Special to WorldTribune.com

NICOSIA — The United States, charged with reneging on security assistance to Lebanon, has acknowledged a threat from Islamic State of Iraq and Levant and has pledged to accelerate weapons and equipment to Lebanon’s military.

U.S. ambassador David Hale said the administration of President Barack Obama was ready to approve additional weapons shipments to the Lebanese military. Hale said Washington sought to enhance Lebanon’s ability to combat ISIL, which captured a Lebanese town near the border with Syria.

The United States has refused to enhance the combat capabilities of the Lebanese military, a report said.

The Institute for Near East and Gulf Analysis in Abud Dhabi reported that Washington has severely limited aid to improve the combat platforms of the Lebanese military. In a report, the institute, located in the United Arab Emirates, quoted a senior Lebanese military official that the administration of President Barack Obama suspended a program to transform civilian aircraft for combat missions.

“The only single asset the LAF [Lebanese armed forces] possessed that could provide good reconnaissance with efficient air support was the one Cessna Caravan aircraft armed with Hellfire rockets,” the report quoted the senior Lebanese official as saying.

The Aug. 12 report, titled “Lebanon: Hariri’s Return Strengthens Moderates But Incomplete Without Rushing Arms To LAF,” said the military badly needed close air support. He said Washington provided one converted Cessna turboprop with air strike capabilities and refused a Lebanese request for another platform.

Institute director Riad Kahwaji, a leading Middle East analyst, said Washington has not fulfilled its pledge to supply 12 AT-6 light attack aircraft to the Lebanese Air Force. The AT-6 has been supplied to the other U.S. allies in the Middle East, including Iraq and Morocco.

“We hope the United States and the West would treat the LAF the same way it is treating the Iraqi Army which is fighting the same enemy: ISIS,” the Lebanese official was reported as saying.

“The United States will soon deliver additional munitions and ordnance for offensive and defensive combat operations by the LAF [Lebanese armed forces],” Hale said. “This assistance will enhance the LAF’s ability to secure Lebanon’s borders, protect Lebanon’s people, and fight these violent extremist groups.”

In a statement on Aug. 14, Hale said the U.S. military aid would arrive within weeks. The ambassador, who earlier met Prime Minister Tammam Salam and Defense Minister Samir Moqbel, did not elaborate.

“U.S. military assistance will begin arriving in the next few weeks and continue in the months to follow,” Hale said.

Officials said the U.S. pledge marked a response to Lebanese pleas for emergency supplies for its military and security forces. They said the Beirut government has determined that the military was ill-equipped to battle ISIL, enhanced by the capture of thousands of U.S.-origin combat vehicles, artillery and other platforms in Iraq.

The United States has supplied Beirut more than $1 billion worth of military and security assistance since 2006. But officials said successive U.S. administrations, restrained by Congress, refused to provide more than a token number of combat platforms.

Officials said Washington agreed to deliver military helicopters, light attack aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles to Lebanon. They cited a U.S. pledge for 12 AT-6 trainer and close air-support turboprops, none of which was said to have been delivered.

“We are in intensive consultations with the Lebanese government and our partners about how to best respond to additional needs of the Lebanese armed forces,” Hale said.

  Cessna Caravan, David Hale, Hellfire missiles, ISIL surge changes U.S. thinking about military aid to Lebanon, Tammam Salam