US military aid to Lebanon continues amid protests
The Pentagon is not cutting off military aid to Lebanon amid countrywide protests.
The Defense Department will continue sending military aid to Lebanon, a Pentagon spokesman told Al-Monitor, as nationwide demonstrations sparked by a proposed tax on WhatsApp calls continue. The United States hopes the demonstrations will force major economic reforms in the sectarian-ruled country.
US-backed Lebanese Armed Forces, or LAF, received nearly $105 million in Pentagon military aid over the past year, providing vehicles, ammunition and spare parts to service armed light-attack helicopters first sent to Beirut two years ago, according to congressional documents analyzed by the Security Assistance Monitor.
“We are aware of the protests and monitoring the situation closely,” said Cmdr. Sean Robertson, a Pentagon spokesman. “There is no change to [Section] 333 assistance to the [LAF] at this time.”
A State Department official, speaking not for attribution, told Al-Monitor that the agency was also “monitoring the situation” but had nothing further to announce.
