U.S.: Hezbollah Part of Assad’s ‘Killing Machine’
U.S.: Hezbollah Part of Assad’s ‘Killing Machine’
The United States said Monday that Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia is stepping up support for the Syrian government and has become part of President Bashar Assad’s “killing machine.”
U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice told the U.N. Security Council’s monthly meeting on the Mideast that Hezbollah leaders are also continuing to plot new measures with Iran to keep Assad in power.
Rice’s comments - and those of Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Ron Prosor - gave the clearest indication that Hezbollah, which fought a war against Israel in 2006 and is a major political and military force in Lebanon, is sending an increasing number of fighters to help the embattled Syrian regime.
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Syria’s ruling Alawite minority is an offshoot of Shiite Islam and has had close ties to Iran and Hezbollah which are Shiite-dominated. Assad has long helped Iran aid Hezbollah and Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, in destabilizing Lebanon and threatening Israel’s security and U.S. interests in the Middle East.
The U.S. ambassador accused Hezbollah’s leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, of being two-faced about his claims that he is promoting Lebanon’s interests.
“Hezbollah’s active and growing support for Assad’s war exposes Hassan Nasrallah’s claims of promoting Lebanon’s national interest as nothing more than a deadly form of deception,” Rice said.
