Though Washington once opposed Israel’s invasion into Lebanon, reports have emerged that some inside President Joe Biden’s administration now see an opportunity as the Israel Defense Forces score tactical gains against Hezbollah.
Eager to take advantage of Hezbollah’s setbacks, they hope to use U.S. security assistance and training to upgrade the weak and underfunded Lebanese Armed Forces so that it can wrest control of the country’s security future from Iran’s proxy and assume responsibility for stabilizing Lebanon’s southern border with Israel.
If this plan sounds familiar, it should. The United States has been embarking on costly projects to build foreign militaries for decades, without much success. The spectacular collapse of the Afghan National Defense and Security Force after 20 years and $90 billion in U.S. investment is one of the more infamous security assistance failures, but it is certainly not alone.
U.S.-trained forces disappointed in Vietnam in the 1970s and in Iraq in the 2000s. In the Sahel, U.S. partners, armed with U.S. weapons and military know-how, have led successful military coups. Even in Ukraine, once seen as a security assistance success story, questions have emerged about the relevance and contributions of U.S.-provided training.
Read at Responsible Statecraft
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