Nasrallah: Hezbollah Will Not Disarm

The leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, has publicly stated today that not only will Hezbollah not disarm, but that the Lebanese government is weak and ineffective. So much for obeying the ceasefire resolution.

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah told supporters Friday that his guerrillas will not surrender their weapons until a stronger Lebanese government is in place — including 20,000 rockets his group claims to still have after its 34-day war with Israel.

In his first public appearance since Israel launched its massive offensive against Hezbollah guerrillas on July 12, Nasrallah repeatedly attacked the Western-backed government of Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, which he called weak and unable to protect Lebanon from Israel.

Speaking to hundreds of thousands of flag-waving supporters in bombed-out southern Beirut, he said giving up Hezbollah's weapons now "under this government … means leaving Lebanon exposed before Israel to kill and detain and bomb whoever they want, and clearly we will not accept that."

"When we build a strong and just state that is capable of protecting the nation and the citizens, we will easily find an honorable solution to the resistance issue and its weapons," the black-turbaned cleric said.

"Tears don't protect anyone," he said in a jab at Saniora, who wept several times in speeches during the Israeli offensive as he described the destruction and pleaded for international support.

Nasrallah also vowed not to allow U.N. peacekeepers and Lebanese troops to disarm Hezbollah militants in the south.

"No army in the world will be able to make us drop the weapons from our hands," he said.

Israel is rightfully quite angry about all this. This is just another jab by Iran at the UN, with Nasrallah simply aping his master, Mad Mahmoud. The situation in the Middle East is reaching a crisis, and the West is letting it happen by failing to stand up to Iran and its puppets.