Hezbollah says no longer considered pariah by West

AFP ^ | Apr 15, 2009 | Jocelyne Zablit

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BEIRUT (AFP) – The West can no longer ignore Hezbollah and has given assurances it will deal with the Lebanese militant group if it wins upcoming elections, the Shiite movement's deputy chief said on Wednesday.

"Western countries are rushing to speak with us and will do so even more in the future," Sheikh Naim Qassem told AFP in an interview.

He added that a number of European countries as well as the International Monetary Fund have reassured Hezbollah's leadership that they will not boycott the group if it wins the June 7 legislative poll as was the case with the Palestinian militant group Hamas in 2006.

"The ambassador of a key European country also informed us that the US will deal with any government even though they are hoping the (Western-backed) ruling majority wins the vote," Qassem said.

The election is considered important as it will determine whether Lebanon continues to look West or whether it tilts more toward Iran if Hezbollah and its allies come out victorious.

Washington considers Hezbollah a proxy of Iran and placed the group on its list of terrorist organisations in 1997.

Qassem, however, stressed that Hezbollah's image has significantly improved in the West.

"They discovered that we accept dialogue ... that our resistance is well thought-out and ... that we are open-minded," the 56-year-old cleric said. "The more they get to know us, the more they will realize the need to respect us."

He also welcomed the change in US administration.

"Things look good now that (George W.) Bush is gone and Obama is trying to open up to the world and make up for the mistakes of the previous administration," he said, referring to US President Barack Obama who has reached out to the Muslim world.

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[lmr]

We are surrendering the world over and in this case, Israel and Lebanon will suffer. Iran is quite possibly the biggest winner Internationally since Obama was elected. They’ve hit the jackpot, because they are going to blackmail Obama with their nukes and get some major $$$ and concessions paid for by us and in a few years, like North Korea, will have Nukes, anyway and long range delivery capability. Biden will sneer at Israel not to act and I would hope that Israel has the guts to take their survival into their own hands.

The Mullahs can then use their police and military to focus inward on oppressing their population even more since the outside ‘threat’ of the U.S.A. is gone.

I shouldn’t get out of bed in the morning, each passing day, more bad news. Obama hasn’t done anything I agree with and probably won’t.

[LifeComesFirst]

So apparently terrorism *does* work. At least, as long as limp-wristed bed-wetting appeasing left-wing bureaucrats are in charge.