U.S. Committed to Lebanese Security, State's Welch Says
15 August 2006
Says U.N. Security Council resolution allows Lebanon to protect its future
Washington – The United States is determined to transform the tragedy of the recent conflict between Israel and Hezbollah into a positive change that will enhance the security of Lebanon and the entire region, according to Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs C. David Welch.
“Our job is to try and improve the situation,” Welch told reporters in Washington August 15. “We didn’t start this crisis, and we tried to bring it to an end in such a way that protects the security of all concerned. The decision that came out of the Security Council would not have happened without the leadership of the United States. It’s a substantial decision. It provides an opportunity for the Lebanese to help protect their future. We intend to be right there and help them do that.”
“We are determined to make a difference,” he said.
Welch said that U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, which paved the way for a cessation of hostilities, establishes “an architecture for enhanced confidence and security for the future.”
The assistant secretary pointed to several aspects of the resolution that he thinks fundamentally will change the dynamics of the situation in southern Lebanon. It calls for the deployment of Lebanese troops to the country’s southern border for the first time, he said. (See related article.)
It also calls for the disbanding of all armed groups, but more important, he said, it places an international embargo on all weapons shipments to Lebanon with the exception of arms going to the government and authorized security institutions. He underscored that this would apply to all countries, including Syria and Iran. The United States has accused Syria and Iran of being Hezbollah’s primary weapons suppliers in the past.
“You can be sure that we’ll be paying very close attention to any such transfers that are going into Lebanon since it is now a matter of an international obligation that countries should avoid doing this,” he said.
Under the resolution the Lebanese government will have the primary responsibility for policing its borders but will be able to call on a strengthened U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) for assistance in these operations.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton told reporters in New York that discussions are under way at the U.N. Department of Peacekeeping Operations to determine the makeup and deployment logistics of the enhanced UNIFIL contingent. He said the United States and France have sent military planners to help the United Nations make those arrangements. He expressed a desire to see the force “deployed as quickly as possible.”
Welch expressed dismay at the triumphal statements from Iran and Syria in the wake of the conflict.
“I think it’s a sad situation when leaders of other countries can stand on this rubble and proclaim their vision of the interests of Lebanon’s people,” he said. “This is not the price the people of Lebanon should pay so that they can exercise their political punditry.”
He said Iranian interference in Lebanese affairs has been devastating for Lebanon. “It’s got … a disturbing tendency to violence. It’s got a disturbing usurpation of the rights of the people concerned. I mean, did anyone ever ask the citizens of Lebanon, would they or would they not prefer to see this conflict launched by a state within a state? No one ever asked their permission,” he said.
He said the statements of Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadi-Nejad and Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad are a “signal of how little they add to the solution of these conflicts, how instead they are trying to pile on popular emotion and anger at a time of tragedy for their own selfish advantage.”
Welch affirmed the United States’ commitment to the future of Lebanon. “There is no country that is more supportive of the interests of the Lebanese people than the United States,” he said. “And I believe Lebanon can and will emerge stronger from these events. As it does so, the United States will be working side-by-side with it to achieve those goals.”
A transcript of Welch’s remarks is available on the State Department Web site.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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