U.S. Ambassador Tom Barrack delivered a sharp critique of Lebanon on Saturday, describing it as a “failed state” run by “dinosaurs” and warning that Washington’s demand for the country to disarm Hezbollah is likely unattainable.

Speaking at the International Institute for Strategic Studies’ Manama Dialogue in Bahrain, Barrack, who serves as U.S. ambassador to Turkey and special envoy for Syria, said Lebanon’s chronic instability and entrenched corruption have left the country unable to function as a state.

“Lebanon is a failed state,” Barrack said during a question-and-answer session. “You’ve had abject chaos and war for 40 years. You’ve had four failed governments… and you’ve had six wars in the time that anybody can remember. So I’m not sure what the state is.”

He argued that Hezbollah has effectively replaced the state in large parts of Lebanon.

“The state is Hezbollah,” he said. “You go south, Hezbollah gives you water. It gives you an education, gives you a stipend, has 40,000 soldiers. The Lebanese Armed Forces have 60,000 soldiers. Hezbollah fighters make $2,200 a month, while LAF soldiers make $275.”

Barrack said Hezbollah, though significantly weakened in last year’s war with Israel, still possesses an arsenal of 15,000 to 20,000 rockets and missiles. The group’s rearmament, he added, makes the U.S. objective of disarming it “unrealistic.”

“In our opinion, it’s not reasonable to tell Lebanon, ‘Forcibly disarm one of your political parties,’” he said. “Everybody’s scared to death to go into a civil war. The idea is, what can you do to have Hezbollah not utilize those rockets and missiles?”

Barrack urged Lebanon and Syria to begin dialogue with Israel as part of what he called a regional “realignment,” comparing the potential path to the 2020 Abraham Accords that normalized ties between Israel and several Arab states.

“The model for Lebanon should be the Abraham Accords,” he said. “It’s clear that Israel has become a dominant ally in this repositioning of the chessboard of what happens in the Middle East. And the Abraham Accords, at least for what we have in front of us, seems to be the road that everybody needs to jump on.”

Barrack said conditions were ripe for Lebanon to begin that process, citing the ceasefire in Gaza and the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as opportunities for a “new regional order.”

He also claimed Israel “owes America a favor” after Washington supported its June attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

“You have Israel sitting ready to make border and boundary agreements with all its neighbors, and it owes America a favor,” he said. “You can’t say the word Israel in Lebanon… It’s illegal to have a conversation with Israel. What era are we living in?”

While describing Lebanese officials as “solid,” Barrack dismissed them as out of touch.

“President Aoun, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, even Speaker Nabih Berri... they’re trying, but they’re dinosaurs,” he said.

He concluded by urging Beirut to open talks with Israel along the Blue Line, the border between the two countries.

“You have that conversation on the Blue Line. You have the conversation with Syria, and in four months, you could end all of this.”