A few months ago, I had a piece in the Washington Post that laid out what appears to be the Obama administration’s strategy to subcontract management of the Middle East to Iran. And while some of the indicators that lead our angry allies to believe the Washington-Tehran partnership is more robust than it is — for example, efforts to manage a diplomatic solution to the escalating conflict in Yemen — are just sensible foreign policy, other signs continue to point to a Tehran-centric strategy. For those not distracted by the almost incredible sight of the White House and State Department going to war with the New York Times over a well-sourced report regarding Iranian violations of the US-Iran Friendship Treaty Joint Plan of Action, there are new straws in the wind underscoring Obama’s shift Tehran-ward. Today, the Wall Street Journal reports that Mr. Kerry and co. have cut off funding to Hayya Bina, an important Lebanese organization that seeks to support alternative Shiite voices to Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed terrorist group.
Hayya Bina has been hard at work for many years, quietly supporting Lebanese Shia with the courage to stand up to Hezbollah. It’s an organization that should be cloned: There would be no better way to undermine Iran’s growing influence with the Shia of the Middle East than to take up their often just causes. But apparently, State believes that this soft power counter strategy to Iranian meddling is a bad idea. According to the report, a letter sent to Lokman Slim, Hayya Bina’s director, “requests that all activities intended [to] foster an independent moderate Shiite voice be ceased immediately and indefinitely […]Hayya Bina…must eliminate funding for any of the above referenced activities.” Super. Slim and others surmise that State doesn’t want to anger Iranian pet and Assad stalwart Hezbollah while nuclear talks are ongoing. What else can one think?
Meanwhile, Washington has stepped up assistance to the Lebanese Armed Forces, those tribunes of security, competence, impartiality … Well, nothing. A notice sent to Congress advises of the possible sale of Hellfire missiles to the LAF for reasons that remain entirely mysterious, as, notwithstanding years of effort, it has done nothing to counter Iranian-backed terror operations throughout Lebanon. I have always believed that most US Government action is a product of incompetence, not malignity. But lately, I wonder.
P.S. If you’d like to read more about a counter-Iran soft power strategy with the Middle East’s Shiite communities, check out our July 2014 report here. And for a better sense of Lokman Slim, see his work as part of AEI’s Arab Democracy Project from some years back.
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