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Who is Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, the man who leads Hezbollah, who controls what some have called the world's best irregular army, who has moved Hezbollah from a purely terrorist organization to a Lebanese political party with two seats in the nation's cabinet?
What he may be is the next generation of Shiite leaders -- a man capable of leading a state within a state, a transitional figure between Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khomenei, and Moqtada al Sadr, the leader of Baghdad's three milliion Shiites, and a man still capable of reminding Americans who first used car bombs against U.S. targets.
Nasrallah has been at this since 1992. He is well regarded by both the Syrian and Iranian governments. He is thought to oversee Hezbollah's operational activities in terms of both unleashing Imad Mugniyah (the Hezbollah leader responsible for the 1980s attacks on the Marine Barracks, the U.S. embassy and the kidnapping of Americans) and the Hezbollah Jihad Council. He oversees it and largely through Mugniyah, he affects things.
He has led Hezbollah to where it is today, and is largely responsible for the group’s political successes.
As secretary general, he approves overall strategic direction for the entire party, both in terms of electoral strategy and terrorist activities. He is responsible for taking it from a primarily military/terrorist-oriented group to what it is now: a major political force in Lebanon. He consolidated its power using the social service network you see in operation today.
Nasrallah was born in Bourj Hammoud, in east Beirut in 1960, the eldest of nine children. A devout Shiite Muslim. He is married and had at least two children; one, a boy killed in 1997 in an operation in southern Lebanon against the Israelis. That loss has helped him gain credibility among the Hezbollah rank-and-file, particularly the military wing.
In 1975, his family was forced to return to their ancestral home in south Lebanon where he joined Amal, then a radical Shiite party. From south Lebanon he moved to Najaf, Iraq, and studied in a Shiite seminary there. With the buildup of tensions between Sunnis and Shiites in the late 1970s, he was thrown out of Iraq and returned to Lebanon.
In 1982, he left Amal and helped form Hezbollah. In 1992, he was elected Secretary-General, getting re-elected to a third term in 2001. His bottom line position is as long as Israel exists, Lebanon needs a resistance.
He has been very very popular with Syria and Iran. This has done nothing to diminish his reputation -- creating a monster is an overstatement -- but it has burnished his image. He stood up to the Israelis and he survived!
Hezbollah has long launched attacks against Americans, but has not carried out a major attack in years. Khobar in 1996 is attributed to "elements of Hezbollah" rather than to the party itself, but they do have the capability. Does he have the charisma of Bin Laden? No, but he has more than he did three weeks ago.
Hezbollah has the capability to hit the United States at home or abroad -- though more likely to hit interests overseas -- if there was the perception of a significant threat from the U.S., or if Iran asks them to act. Hezbollah is effectively Iran's surrogate.
Iranian officials dispute that contention, saying that while it has influence over Hezbollah, it does not have control, adding that the U.S. does not understand that.
Read more from Posts on the Mideast, Robert Windrem
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THE BIG ONE
History repeats itself.. we saw it in the Balkans where we once supported the group that eventually did the slaughtering. I found this interesting article ( : http://www.washington-report.org/archives/May-June_2006/0605014.htm ) that gives some insight into the workings in the Middle East. Coming from a country that once Colonised, I struggle with the question, IRA- Freedom fighters or terrorists, Shaka Zulu- freedom fighter or terrorist, ANC- Freedom fighters or terrorists, Those who liberated America from the British- freedom fighters or terrorists, The MauMau - freedom fighters or terrorists,Irgun & Lehi - freedom fighters or terrorists.. it is easy to pick one side and demonize the other when you don't understand the dynamics behind a certain conflict
(Sent Aug 10, 2006 10:51:12 AM)
Right now I do not know who is right or wrong, everyone says it has the truth but meanwhile innocent people is dying and nobody is really interested in stopping this nonsense. You cannot stop violence with more violence its illogical and dangerous.
(Sent Aug 10, 2006 10:10:41 AM)
and then there's the CIA, capable of doing the James Bond thing and really cleaning up the world with less fatalities from all military. Where are the assassins of good will?
RG North Las Vegas, NV (Sent Aug 9, 2006 6:54:46 PM)
Does Robert Windrem understand Arabic and Farsi? I highly doubt it or he wouldn't be making the claims he has in this blog entry.
I suggest the readership read about IRGUN & LEHI. These were (and are) Zionist terrorist organizations that have been hailed as "freedom fighters." In 1946, The King David Hotel was bombed by Irgun, killing 91 people, most of them civilians: 28 British, 41 Arab, 17 Jewish, and 5 other. Around 45 people were injured. The mastermind of the bombing later became the Prime Minister of Israel, Menachem Begin. A few weeks ago, Binyamin Netanyahu attended a 60th anniversary *celebration* of the bombing in London! The Brits weren't very happy. Would you be happy if Osama's successor celebrated the bombing of the Twin Towers?!
Also, we hear so much about the US Military men being killed by Hizbullah but what about when Israel *BOMBED* the USS Liberty in 1967?! How come no one remembers that? For shame.
Let's not speak in half-truths, please.
Al Haidar, NY, NY (Sent Aug 9, 2006 2:10:39 PM)
Does anybody know if and how many Lebanese have been held in Israeli jails since before this current mess started? I have searched and searched for this answer without success. Somebody must know.
(Sent Aug 9, 2006 12:43:37 PM)
How many unprovoked terrorist attacks have taken place in Tel Aviv and other israeli cities, where many women and children were killed in restaraunts, buses, marketplaces, etc. How many people shed tears for those innocents....... Fox 2 better get their head out of the sand.... soon.
E.S. Royal Oak, Michigan
Elsa Silverman (Sent Aug 9, 2006 10:55:41 AM)
just want to ask all you people this question: why do you think there is such a hate towards Israel from the arab world? Do you really think that the hate came from nowhere? Can people please start thinking for themselves and not just listen to the biased one sided media? If we were more aware of the root of this problem, maybe we could find a solution to it. I think it is horrible that so many people lose their lives in this war, doesn't matter whether they are israelis or lebanese...
and also MEENGHIA, what are you talking about? Since when have this country ever been anti-israel? this country is known all over the world for it's pro-israel biased media!
Alex, NY, NY (Sent Aug 9, 2006 9:38:50 AM)
Hey Robert, Keep the info comming. America needs to be Educated to these parts of the world and thier players.. A great story to tell would be how a person like Hassan Nasrallah is abbel to run a state with in a state... Thanks
Tony Zumbado (Sent Aug 9, 2006 6:30:56 AM)
Man, am I sick this whining BS:
"Not to worry. They will never attack this country. The liberal news media has shown by their bias reporting that we are pro-terrorist, anti-Israel. How quickly we forgot the 3000 killed in New York. The liberal left will go to extremes, bordering on treason, in order to condemn Bush and the Israelis. So don't worry Nasrallah, you've got friends in America, DEMOCRATS"
Who attacked the WTC? Are you capable of remembering that? Didn't we have a "liberal media" back then, too?
If we had a "liberal media," Bush and Cheney's absolute subservience to the oil companies would be all over the front pages, but it isn't, is it? And I rather resent being called "traitor" because I'm not so stupid as to know when I'm being manipulated and lied to. Subverting the Constituion is "treason."
Why don't you go to Iran? They don't have no stinking "liberal media."
Lee Steele Mountain View, CA (Sent Aug 8, 2006 6:57:34 PM)
Thank you Robert and staff. This is excactly what is lacking in most of the msm, in depth reporting.
A whole series on all the players in the region would be fantastic. If the public/audience knows who, what and why perhaps informed choices can be made. Excellent work people. Lets keep the quality information coming.
Inquiring cerellum (Sent Aug 8, 2006 6:07:26 PM)
Well done Robert, sounds like a biography of a very nice man...just kidding. It is amazing how much political influence and charisma one can garner when one holds an AK-47 on those that dare to oppose.
Don, USA (Sent Aug 8, 2006 5:56:43 PM)
Not to worry. They will never attack this country. The liberal news media has shown by their bias reporting that we are pro-terrorist, anti-Israel. How quickly we forgot the 3000 killed in New York. The liberal left will go to extremes, bordering on treason, in order to condemn Bush and the Israelis. So don't worry Nasrallah, you've got friends in America, DEMOCRATS
Meenghia (Sent Aug 8, 2006 5:27:14 PM)
Don't give him all the credit, in 1989 when I was in the IDF we fought Hezbollah every now and then in border skirmishes and they were good back then. We all knew it, the generals chose to ignore that fact.
And here we are ...
Just Me, USA (Sent Aug 8, 2006 5:13:13 PM)
Robert - Thanks for writing this profile. I had been wanting to learn more about Nasrallah since this conflict began. I find it so hard to understand how leaders of arab pollitical/terrorist groups can come out of "religious" educations in seminaries.
By the way I thought I had heard Nasrallah call for multiple prisioners to be released from Isreal's prisions as his goal in this conflict, but an article in last weeks TIME indicated his interest was in a singular (and extermely dispicable) terrorist Isreal caught a few years ago who had arrived in Isreal by boat and then murdered a father and daughter on the beach as he was caught trying to escape. Did TIME get that wrong I wonder.
Richard, El Paso, TX (Sent Aug 8, 2006 4:52:26 PM)
Sounds familiar? Germany 1920's & 1930's where the Nazi party wins seats and eventually because no one took a stand dragged the entire country into the toilet, but wait its the 21st century and we more in tune with our feelings and we want to sanitize our conflicts and resolve our issues with resolutions and appeasement. Yes we will leave to our children to clean up. It seems to me there are a bunch of pansies out there trying to run things.
LT Elmhurst, Illinois (Sent Aug 8, 2006 4:22:02 PM)
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