“A senior US government official said that he would like to ask the British to ‘explain the difference between the political, military and social wings of Hezbollah’, adding, ‘we don’t see a difference between the integrated leadership that they see.'”
Washington is of course right to be concerned; just as it should be concerned that it too is following the same exact path by trying to talk to “moderate” Taliban — who, according to Joe Biden, make up 70% of the Taliban.
“‘Special relationship’ strained: US criticises UK’s vow to talk to Hezbollah,” by Alex Spillius for the Telegraph, March 13 :
Washington has strongly criticised Britain’s decision to talk to the political wing of Hezbollah, and complained that Barack Obama’s new administration was not properly informed of the move in advance.
The objection underlined the awkward start to the “special relationship” between the US and Britain after Gordon Brown’s visit to Mr Obama last week.
The trip was beset by fears that the old alliance would wane under the new leadership in the White House and a flap over insufficiently thoughtful presents given by Mr Obama to the Prime Minister.
But the first serious policy disagreement has emerged over Hezbollah, the Lebanese movement which Washington brands as a terrorist organisation, following the Foreign Office’s announcement last week that it would talk to the political branch of the militant group.
A senior US government official said that he would like to ask the British to “explain the difference between the political, military and social wings of Hezbollah”, adding, “we don’t see a difference between the integrated leadership that they see”.[…]
Asked if Washington had been informed of the decision in advance by the Foreign Office, he said “informed under a previous administration” would be a “more accurate description”.
At the time of its announcement, the Foreign Office issued a statement saying that Britain had “reconsidered our position on no contact with Hezbollah in light of more positive recent political developments in Lebanon”, referring to the formation of a national unity government that included Hezbollah…