US threat to Lebanon

"But in the meantime, the administration delivered a message to the Lebanese government viaFrederic Hof, senior advisor to Special Envoy George Mitchell, who was in Beirut on a previously scheduled visit. Hof arrived there last week and left August 9. He met with senior civilian and military leaders to discuss the border incident and to update them on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, a senior U.S. official told The Cable. "He noted that the incident could and should have been avoided and placed stress on the important U.S.-Lebanon bilateral defense relationship," the official said. Hof also warned that some in Congress were trying to curtail or even eliminate U.S. military assistance to the LAF and the administration's efforts to keep the assistance going were dependent on there being no further incidents. "Hof told his interlocutors that if something like this were to happen again, he's not sure we could prevent [the elimination of the aid] from happening," the official said. Perhaps most importantly, Hof communicated to senior Lebanese officials that their actions going forward, such as taking assistance from Iran, for example, would have consequences for U.S.-Lebanon military cooperation.""He reaffirmed that the Administration considers the relationship very important and the role of the LAF as a national institution defending the country's sovereignty to be vital. But he also explained that our ability to justify and strengthen this important defense relationship will be affected by what Lebanon does in the wake of this incident," the official said."