US Endorsed Offensives on Lebanon Border Seen Bolstering Hezbollah

US Wants UN Investigation of Hezbollah

President Trump’s statements with respect to Hezbollah late last month reflected a substantial lack of understanding. Indeed, that he deferred comment for a day raised some questions over whether he even really knows what Hezbollah is.

Those questions are far from resolved, as the administration continues to send mixed signals, referring to Hezbollah in the same breath as ISIS and al-Qaeda, and endorsing military offensives against ISIS and al-Qaeda along the Lebanon border, despite those being offensives Hezbollah is backing.

Indeed, while the administration presented the Lebanon offensives as a way to sideline Hezbollah, analysts agree that if anything, it greatly deepens Hezbollah’s role within the Lebanese security structure, as they’re the ones going into these fights with all the experience fighting the Islamist factions.

While this is going on, the US is pushing the UN to conduct an investigation into Hezbollah, accusing the group of being a threat to regional stability. Yet while this is presented as being about protecting Israel, the reality is that Hezbollah’s primary focus right now is fighting ISIS, not Israel.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.