Hezbollah....Bush's enemy "du jour"

[marmar]

Bush's Enemy du Jour
Submitted by davidswanson on Mon, 2006-07-31 16:50. Media
By Marjorie Cohn

American television broadcasts, replete with images of dead and wounded civilians, and buildings reduced to rubble in Lebanon, are accompanied by voiceovers supporting Israel's right to "self-defense."

The word "Hezbollah" is seldom mentioned in a sentence unaccompanied by the word "terrorist."

Commentators speculate on whether al Qaeda or Hezbollah is a worse terrorist threat to the United States. Richard L. Armitage, Deputy Secretary of State during Bush's first term, has said Hezbollah might be "the A-team of terrorists," and that "Al Qaeda is actually the B-team."

Former CIA agent Robert Baer admits there is no evidence Hezbollah is operating in the United States. But in response to questioning by a "fair and balanced" Fox News anchor, Baer speculates that Hezbollah "could" attack on US soil.

Hezbollah is George W. Bush's enemy du jour.

Although suspected of complicity in the 1985 hijacking of a TWA jet, Hezbollah denies ever attacking anyone outside of Lebanon and Israel. The group, which comprises the Shiite brand of Islam, doesn't even attack other sects inside Lebanon. Its leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah claims Hezbollah is "like Jesus," citing the group's 2000 action in Lebanon, where Hezbollah did not take vengeance within Lebanon.

There is overwhelming support for Hezbollah in Lebanon. According to a poll by the Beirut Center for Research and Information, 87 percent of Lebanese support Hezbollah's fight with Israel. The level of support for Hezbollah is high among non-Shiite communities. Eighty percent of Christians, 80 percent of Druze and 89 percent of Sunnis polled support Hezbollah.

These numbers are likely to rise in the wake of Israel's bombing of Qana yesterday, which killed over 60 civilians, mostly children. Thousands in the Middle East have taken to the streets, outraged at the carnage.

The rest is at: http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/13422