If the U.S. wants to support a democratic political order and clean water in Lebanon–both good ideas–it has to deal with Hezbollah. The Shiite party/militia, while officially proscribed by the U.S. government  as a terrorist organization,  also plays by the rough but recognizable rules of Lebanese democracy.

Hezbollah, representing the country’s impoverished and frequently rural Shiites,  has gained control of the country’s Ministry of Agriculture.  Last week U.S. ambassador Michele Sison told the London daily Asharq Alawsat that U.S. support for the country’s agricutural sector would continue.

We [also] continue to support [clean] water management projects, because our studies show that almost 50 percent of [clean] water sources may be lost if they are not managed in a good manner, and we are working on a number of sites to ensure this. In cooperation with state institutions and municipalities, we have contributed to providing clean water to around 27,000 people in the al-Shouf and Bekka regions.

Sison added that U.S. could have no dealings with the Hezbollah minister, Hussein al-Hajj Hassan, but added, “The programs that are present will continue.”

In other words,  the Lebanese technocrats get U.S. money but the minister gets no face time with Washington interlocutors.  Hezbollah can live with the arrangement. Can the U.S. Congress?

The Beirut daily Naharnet, no friend of Hezbollah, takes note.