Why Do Democrats Refuse to Accept That Lebanon Still Supports Hezbollah?

The progressive wing of the Democratic Party is working overtime to craft a US foreign policy in the Middle East defined by flawed thinking. The latest example comes from Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.

On the afternoon of March 21, the left-wing senator felt compelled to share her bewildering thoughts on X, and tweeted:

Pay Attention to Lebanon.

Trump and Netanyahu started a regional war in the Middle East, creating a humanitarian disaster.                      

And now, the Israeli army has killed over 1,000 people in Lebanon — about 20% of them are kids.

Congress should not bankroll this escalating war of choice.

For anyone with knowledge about Lebanon, the Middle East, and US foreign policy in the region, the senator’s words are baffling, if not insulting. 

Warren’s crude attempt to curry opposition to Israeli self-defense reveals her bizarre rationalization and confused thinking. In her bizarro world, a country that strung along and lied to the US government while working to extort additional US tax dollars is considered a victim. 

If the former Democratic presidential candidate had been paying attention to Lebanon prior to March 21, she would have acknowledged that Lebanon has refused to stop Hezbollah from committing terror attacks against Israelis — and exporting its terror globally — and that a decades-old US policy (which she has never vocally and explicitly opposed) has been an utter failure.

Since 2006, the US government has bankrolled the “rebuilding” of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) to the tune of billions of US tax dollars. Repeated incidents demonstrate that all the arming, training, and even paying the salaries of some soldiers did nothing to diminish the hollowness of the institution.

The latest example of LAF ineffectiveness occurred on March 2. Hezbollah launched its most recent unprovoked attack on Israel. It was an attack that the LAF via the Lebanese government told US authorities (barely two months ago) could not happen.

Lebanese authorities asserted that the area extending north from the Israeli-Lebanese border to the Litani River was clear of Hezbollah and its arms.

In addition to this falsehood, Lebanese authorities requested more funding to continue disarming Hezbollah.

The US and allies obliged by scheduling a LAF funding conference on March 5 in Paris. But the events of March 2 demonstrated that Lebanon either cannot — or will not — do what it has promised the international community in return for billions in aid. Fortunately for American taxpayers, the outbreak of violence in the region postponed the conference.

If the senior senator from Massachusetts had been paying attention to Lebanon prior to March 21, she would have also acknowledged the futility of diplomacy until conditions on the ground change.

The Biden-mediated ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon (which began on November 27, 2024) proved to be naïve and premature. The Lebanese state (once again) failed to keep its word by bringing the militia and terrorist group to heel (even in a limited area). Despite its considerable degradation, Hezbollah retained its weapons and maximalist goal — the destruction of Israel.

The Left needs to understand that right now, anything with the Lebanese government’s name on it is worth as much as the Lebanese pound — next to nothing. Suspending fighting is tantamount to giving Hezbollah the opportunity to regroup and rearm.   

The former Democratic presidential candidate indulges in denying agency to Israel and America’s enemies. Senator Warren ignores that the humanitarian disaster engulfing Lebanon is self-inflicted. Hezbollah and its supporters invited it. The Lebanese government did not prevent it, despite having 15 months to disarm Hezbollah. Instead, it dragged its feet, looking for any excuse to delay the job.   

What makes Warren’s tweet more insufferable is that many of the causalities and the parents of deceased children she speaks of are supporters of Hezbollah and its allies. They put themselves and their families in danger. They repeatedly voted for them in municipal and parliamentary elections (many will do it again), and celebrate the culture of “resistance.”

Segments of the now-displaced population never divulged the whereabouts of Hezbollah’s munitions to the state, or the population actively cooperated in concealing them. Is one expected to believe that the posters of former Hezbollah soldiers and its allies that line many roads in southern Lebanon are just decorative?

Senator Warren must also realize that Iran and its proxies chose to create a regional war. Iran chose to attack its Arab and Turkish neighbors, embassies, and international shipping. Hezbollah chose to attack Israel — at the direction of Iran.   

But in the progressive mindset of Senator Warren, these are secondary or insignificant issues. Lebanon’s failures, irresponsibility, and extortion are forgivable or forgettable.  

As witnessed by the tweet, her obsession with blaming Israel and the US is all-consuming; it defies logic and understanding. For the self-proclaimed progressive, restraining Israel is the priority. Labeling Israel the aggressor and US complicity is the norm. Denying Israel funding is the objective. Will any of this resolve the conflict? The senator has no real answer.  

Sadly, Senator Warren’s words and thoughts are not unprecedented, let alone uncommon. Progressives in the House and Senate share similar views. As the influence of the progressive wing in the Democratic party grows regarding foreign policy matters, understanding Senator Warren’s warped mind provides a glimpse of what to expect from the future of the party.  

Eric Bordenkircher, Ph.D., is a research fellow at UCLA’s Center for Middle East Development. He tweets at @UCLA_Eagle. The views represented in this piece are his own and do not necessarily represent the position of UCLA or the Center for Middle East Development.