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Hezbollah: ‘Death to America’ (Sounds like a declaration of war to me)
NewsMax.Com ^ | 4/18/2003 | newsmax.com

Posted on 04/17/2003 6:18:13 PM PDT by LocalYokel

Hezbollah: ‘Death to America’

NewsMax.com

Friday, April 18, 2003

Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, in a speech before 150,000 supporters in a Beirut suburb said the U.S. will be made to suffer greatly as a result of its presence in Iraq, according to a report in the L.A. Times:

"In the past, when the Marines were in Beirut, we screamed, ‘Death to America!’ Today, when the region is being filled with hundreds of thousands of American soldiers, ‘Death to America!’ was, is and will stay our slogan."

Even before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq began, Nasrallah raged, "The people of the region will receive [America] with rifles, blood, arms, martyrdom and martyrdom operations."

Hezbollah, the so-called "attack dog" of its sponsors Iran and Syria, with active terrorist cells on four continents, has made good on its threats before:

In 1983, the group blew up the U.S. Embassy and the Marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, killing hundreds. The Marines were there to help cover Israel’s withdrawal from the capital.

In 1996, Hezbollah bombed Khobar Towers, the U.S. military housing complex in Saudi Arabia. The blast killed 19 U.S. servicemen.

The Equal of al-Qaida

"I’ll tell you that Hezbollah, as an organization with capability and worldwide presence, is its equal, if not a far more capable, organization," CIA Director George J. Tenet testified to Congress recently – comparing the terrorist group to al-Qaida.

According to the Times report, Hezbollah’s TV station has been broadcasting music videos that call for suicide attacks against American forces in Iraq. Despite such overt activity, Hezbollah has not yet claimed any responsibility for the suicide bombings against U.S. forces in Iraq thus far. However, U.S. officials have not ruled out its involvement, noting that it has a history of using proxy groups to hide its involvement in attacks.

U.S. officials concede that the U.S. presence in Iraq could provoke a violent reaction from Hezbollah. "We take it seriously, and we’re looking at them. They’ve been lethal before and continue to be," one senior administration official told the Times.

This recent round of militant bluster by Hezbollah has provoked a resurgence of the feeling that sooner or later the U.S. will have to deal directly with the threat. Some suggest that it such action is long overdue:

Shut the Camps Down

When Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., was chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, he called on the administration to order Syria to shut down Hezbollah training camps in Lebanon and attack the facilities if Damascus refused.

More recently, Israeli Prime Minister Arial Sharon demanded that the U.S. take diplomatic and economic moves against Syria if it did not rid its territories of the terrorist camps.

But any decision to move aggressively against the state-sponsored terrorists is fraught with issues – not the least of which is the potential of broadening the Iraq conflict into a regional crisis.

So far, Bush administration officials have sternly warned Syrian President Bashar Assad against supporting terrorism or sheltering fleeing Saddam henchmen.

In the meantime, Hezbollah continues to receive as much as $100 million annually from Tehran, with Damascus throwing in weapons and logistical support, according to the report.

Already bristling with thousands of well-armed terrorists and thousands of missiles, Hezbollah may be outstripping al-Qaida as public enemy number one


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Government; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: hezbollah; iraq; terror; war
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To: LocalYokel
Looks like Syria is between Iraq and a hard place right now
21 posted on 04/17/2003 7:54:55 PM PDT by Damagro
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To: LocalYokel
Osama bin Laden: Dead or on the run, his forces decimated.
Saddam Hussein: Dead or on the run, his forces decimated.
Sheik Hassan Nasrallah: ...

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome.
22 posted on 04/17/2003 8:20:50 PM PDT by SpaceBar
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To: SpaceBar
I hope all their martyrs come pouring out from underneath every rock and dash head first toward our military forces in Irag. BRING IT ON, MARTYRS, BRING IT ON!!!!!!!!

As General Patton aptly stated: We win the war by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country!!!!!! Looks like to me there's an Arab surplus of poor dumb bastards.

23 posted on 04/17/2003 8:47:39 PM PDT by McBuff
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To: McBuff
Lets rolls
24 posted on 04/17/2003 8:52:13 PM PDT by scooby321
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To: Senator Goldwater
Boy oh boy -- I've got that feeling that there's a bunch of stuff cooking just under the surface. Wonder what the "tipping" point will be to send us into Syria and Lebanon. President Bush has made it clear "you're either with us or against us". Hezbollah is pushing because nothing's happened to them in the past. Well, 9/11 has changed the direction we were headed in the past. We need to clean this stuff out -- no waiting to be hit...
25 posted on 04/17/2003 8:59:48 PM PDT by alethia
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To: sparky samson
Or perhaps a trip to MOAB;)))
26 posted on 04/17/2003 9:14:09 PM PDT by Frank_2001
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