US offered Lebanon helicopters prior to Hizbullah's "accidental" shooting

I wonder if the ongoing investigation with the Hizbullah member who shot at the Lebanese army helicopter will take this into consideration:

During his latest visit to Beirut, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Asia and the Near East David Hale informed Lebanon of his country’s intention to provide the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) with military aid, sources told NOW Lebanon on Thursday.

This aid would include equipping the LAF with fighter helicopters, according to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Hale submitted a list of US-made helicopters, at the top of which came the AH-1 COBRA fighter helicopter, to the Lebanese Ministry of Defense.

The list outlined the US Defense Department’s aid Lebanon as part of the plan aimed at consolidating the capacities of the Lebanese army to enable the LAF to preserve security, confront challenges and consolidate civil peace in Lebanon.

The sources did not rule out that the shooting of a military helicopter in the southern Lebanese village of Soujoud by Hezbollah gunmen may have been a preemptive message to internal and foreign parties.

According to such a message, any military aid provided to Lebanon should not alter the current field reality, and Hezbollah should not allow the disruption of the current balance of forces, which grants it military supremacy in Lebanon.

While a Hezbollah fighter has been reported as handed over to judicial authorities for the gunning, which killed Captain Samer Hanna, Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Thursday defended the shooting as a painful mistake, but nothing more.

Hale’s statement comes after his visit to Lebanon in late August, during which he met with Lebanese leaders, including President Michel Sleiman and Speaker Nabih Berri.

Comments

[VOR]

Hello AK, It's been a while since I posted here. Congrats on becoming a US citizen, however as much as you're proud of that and rightfully so, you'll never be able to forget or do away with your roots! In any case, back to this topic...nothing that Hizbo does is without a reason. This was not an innocent mistake it was a deliberate attempt to "warn" the army of established red lines in the south, code for "out of limits" areas that not even the legitimate army can fly over. I really believe that both hizbo and the LAF are now on a collision course and it is just a matter of time before it happens. Hizbo wants a weak and manipulative army that gives it cover as it did back in May...but with the current atmosphere of provocations and deliberate attacks on the army just wont sit well with the army leadership for too long before they act.

[Max Power]

How many Hiz sympathizers served in the Lebanese Army? Are you serious that you expect the Lebanese army to go to war or even attack them? Hiz already has what it wants, it has a pipeline from Syria of weapons as well as free reign and a say in the government. There is little outrage if any over this incident. People are afraid of these thugs. They have blessed the General pick and possibly liquated Francois Hajj in the south.

Pray that Israel follows through to rid of the Hiz/Iran cancer globally. That's the only hope, the Lebanese are way too deflated and overmatched internally. Not to mention conflicted on how to deal with them.

[Jeha]

That "Hizbullah member" cannot have been alone; it takes more than potshots to bring down a chopper, even a Huey. The fact that they are pushing forward one single patsy for this crime indicates a cover-up already.

I fear more "painful mistakes" to come as Hezb overreaches and stokes a fire he does not understand.

[LebanesePatriot]

Vor, I agree with you. The Lebanese Army and Hezbo are heading to a collision course. That was since Mar Mkhayel time. Even before Mar Mkhayel, the army will never accept a militia to co-exist on its territory. It is a matter of time. But I think they are waiting for something regional to happen.

[jack]

we must admit that our current state is no longer viable,
we must remain true to our past and to the sacrifies of our martyrs who have battled and lost their lives in defense of freedom and peace in Lebanon.
we must beleive in the pluralism of our society, because no one dominant culture can impose its orientations on the others...
we want a State that protects its various cultural entities, organizing harmonious relation between them.
The solution is in a new constitution formula, that combines the divergent interests of each culture, in one united state!
"7allna ntawwir el nizam"...That accident is a simple proof for what i said, our state still don't have souveregnity