Brad Sherman: Historic Opportunity to Disarm Hezbollah in Lebanon

Hezbollah's Destructive History

• 🎯 Hezbollah, founded in 1982 with Iran's backing, has waged a destructive campaign of terror against the US, Israel, and Lebanon.
• 💣 The group was responsible for the 1983 Beirut Marine barracks bombings, killing US and French service members, and the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish Community Center in Argentina.
• 💥 Hezbollah's actions, including launching rockets against Israeli civilians during the Hamas war, have contributed to Lebanon's economic and institutional collapse.

A Narrow Window for Disarmament

• 🔑 A historic opportunity exists to disarm Hezbollah and remove its grip on the Lebanese state, particularly southern Lebanon.
• ⏳ This opportunity is attributed to the weakening of Iran, the toppling of the Assad regime, the elimination of Hezbollah's arch-terrorist Hassan Nasrallah, and the formation of a new Lebanese government.
• ⚠️ However, this window is narrow as Hezbollah is actively working to rebuild and rearm.

US Policy and Support

• 📉 The Trump administration's reduction of non-security funding to Lebanon, including cutting support to the new government, signals a lack of urgency and necessary support for anti-Hezbollah actors.
• 🗣️ Comments by a Trump administration special envoy downplaying Hezbollah as merely a political party with a militant aspect have sent the wrong signals.
• 🇺🇸 The US must seize this opportunity by providing security, economic, and humanitarian assistance, contingent on progress on disarming Hezbollah and implementing reforms.

The Urgency of Action

• 🚨 Hezbollah is aggressively working to rearm and reconstitute itself.
• 🌍 The US, Lebanon, and the region have a generational opportunity to keep Hezbollah weakened, which should not be squandered.