He Knows His Nixon: Hezbollah's Hassan Nasrallah has no use for law. (Salah Malkawi/Getty Images)
No surprise there. Hasan Nasrallah, leader of Hezbollah in Lebanon, made his anticipated public statement in response to indictments against four Hezbollah members, handed down Thursday by the international, United Nations-backed tribunal, for their role in the 2005 assassination of Rafik Hariri, then Lebanon's prime minister. The four are innocent of the charges, Nasrallah claimed. And they will never be arrested.
"The most dangerous objective of the court is to instigate strife, a civil war or a Sunni-Shiite conflict in Lebanon," Nasrallah said, drawing on one in an army of straw men for his argument. "There will not be sectarian strife in Lebanon, or between Sunnis and Shiites." This from the man most responsible for instigating such strife, and bringing the country again to the brink of civil war on several occasions.
By declaring its men beyond the reach of the law, of course, Hezbollah also declared itself above the law. What degree of legitimacy it had been gaining by winning political power through open and fair elections, it has now entirely lost again. Hezbollah, like Syria (its patron and arms-supplier) is back to rogue state.
"The usually more courageous Lebanon Daily Star responded with an editorial that didn;t even mention Hezbollah, and that danced around the next steps. "Active cooperation is needed if Lebanon is to uphold its STL commitment," the editorial read, referring to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. "There is no half measure to be had; an obligation made to justice should bear no regard to the political climate and should take less notice of incendiary intimidation by those opposed to the court. A Cabinet that claims to seek to protect the stability of Lebanon should not be misled into thinking that such a peaceful situation can be reached by going back on its word to uphold justice and end the impunity of assassination."
That's the best it could do.
One of the four men, incidentally, is Mustapha Badredine, a relative of Imad Mougniyeh, one of the Middle East's most bloodthirsty terrorists until his assassination, possibly by Syria, possibly by Israel, back in 2008.
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Thanks Pierre we all know that Hassan Nasrallah is an Iranian tool. I said on previous occasions that Lebanon is not free. It is occupied by proxies. Hezbollah by far the strongest element in the Lebanese equation is the actual occupier of Lebanon. Just because Hezbollah managed to survive the Summer of 2006 war with Israel which gained them popularity in the Arab street, does not mean that Hezbollah an do what it likes in Lebanon. This popularity is evaporating fast with the revelations that Hezbollah’s men were responsible for the series of murders and assassinations that stretch back to the late 1980s until a few years ago. Was it a coincidence that those assassinated happened to be anti-Syrian journalists and politicians. The guilty parties are Syria and Iran. The accused four who belong to Hezbollah were the pawns and I doubt whether they will ever face justice.
correction: 5th line last few words should read “can do what it likes”.