Barrack says Hezbollah can't be disarmed militarily, urges direct talks with Israel

U.S. envoy Tom Barrack has again described Lebanon as a “failed state,” noting that “the confessional system does not work.”

“A Maronite president, a Sunni prime minister and a Shia speaker; a 128 parliamentary seats split equally between Islam and Christians; everything is a deadlock,” said Barrack at a seminar organized by the Milken Institute.

Asked about the Hezbollah disarmament process, Barrack said the Iran-backed group “happens to be a large political party within Lebanon.”

“This idea of saying you to disarm Hezbollah … you’re not actually gonna do it militarily,” Barrack added, stressing that “nobody wants a civil war in Lebanon.”

Addressing Lebanese leaders, the U.S. envoy said: “You have to really have a discussion with Israel. March to Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, sit down and have a discussion.”

Asked whether Israel will launch a new attack on Hezbollah, Barrack said: “I hope not, attacks haven’t worked.”

“The U.S. is saying Hezbollah needs to be disarmed, Hezbollah is a foreign terrorist organization, it cannot exist. My personal opinion is you kill one terrorist, you create ten. That can’t be the answer, there has to be another answer and the Lebanese leadership now … is terrific,” Barrack added.

He also said he believes that Speaker Nabih Berri “controls really both Amal and Hezbollah.”

“I think they’re all (President Joseph Aoun, Berri and PM Nawaf Salam) in the state of saying, ‘Enough.’ They have to run to Israel and make a deal, there is no other answer,” Barrack added.