Israel Matzav

Clinton buys into the 'two wings' of Hezbullah fraud

Back in April, I debunked the myth that Hezbullah has a 'military wing' and a 'political wing.' (If you don't remember the interview at that link, please go back and watch it). Now, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton - and apparently the Obama administration - has bought into it.

So here’s a wonderful example of what happens due to two seemingly small errors, shown during Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s appearance on the Charlie Rose interview show.

She stated:

“The Iranians not only worry us because of their nuclear program, they worry us because of their support for terrorism, their support for the military wing of Hezbollah, their support for Hamas, their interference in the internal affairs of their neighbors, trying to destabilize gulf countries and other countries throughout the greater region.”

This was in the context of a relatively tough statement, right? But note two things: a tiny detail in the paragraph above and later on in this article (patience, please, it will be worth it) the explanation of U.S. policy she made immediately after.

Can you find the error? Ok, I’ll tell you: the words “military wing of Hezbollah.” This is a gimmick used by Hizballah [my transliteration] and Hamas, too, to fool people in the West. It is used by advocates of engagement with these radical Islamist terrorist groups in places like Britain.

Sure, they say, there is a military wing and a political wing. The latter is moderate or becoming so and thus you can negotiate with them separately. This is rubbish. There is no such differentiation except for normal administrative purposes. The same leadership and doctrine runs both.

So one could interpret this slip—and I do believe it was a slip—as a change in U.S. policy toward Hizballah. Don’t think so? Well, it happened.

Why the about face? Because having shown nothing but weakness to the terror organizations, the US under Obama was now left with the choice of either finding a fiction to continue talking to the new Lebanese government that includes Hezbullah, or acknowledging the reality that Lebanon - like Syria and Iran - is now a state sponsor of terror. The Obama administration doesn't acknowledge reality. It tries to change it bows to it.

What could go wrong?

Read the whole thing (yes, there's more).

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:48 PM