Freezing aid to Lebanon only empowers Hezbollah

As Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora begs for international aid to help offset the  estimated $3.6 billion dollars in damages his already economically fragile country has endured over the last few weeks, California Democratic Rep. Tom Lantos -- in a mind-boggling move -- is promising to stop a bill that would send $230 million in reconstruction funds to Lebanon. The top Democrat on the International Relations Committee, Lantos is apparently concerned about smuggling on the Syrian border and worried that Israel isn't getting enough money:

Lebanon will get help from both Europe, the Arab world and the United States. Unless the United States provides some aid to Israel, Israel recieves no aid.

Lantos needs to get his priorities straight. Smuggling is something the international community can worry about after it ensures that the Lebanese government is back on its feet and the Lebanese people are no longer dependent on Hezbollah for relief. And reconstruction money for Israel can come later: With a per capita GDP of $21,000, Israel, which is already on the U.S. dole to the tune of $2 billion a year, is more than capable of funding what little "reconstruction" it needs.

For more on this bizarre move to slow Lebanon's reconstruction and present Hezbollah with a golden opportunity to build its support base, see Belgravia Dispatch and Eugene Gholz.