A senior U.S. diplomat indicated that “we will not be providing that kind of long-term assistance [to Lebanon] until we see a government that’s actually capable of reform and change… We have been able to deal with governments in the past with a Hizbollah component, but the question is whether it is going to be a government that’s truly capable of reforms. Reforms are contrary to the interests of all of the status quo leaders and that very much includes Hizbollah, which is today perceived as a big part of the problem”.