Dear Donald Trump, Lebanon Still Matters If You Want To Stop Iran And Hezbollah

David Daoud, UANI Research Analyst: "Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s first visit to Washington during the Trump administration will be difficult. Beirut has long been a headache for the United States, and he’s going to have an uphill battle convincing U.S. policymakers to maintain assistance to Lebanon, which is commonly associated with dysfunction and domination by Iran’s proxy Hezbollah. But as Tehran continues its quest for regional hegemony and as the idea of secular democracy appears more threatened than ever in the Arab world, abandoning this important—if imperfect—ally would be a serious mistake. Lebanon remains a natural Arab ally of Washington, particularly compared to others like Qatar—a monarchy that has spent decades exporting extremism. Its weakness made it a base for Hezbollah, but Lebanon was founded as a pluralistic, if flawed, republic, and has a religiously diverse and relatively Western and secular society."