Lebanon’s sovereignty continues to be violated by Hezbollah in contravention of
the Lebanese Constitution, national accords, and international resolutions.
These violations threaten civil peace and security, as well as communal relations
in a country ravaged by a severe economic crisis and on the brink of total
collapse.
In recent months, Hezbollah instigated a number of highly destabilizing security
incidents across the country. From Khaldeh near the capital, to Jwaya in
Lebanon’s south, from the Beirut suburb of Ain el-Rammaneh to the mountain
district of Oyoun el-Simane, its armed members have terrorized innocent
civilians of all sects.
Hezbollah continues to conduct illegal smuggling operations, bringing
commercial goods, illicit weapons, and other contraband material across the
eastern border with Syria. In southern Lebanon, Hezbollah members routinely
prevent United Nations peacekeeping troops from fulfilling their mandate to
preserve calm along the border with Israel.
The Lebanese American Coordinating Committee (LACC), representing a
coalition of six Lebanese American organizations, strongly believes that
Hezbollah constitutes a major threat to Lebanon’s stability and prosperity. By
terrorizing civilians in their own hometowns, this militia inflicts direct harm to
Lebanon’s people. It also causes indirect but equally damaging harm by
recklessly keeping the government in deadlock and preventing the Lebanese
Armed Forces (LAF) from exerting full control over Lebanese territory, as has
been mandated by domestic and international decisions. The Lebanese people
must be protected from the relentless onslaught of this violent group.
The LACC places its faith in the Lebanese Armed Forces as the primary guarantor
of Lebanese sovereignty and security and counts on the LAF and its current
command to defend Lebanese civilians against Hezbollah’s outrageous
violations. Furthermore, the LACC calls on the US government, the largest donor
of security aid to Lebanon, to expect the LAF to fulfill its patriotic duty of
protecting Lebanese civilians against any aggressor – domestic or foreign.
There can be no hope for peace, security, and prosperity in Lebanon as long as
Hezbollah can exert its military, political, and economic hegemony over the
country unabated.
