�Lebanon army should seek help from Iran, Syria�

Press TV (Link) (February 22, 2010)

A member of Lebanon�s parliament has called on the country�s military to expand its defensive capability through extensive cooperation with Iran and Syria.

�Iran and Syria are the only states willing to assist our country in building a powerful military,� Nawaf al Mousawi told lawmakers at the Lebanese Majlis.

Speaking a week after the movement�s Secretary General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah indicated a new approach toward Israeli aggression against Lebanon, al Mousawi added that �neither the United States nor Europe will provide Lebanon with what it needs to defend itself from Israel.�

Nasrallah on Tuesday warned that the movement will strike Israel�s infrastructure, including its airports and refineries, in the event of any Israeli attack on Lebanon.

�If you hit Dahiyeh, we will hit Tel Aviv. If you strike Martyr Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut, we�ll strike your Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv. If you hit our ports, we will hit your ports,� said the leader known for delivering on his promises.

�If you attack our refineries, we�ll attack your refineries. If you bomb our factories, we�ll bomb your factories. If you strike our power stations we will strike your power stations,� Nasrallah continued.

Tel Aviv�s military doctrine requires Israel to maintain absolute military superiority over its neighbors, a belief supported by the occupants of the White House since Harry S. Truman.

�The maintenance of Israel�s �qualitative military edge� over any combination of its potential adversaries has been a cornerstone of US Middle East policy for more than a decade,� Shawn L. Twing, editor of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs says.

According to a 1979 Memorandum of Understanding, the United States has agreed to �endeavor to be responsive to military and economic assistance requirements of Israel.�

Washington will �continue to impose restrictions on weapons supplied by it to any country which prohibit their unauthorized transfer to any third party� and will take steps to prevent such unauthorized transfer.�