For Immediate Release
August 21, 2006

Fact Sheet: United States Humanitarian, Reconstruction, and Security Assistance to Lebanon

      In Focus: Peace in the Middle East

Today, President Bush Announced That The United States Was Planning To Provide Over $230 Million In Humanitarian, Reconstruction, And Security Assistance To Lebanon. $27 million of this assistance has already been provided. This assistance aims to strengthen Lebanon's sovereign, democratic government, help the Lebanese people rebuild their country, and ensure lasting peace and security for the entire region.

Humanitarian Assistance

The United States Is Leading The International Effort To Bring Urgently Needed Humanitarian Relief To The People Of Lebanon. From the onset of the conflict, U.S. diplomatic, military, and disaster relief personnel have coordinated with the Lebanese government, non-governmental organizations, and allies to alleviate the suffering of the Lebanese people.

The United States Has:

• Delivered medicine, fuel, shelter, food, and water to the Lebanese people.
• Helped international relief agencies and non-governmental organizations arrange convoys to bring critical supplies to civilians in the conflict zones.
• Worked with the Israeli and Lebanese governments, as well as partners in the region, to open ports, shipping lanes and runways, to allow the delivery of urgently needed supplies.
• Helped to secure the early reopening of the Rafik Hariri International Airport in Beirut for passenger and humanitarian flights.
• Helped to ensure the resumption of fuel supplies for Lebanon's principal power plants.
• Worked with Lebanese officials and others to alleviate shortages in gasoline and diesel for vehicles.
• Dispatched a shipment of 25,000 metric tons of wheat to Lebanon to ensure an uninterrupted supply of food.

Reconstruction Assistance

The United States Commitment To Lebanon Will Continue Beyond The Stage Of Immediate Relief. Our commitment to bolstering Lebanon's fragile democracy and assisting the Lebanese people is enduring and unwavering.

The United States Will:

• Assist in efforts to rebuild key bridges and roads and to make them passable as soon as possible.
• Support the rebuilding of homes and other private infrastructure in the hardest-hit areas of Lebanon, especially the South.
• Support the rehabilitation of schools so that Lebanese children can return to the classroom.
• Assist with the cleanup of the Jiyyeh oil spill and the resulting pollution, in order to restore livelihoods and protect people's health in coastal communities.
• Assist in the disposal of unexploded ordnance, and fund demining and mine awareness programs.

Security Assistance

The Cornerstone Of A Sovereign And Independent Lebanese Government Is A Strong And Effective Lebanese Army. The United States will assist the Lebanese Armed Forces and Lebanon's national police to ensure that they can extend government authority throughout Lebanon, secure Lebanon's borders and ports of entry, and ensure that no armed groups exist in Lebanon outside the authority of the state.

The United States Will:

• Provide the Lebanese security services with new equipment and spare parts to service existing equipment.
• Work with international partners to provide the Lebanese security services with up-to-date training.
• Continue programs to modernize and professionalize further Lebanese law enforcement organizations, and bolster their ability to address the growing terrorist threat in Lebanon and the region.

The Assistance Of The U.S. Government Is A Reflection Of The Generosity Of The American People. In order to tap into the generosity of America's private businesses and individuals, a high-level Presidential delegation will be dispatched to Lebanon in order to help channel private U.S. donations to needy people and organizations.

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