Hizbullah's chief said late Saturday that his movement's war last summer with Israel has left the U.S. vision of a "new Middle East" in shambles and claimed his fighters were prepared to strike Israel again at any time. "There is no new Middle East," Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah told a mass rally in the southern town of Bint Jbeil. "It's gone with the wind."
Nasrallah's speech was relayed to the crowd on a giant screen set up in the main square of Bint Jbeil.
Nasrallah said the Shiite bovement would never be at peace with Israel. "We will not wait for anyone to defend us. We will defend ourselves and our country," he said. "We possess and we will continue to possess rockets that can hit any area in occupied Palestine if Israel attacks Lebanon," he added.
"It is impossible to live with a back-stabbing enemy on our border, who has been assaulting us ever since it was born."
Nasrallah stressed Hizbullah had foiled the Jewish state from achieving any of its declared objectives in the war, including freeing its two captive soldiers. "The enemy has even failed to return the two prisoners," he said. Nasrallah said the only way to secure their freedom was through "indirect negotiations and a (prisoner) exchange" for Lebanese citizens held by Israel.
Nasrallah charged that the war was the result of "a U.S. decision" and the United States provided Israel with "political and material support." "There was American pressure on Israel to continue its war until the desired objectives were achieved," he said in his address.
