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International News Title: Iran Ready To Fill Lebanon Military Aid Gap From US August 12, 2010 JERUSALEM: Iran has promised Lebanese officials that it will make up any shortfall left by a US decision to suspend $US100 million ($110 million) worth of military aid to Lebanon. Direct Iranian military aid to Lebanon would exacerbate tensions along the Israeli-Lebanese border that erupted last week when a Lebanese Army sniper killed an Israeli officer involved in a brush-clearing operation. Israeli troops responded, killing two Lebanese soldiers and one Lebanese journalist. The clash, the worst since Israel's 2006 war against Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Shiite movement that controls southern Lebanon, has revived fears that Hezbollah has infiltrated the Lebanese Army. US congressional Democrats Howard Berman and Nita Lowey said they were suspending the aid pending the results of further investigations into the border clash because of concerns that US aid might be used to buy arms that could be turned against Israel. ''This incident was tragic and entirely avoidable,'' said Ms Lowey, who heads the subcommittee that oversees the aid. Mr Berman said the clash ''simply reinforced the critical need for the United States to conduct an in-depth policy review of its relationship with the Lebanese military''. He said that until he received assurances that the Lebanese Army was ''a responsible actor, I cannot in good conscience allow the United States to continue sending weapons to Lebanon''. Iran's ambassador to Lebanon, Ghazanfar Abadi, told the Lebanese army forces chief, Jean Kahwaji, in a meeting in Beirut that Tehran was willing to offset the losses, renewing an offer it has made before. In response, the US State Department's chief spokesman, Philip Crowley, said: ''Iran's activities compromise Lebanese sovereignty. The statements of Iran are expressly the reason why we believe that continuing support to the Lebanese government and the Lebanese military is in our interest.'' Mr Crowley also acknowledged that last week's border clash ''raised questions'' about US aid and ''whether any of our assistance was in some way implicated''. He added: ''We will continue to discuss our assistance … with congressional leaders.'' Mohammed Shatah, an adviser to the Lebanese Prime Minister, Saad Hariri, declined to comment on the Iranian offer, but slammed the US decision to suspend aid, saying it was ''unjustified and regrettable''. Mr Shatah said a freeze sent ''a bad signal domestically and a bad signal on US policy''. Aram Nerguizian, an analyst at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, said cutting off aid would undermine American efforts to influence Lebanese policy. But David Schenker, a former Pentagon adviser on the region at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said the administration had been vague on its goals for Lebanon and Congress was justified in asking tough questions. ''They want to basically understand, what is our policy?'' he said. An Israeli analyst, Professor Eyal Zisser, said the main problem for Israel was that Hezbollah was gaining strength inside Lebanon while its rivals melted away. "And so, on our northern border, an old-new reality is being created in which the exchange of fire of last week will not be a solitary event,'' he said.
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