World Council for the Cedars Revolution Advocates For Sanctions Against Hezbollah in Washington

WASHINGTON, DC:  This week, the World Council for the Cedars Revolution (WCCR) representatives, Tom Harb, John Hajjar and Joe Baini met with State Department, National Security Council and congressional officials to help advance bi-partisan legislation, sponsored by Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), which is designed to strengthen sanctions on Hezbollah.

The WCCR group met with the NSC and the State Department and discussed their plan for a more stable Lebanon by completely implementing UNSCR 1559 and 1701. They proposed deploying UNIFIL troops all along Lebanese/Syrian border with assistance of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) so as to interdict arms shipments meant for Hezbollah which are coming into the country via Syria. They also advocated for a Safe Zone controlled solely by the LAF in the central part of Lebanon which encompasses a broad cross section of Lebanese from all confessions. Their concern is that radical groups coming in from Syria may be likely to enter into violent clashes with Hezbollah within Lebanon.

Then they met with the International Republican Institute and presented their security plan. The IRI representatives were receptive while acknowledging some possible pitfalls. All three insisted that stronger action needed to be taken to avoid a new war in Lebanon between Hezbollah, Salafi Jihadists (IS and the like) and Israel. A new war would be devastating and strong action is needed now to avoid it. Their hope is that Lebanese civil society, united against terrorists of all stripes, will be strong enough to defeat the violence before it spreads.

Afterward, the WCCR group met with members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and presented their plan once more. In all their meetings, the WCCR delegation expressed their desire to see very strong sanctions against Hezbollah passed by Congress.