Over the past several years, the underequipped Lebanese Army has been built up almost entirely through foreign donations or acquisition of inexpensive surplus military equipment. This process has been ongoing since Syrian troops left Lebanese soil in 2005 following the so-called Cedar Revolution and a new Western-leaning government came into office. Things accelerated following two succeeding events: the 34-day war between Hezbollah guerrillas and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in the summer of 2006, and the battles with an Islamic al-Qaeda-inspired group called Fatah al-Islam at Nahr al-Bared at a refugee camp in northern Lebanon in the summer of 2007.
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