The administration of U.S. President George W. Bush wants the Lebanese to choose between having their country turn into an American military base or face a new strife, Lebanon's top Shiite Muslim cleric alleged Sunday. The allegation by Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah came three days after a senior Pentagon official said the U.S. military would like to see a "strategic partnership" with Lebanon's army to strengthen the country's forces so that the militant Hezbollah group would have no excuse to bear arms. "We warn that the U.S. administration is offering the Lebanese a choice either to accept their country being turned into a (U.S.) military, security and political base, or to expect a new strife," Fadlallah said in a statement faxed to The Associated Press.Eric Edelman, U.S. undersecretary of defense for policy, spoke about a "strategic partnership" with Lebanon's army in an interview aired on Lebanese television Thursday, two days after he held talks in Beirut on military cooperation with Western-backed Prime Minister Fuad Saniora and other officials. Edelman did not say that the U.S. government wants to build a military base in Lebanon.
Fadlallah, the top religious authority for Lebanon's 1.2 million Shiites, said the Lebanese army was aware of attempts to link U.S. military aid to Lebanon to confronting the guerrilla group and was determined in "rejecting strife and rejecting any restrictions on its armament."
Since last year's war between the Shiite militant group Hezbollah and Israel, the United States has sharply increased its military assistance to Lebanon to US$270 million in 2007 — more than five times the amount provided a year ago — in a show of support to Saniora's government.
Fadlallah was skeptical about U.S. military aid to the Lebanese army. "The Lebanese, who have seen the American failure in Iraq and felt the American involvement with Israel in last year's war against Lebanon ... must be aware that what the administration of President Bush is aiming at is something else other than supporting the Lebanese army," Fadlallah said. "It (U.S. Administration) is working to make Lebanon a new base for chaos and another position for NATO in order to exert pressure on regional and international powers which disobeyed its decisions and policies," the cleric added in a clear reference to Iran and Syria.
Also Sunday, Hezbollah's deputy leader, Sheik Naim Kassem, warned that the establishment of a U.S. military base would amount to "a hostile act" against Lebanon. Hezbollah also has denounced Edelman's call for a U.S. "strategic partnership" with Lebanon's army, saying American attempts to boost military ties were a ploy for domination and could turn the country into another Iraq. Some in Lebanon have expressed fears that a foreign military presence could attract al-Qaida and other militants, as has happened in Iraq.