Prove to me that Hezbollah is a terrorist organization

[SNOWBALL]

I think they are mostly a militia and a political party. They shoot at israeli soldiers that are unlawfully occupying part of southern lebanon, and they run candidates in the lebanese parliament. What's terrorist about that?

[in48092]

by and large, it hink the use of the word "terrorist" is counterproductive, and just serves to simplify debate. i won't try to convince you tht they are a terrorist organization, but they do undermine the sovereignty of the lebanese governemt. they do this by refusing to begin disarming, as all the other former lebanese militias have done, as well as acting as a proxy for syria and iran. in addition the shebaa farms are actually part of syria, not lebanon. finally, while hizballah is certainly pat of the political proscess in lebanon, they do act to quell opposition within the shia community.

[ahnuld]

plus they attack civilans using suicide bombers and such, but that aint terrorism, thats freedom fighting.

[SNOWBALL]

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plus they attack civilans using suicide bombers and such, but that aint terrorism, thats freedom fighting.

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aren't you confusing hamas with hezbollah? There's a big difference. Hezbollah is lebanese. Hamas is palestinian. Hezbollah is Shia. Hamas is Sunni. Hezbollah attacks soldiers. Hamas attacks civilians.

[ahnuld]

Hezbollah supplies hamas and other palestinian terrorists with weapons, funding and training. To me its the same thing.

[TaintedRogue]

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I think they are mostly a militia and a political party. They shoot at israeli soldiers that are unlawfully occupying part of southern lebanon, and they run candidates in the lebanese parliament. What's terrorist about that?

[/ QUOTE ]

Hizballah, Formed in 1982 in response to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, this Lebanon-based radical Shia group takes its ideological inspiration from the Iranian revolution and the teachings of the late Ayatollah Khomeini. The Majlis al-Shura, or Consultative Council, is the group’s highest governing body and is led by Secretary General Hasan Nasrallah.

Hizballah is dedicated to liberating Jerusalem and eliminating Israel, and has formally advocated ultimate establishment of Islamic rule in Lebanon. Nonetheless, Hizballah has actively participated in Lebanon’s political system since 1992. Hizballah is closely allied with, and often directed by, Iran but has the capability and willingness to act independently. Though Hizballah does not share the Syrian regime’s secular orientation, the group has been a strong ally in helping Syria advance its political objectives in the region.

They are known or suspected to have been involved in numerous anti-US and anti-Israeli terrorist attacks, including the suicide truck bombings of the US Embassy and US Marine barracks in Beirut in 1983 and the US Embassy annex in Beirut in 1984. Three members of Hizballah, ‘Imad Mughniyah, Hasan Izz-al-Din, and Ali Atwa, are on the FBI’s list of 22 Most Wanted Terrorists for the 1985 hijacking of TWA Flight 847 during which a US Navy diver was murdered. Elements of the group were responsible for the kidnapping and detention of Americans and other Westerners in Lebanon in the 1980s. Hizballah also attacked the Israeli Embassy in Argentina in 1992 and the Israeli cultural center in Buenos Aires in 1994. In 2000, Hizballah operatives captured three Israeli soldiers in the Shab’a Farms and kidnapped an Israeli noncombatant. Operates in the southern suburbs of Beirut, the Bekaa Valley, and southern Lebanon.

They have established cells in Europe, Africa, South America, North America, and Asia.

You can read more about Hizballah and other terrorists groups at: http://library.nps.navy.mil/home/tgp/tgpndx.htm

[Fly]

The following are a few examples of terrorist acts conducted by Hezbollah from an article by the Council on Foreign Relations.

http://www.cfr.org/publication/9155/

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and two major 1990s attacks on Jewish targets in Argentina—the 1992 bombing of the Israeli Embassy (killing twenty-nine) and the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center (killing ninety-five)


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the suicide truck bombings that killed more than 200 U.S. Marines at their barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1983


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the 1985 hijacking of TWA flight 847, which featured the famous footage of the plane’s pilot leaning out of the cockpit with a gun to his head


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a series of kidnappings of Westerners in Lebanon, including several Americans, in the 1980s


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[LadyWrestler]

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I think they are mostly a militia and a political party. They shoot at israeli soldiers that are unlawfully occupying part of southern lebanon, and they run candidates in the lebanese parliament. What's terrorist about that?

[/ QUOTE ]

Are you sure you want to use that argument? If anything, this tends to make one think that the Lebanese political system, itself, supports (or at least accepts) a strong and officially recognized terrorist voice within its present system.

[nicky g]

[ QUOTE ]
The following are a few examples of terrorist acts conducted by Hezbollah from an article by the Council on Foreign Relations.

http://www.cfr.org/publication/9155/

[ QUOTE ]

and two major 1990s attacks on Jewish targets in Argentina—the 1992 bombing of the Israeli Embassy (killing twenty-nine) and the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center (killing ninety-five)


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the suicide truck bombings that killed more than 200 U.S. Marines at their barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1983


[/ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]

the 1985 hijacking of TWA flight 847, which featured the famous footage of the plane’s pilot leaning out of the cockpit with a gun to his head


[/ QUOTE ]

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a series of kidnappings of Westerners in Lebanon, including several Americans, in the 1980s


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Hizb Allah denies involvement in the Argentina episodes. They were also more than ten years ago; if you want to go far enough back in the past you can find unequivocal acts of terrorism by Israeli groups too (not to mention numerous car bombings, mass murders, targetting of civilians etc that are by any serious definition terrorist acts that it engaged in when in Lebanion before and elsewhere).

I don;t see how the attack on the marine barracks, a military target of a country that was intervening in the conflict increasingly on behalf of one side, can be considered a terrorist attack.

[Fly]

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Hizb Allah denies involvement in the Argentina episodes.


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Its telling how eager you are to take Hezbollah's word.