Huge challenge faces Lebanese army

By Nick Childs
BBC News, Beirut

Lebanon's army reflects the sectarian divisions of the country

Like much of the Lebanese state, the army has seemed essentially a helpless bystander in this conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.

Now it has a critical central role in establishing peace - perhaps its biggest challenge in modern times.

It is nominally a force of some 70,000 troops, nearly a third of them conscripts.

Western officials familiar with the army have a high regard for the professionalism of its officers and its morale.

They say the army's commanders see this as an opportunity to help establish it as a truly national force.

Liaising with the UN

But the problems are huge. There is the practical issue that its equipment is poor and worn out, and making a deployment of 15,000 troops in the south will be a huge logistical challenge.

On top of that, the army reflects the sectarian divisions of the country and while there have been reform efforts to increase its sense of unity, it is in no position to take on a mission, certainly an internal security mission, that does not enjoy a political consensus.

In other words, materially and politically, it is in no condition to take on Hezbollah, or for that matter, the Israeli army.

Army commanders clearly have plans in place for a deployment.

Ideally, Lebanese politicians and military chiefs would like to see a sequence of Israeli withdrawal, UN forces moving in as a buffer to verify the situation, and then the Lebanese army moving in.

In the longer run, the army is also likely to need support from international forces in order to sustain a deployment.

Whether this is viable at the moment, or whether the pressures of time will force a more piecemeal approach is not certain.

There are clearly Lebanese army preparations going on, with military engineers attempting to repair some road and bridges. There is also liaison underway with the United Nations and the Israeli military.

Defence Minister Elias Murr has said the army will be ready to deploy to the area of the Litani river in the coming days.

But it is still not clear whether or in what form Hezbollah is ready to withdraw from the south.

There have been intense political discussions under way behind the scenes in Beirut. Any Lebanese army deployment beyond the Litani river will probably need an agreement at the highest political level.

There is talk in Beirut of a compromise - as one analyst put it, a typical Lebanese compromise - that would involve Hezbollah fighters pulling out, but some of their weapons caches remaining hidden.

Whether that will meet with the approval of other key players in this process is open to question.