Secretary General of Lebanese Hizbullah Hassan Nasrallah said on Tuesday that the arrival of hundreds of thousands of Shiite pilgrims to Karbala this year would click the start of the countdown for ending US presence in Iraq, and in the whole Middle East region.
Nasrallah was speaking on Tuesday night at a commemoration service to mark the 40th day after the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Hussain. In his words, Nasrallah compared the event in Iraq this year, with that of the 1982 in Lebanon. "In 1982, too, the Lebanese nation's wide participation in Arbaein rituals clicked the beginning of the strong resistance against the racist-Zionists' presence in Lebanon," said Nasrallah.
Referring to the developments of the past few weeks in the Middle East, and particularly in Iraq, the Hizbullah leader emphasized, "the Bush administration had initially aimed at turning its war in Iraq into a war between the world Christians and the Islamic world. But that satanic plan failed thanks to the wise stand adopted by the Pope, as well as the alertness of the Islamic Alims."
Nasrallah said, "another dreadful US objective in starting a war against Iraq was flickering the flames of an internal crisis among the region's Muslim nations." He added, "Some circles helped Bush in achieving that goal, by emphasizing over the mosaic combination of the Iraqi population, but
that plot, too, failed thanks to the alertness and timely moves on the part of the Iraqi Shia leaders and nation."
Warning the regional nations that the US and Israel are together trying to imply the idea in the hearts and minds of the regional nations that they are incapable of resisting in the face of the US will, Nasrallah said, "The Americans tell a big lie about fighting to establish democracy and to safeguard freedoms in Iraq.
"They are actually after securing other goals there, and everyone knows it too well to be denied by them," he said.
Nasrallah added that the Iraqi nation had no longer been relived of a nightmare called Saddam, that the Iraqis found themselves in the middle of a more horrendous nightmare, called the US occupation.
He said, "The Americans should have better called their operation 'Occupation of Iraq', rather than 'Operation Liberation of Iraq', since they have gone there to stay, and are there to oppress the Iraqis and to steal their wealth, not to present them liberty."
Quoting the recent days' remarks by the White House politicians, he said, "the Americans have planned for a long stay in Iraq, and their recent days' comments prove this hypothesis."
The head of Hizbullah said that the US threats against Syria are both political and psychological at this stage, while Syria is the last strong castle of the Arab world. He added, "The US intends to force Syria to yield to Israel's demands, exert pressure against the Palestinians, urge them to end their legendary resistance and to sit at the negotiation table, putting down their arms, under such circumstances that Israel is armed to its teeth."
He said that the Americans also want Syria to disarm the Hizbullah.
Referring to this argument of the Americans and Israelis that "Syria has occupied Lebanon", Nasrallah said, "the US occupiers of Iraq, and Zionist occupiers of Palestine have no right to speak about Syria's legitimate presence in Lebanon, that is based on the request of the Lebanese government, and people."
Nasrallah said that Hizbullah has learned lessons from the developments in Iraq, adding, "the Lebanese and Palestinian nations have reached the conclusion that the only way to achieve liberty and their legitimate goals is keeping alive the flames of resistance." (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
