The Obama Administration revealed today that they had issued official “warnings” to the Lebanese government over their decision to allow Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to visit the country next week.
“We expressed our concern about it given that Iran, through its association with groups like Hezbollah, is actively undermining Lebanon’s sovereignty,” State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley insisted.
Hezbollah is part of one of the largest political blocs in Lebanon, which was narrowly defeated by a Sunni movement in last election after Vice President Joe Biden visited the country to warn them of “consequences” for electing Hezbollah’s bloc.
Both the US and Iran have designs on closer ties to Lebanon’s military, with Iran jumping in with an offer to replace the military aid the United States withdrew in early August. Ahmadinejad is expected to spend two days in Lebanon, including visiting a new Shi’ite mosque funded in part by Iran. The mosque is said to be a smaller model of the al-Aqsa mosque in East Jerusalem.
So if the US government is concerned over Lebanon's sovereignty why don't they keep out of it and mind their own business?
ha! yes a head of state visiting is a threat to the sovereignty of lebanon while israel spending 3 weeks dropping high explosives on the entire country's infrastructure is the birthpangs of democracy
“We expressed our concern about it given that Iran, through its association with groups like Hezbollah, is actively undermining Lebanon’s sovereignty,”
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Sounds like he is auditioning for a job at at Comedy Central.
Lebanon sovereignty is violated for sport by Israeli overflights on a regular basis.. These "overflights are not high altitude spy flights or airlines. These flights are low altitude noisy thumb in their eye provocations
if the US government is concerned over Lebanon's sovereignty then why not stop providing the military equipment to Israel used in the repeated invasions. Israel has attacked lebanon in 1948, 1955, 1967, 1973, 1993, 1996, 2000, 2006. One would think that Israel did not know were their borders are. I know the rest of the world does not know the borders because Israel has not stated what land area is Israel. Maybe that would be a good step in peace in the middle east to know what is Israel.
Jason Ditz,
A slight majority in Lebanon actually voted for Hezbollah’s group. They lost on a technicality. Unfortunately people like Thomas Friedman didn’t take time to analyze the election results and said stupid things like “the people of Lebanon rejected Hezbollah’s ways”(or something like that). In reality, the pro-US faction split apart because the main Druze party leaving. I guess they realize that Hezbollah was the true winner even though they didn’t join Hezbollah.
I dunno Mr. Jason, all the news out of Babylon-On-The-Potomac you've reported out this fine morning sounds comprehensively insane. Defense's 'babbling' Morrell, P.J. Crowley (probably no relation to Alastair), and things grow eerily creepy.
The U.S. "warns" Lebanon? That's rich. Not in any meaningful, sensical manner. Oh no. Just the ravings of bureaucrats woefully drunk on the blood of the innocent. Lebanon should tell P.J. Crowley to blow it out his arse.
This is how much the US respects other nation's sovereignty. They are now demanding, DEMANDING, that European governments turn over private information of their citizens, including DNA! to the US government:
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518…
Hezbollah should send another dump truck to greet PJ properly.
America once again shows its strong support for the concept of Freedom of Speech.