The activities of Hezbollah, the Lebanon based terrorist group -- founded and supported by the Iranian regime -- have been under a spotlight in recent days.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice blasted the group and its leader Hasan Nasrallah for their active and growing support for Syrian President Bashar al Assad’s brutal campaign against the Syrian people: “Nasrallah’s fighters are now part of Assad’s killing machine and Hezbollah leaders continue to plot with Iran new measures to prop up a murderous and desperate dictator,” she said.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon submitted a report to the UN Security Council on October 18th which also deplores Hezbollah’s involvement in Syria. In addition, the same report warned that Hezbollah’s launching of an Iranian-made drone into Israel earlier this month was “a reckless provocation” which could lead to a regional conflict.
Hezbollah’s reach and menace also extend beyond the region. In September, when the U.S. Treasury Department announced new sanctions against Hasan Nasrallah and two other Hezbollah leaders for their support for Assad’s violence, Treasury noted that the “last year has witnessed Hezbollah’s most aggressive terrorist plotting outside the Middle East since the 1990s.”
In recent testimony before Congress, two U.S. officials, Matthew Olson, Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, and Kevin Perkins, Associate Deputy FBI Director listed Iran and Iran-sponsored terrorist groups, including Hezbollah and the Qods Force, as top worldwide terror threats.
Director Olson said, “We’ve seen Iranian influence in Iraq and Afghanistan. But we’ve also seen links between Iran and terrorist operations in India, Thailand, Georgia. So it’s a threat that’s posed beyond the immediate region of Iran.”
Mr. Perkins agreed that Hezbollah and the Qods force “have shown they both have the capability and the willingness to extend beyond that region of the world and likely into the homeland [USA] itself. We look at it as a very serious problem,” he said. “We look at it as a serious threat.”
As the U.S. Treasury Department has pointed out, “Hezbollah and Hasan Nasrallah have tried to portray their organization as a social and political party, as well as a resistance movement. These efforts are belied by the facts: Hezbollah consistently uses terrorism against civilian targets to achieve its goals.”
The international community must counter Hezbollah’s terrorist activity and expose it for the menace it is to stability and peace.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice blasted the group and its leader Hasan Nasrallah for their active and growing support for Syrian President Bashar al Assad’s brutal campaign against the Syrian people: “Nasrallah’s fighters are now part of Assad’s killing machine and Hezbollah leaders continue to plot with Iran new measures to prop up a murderous and desperate dictator,” she said.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon submitted a report to the UN Security Council on October 18th which also deplores Hezbollah’s involvement in Syria. In addition, the same report warned that Hezbollah’s launching of an Iranian-made drone into Israel earlier this month was “a reckless provocation” which could lead to a regional conflict.
Hezbollah’s reach and menace also extend beyond the region. In September, when the U.S. Treasury Department announced new sanctions against Hasan Nasrallah and two other Hezbollah leaders for their support for Assad’s violence, Treasury noted that the “last year has witnessed Hezbollah’s most aggressive terrorist plotting outside the Middle East since the 1990s.”
In recent testimony before Congress, two U.S. officials, Matthew Olson, Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, and Kevin Perkins, Associate Deputy FBI Director listed Iran and Iran-sponsored terrorist groups, including Hezbollah and the Qods Force, as top worldwide terror threats.
Director Olson said, “We’ve seen Iranian influence in Iraq and Afghanistan. But we’ve also seen links between Iran and terrorist operations in India, Thailand, Georgia. So it’s a threat that’s posed beyond the immediate region of Iran.”
Mr. Perkins agreed that Hezbollah and the Qods force “have shown they both have the capability and the willingness to extend beyond that region of the world and likely into the homeland [USA] itself. We look at it as a very serious problem,” he said. “We look at it as a serious threat.”
As the U.S. Treasury Department has pointed out, “Hezbollah and Hasan Nasrallah have tried to portray their organization as a social and political party, as well as a resistance movement. These efforts are belied by the facts: Hezbollah consistently uses terrorism against civilian targets to achieve its goals.”
The international community must counter Hezbollah’s terrorist activity and expose it for the menace it is to stability and peace.
