Israel at War: Hezbollah’s Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah – “I Told Them on More Than One Occasion That We Are Taking the Issue Of the Prisoners Seriously, and That Abducting Israeli Soldiers Is the Only Way to Resolve It”
A Palestinian boy holds a Lebanese flag, next to Hezbollah, left, and Popular Resistance Committees flags, as in the foreground is seen a poster depicting Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, left, and late Popular Resistance Committees leader Jamal Abu Samhadana during a demonstration of the Popular Resistance Committees in Gaza city to support Palestinian prisoners jailed in Israel, Monday, July 24, 2006. Hezbollah leaders had demanded that Israel release Palestinian and Hezbollah prisoners to win freedom for two Israeli soldiers captured by Hezbollah earlier this month. Some 9,000 Palestinians are estimated to be held in Israeli jails.
Second, during the [Lebanese national] dialogue… Some people are now saying that I did or didn’t say certain things… There are recordings. Yes, I did tell them that we are keeping the border calm, because this was our policy. But there are two issues in which we cannot tolerate this calm. I raised four issues. Two issues can bear delays, procrastination, postponement, and reminders. No problem. The first is the continued occupation of the Shab’a Farms. Never mind, we can take our time on this. this is a small and limited piece of land. We will not start a war over the Shab’a Farms. I’m referring to the kind of war we have now. The second issue was the aerial and naval violations [of sovereignty], and even violations by ground forces. We can tolerate this. True, violations of our sovereignty are deplorable. But are we supposed to destroy the world because of it? No. Two issues cannot tolerate any delay. One is the issue of the prisoners, because of the human suffering. The second issue is any attack against civilians. I told them on more than one occasion that we are taking the issue of the prisoners seriously, and that abducting Israeli soldiers is the only way to resolve it. Of course, I said this in a low-key tone. I did not declare in the dialogue: “In July I will abduct Israeli soldiers.” This is impossible.
Interviewer: Did you inform them that you were about to abduct Israeli soldiers?
Hassan Nasrallah: I told them that we must resolve the issue of the prisoners, and that the only way to resolve it is by abducting Israeli soldiers.
Interviewer: Did you say this clearly?
Hassan Nasrallah: Yes, and nobody said to me: “No, you are not allowed to abduct Israeli soldiers.” Even if they had told me not to… I’m not defending myself here. I said that we would abduct Israeli soldiers in meetings with some of the main political leaders in the country. I don’t want to mention names now, but when the time comes to settle accounts, I will. They asked: “If this happens, will the issue of the prisoners be over and done with?” I said that it was logical that it would. And I’m telling you, our estimation was not mistaken. I’m not exaggerating. Anywhere in the world – show me a country, show me an army, show me a war, in which two soldiers, or even civilian hostages, were abducted, and a war was waged against a country – and all for two soldiers. This has never happened throughout history, and even Israel has never done such a thing.
The entire transcript is here.
The video is here.
So, did Nasrallah cluelessly miscalculate or underestimate Israel over a prisoner exchange?
Appears so….to the puppeteers disadvantage in Damascus and Tehran.
Stay tuned…..
Captain Ed agrees with Flap on the clueless miscalculation.
Others in the blogosphere:
- Michelle Malkin
- Dean’s World
- Ace of Spades HQ
- protein wisdom
- A Blog For All
- The Ministry of Minor Perfidy
- Tel-Chai Nation
Hot Air has the actual visual, and Michael van der Galien has more thoughts at TMV.
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