. Additionally, on July 18, 2006 Israeli strikes killed 11 Lebanese soldiers, while Hezbollah rockets killed an Israeli in Nahariya. The 11 Lebanese soldiers were killed at a barracks east of Beirut.
