Gates: Hezbollah More Armed than Most Gov’ts; Resistance Vows to Continue Arming

Hanan Awarekeh

28/04/2010 Once again, Scud missiles and Hezbollah’s military capabilities seem to be the chief concern for the US administration and Israeli government.

Though two US officials said last week there were "no indications" any Scud rockets were transported into Lebanon, however Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said Tuesday that Syria and Iran are providing Hezbollah with rockets and missiles of ever-increasing capability in a clear hint to Scud missiles.

Following a meeting with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Tuesday during which Iran and the rearming of Hezbollah were major topics, Gates said that Hezbollah was at a point where it "has far more rockets and missiles than most governments in the world."

The two officials did not elaborate on the types of missiles, but the comments followed claims made in recent days that Hezbollah had received Scud missiles, which are capable of hitting wide areas within the Zionist entity.

Barak said that Syria was providing Hezbollah with weapon systems which could change the delicate balance in Lebanon. He noted that Israel was closely watching the developments.

Reports of the alleged Scud transfer surfaced in Kuwait’s Al-Rai newspaper earlier this month. Israel subsequently issued a stern warning that it would consider attacking both Syrian and Lebanese targets in response to a Scud attack on its territory.

Egypt then warned of a new escalation between Israel and Lebanon and sent a letter Tuesday to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in an effort to “defuse tensions” between the two countries.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak reassured Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Tuesday that Israel does not plan to attack his country.

Also on Tuesday, Israeli Ambassador to the US Michael Oren told CNN that although "the fact of the matter is the Syrians have been providing missiles to Hezbollah in Lebanon, Israel has “no intention of attacking Lebanon, Syria or anybody else in the Middle East.”

Barak and Gates avoided answering questions on the joint military exercise held by Turkey and Syria. Asked by Ynet whether Israel was concerned by the exercise, the Israeli defense minister replied that “Israel was strong enough to hold peace negotiations with its neighbors.”

“The Iranian threat” was one of the main issues discussed during the meeting.

Without taking into consideration that Israel is believed to be the sole nuclear power in the Middle East with more than 200 nuclear heads, Barak said that dealing with Iran's nuclear program was a challenge to world order. "The time is clearly, at this stage, the time for sanctions and diplomacy," he said.

He added that the United States was doing the right thing and was the only power capable of motivating the world and the Europeans to create efficient sanctions against Iran.

Barak said Israel expected sanctions to be "effective and to be limited in time so we will be able to judge to whether, what kind of results, stem from the sanctions regime."

His host said that he was satisfied with Pentagon planning to counter the threat posed by Iran's nuclear program. "I'm very satisfied with the planning process both within this building and in the inter-agency. We spend a lot of time on Iran and we'll continue to do so," Gates told reporters.

HEZBOLLAH SLAMS US ACCUSATIONS, VOWS TO CONTINUE ARMING

For its part, Hezbollah has shot back at the US accusations it was stockpiling sophisticated weapons and vowed to continue to build its artillery, in comments published on Wednesday.
"Our choice was and remains to secure all the arms of resistance that we can," Loyalty to the Resistance parliamentary bloc MP Hassan Fadlallah told the Lebanese daily As-Safir.

Hezbollah's arms do not compare to "the level of armament of the United States, which it used in its crimes against peoples around the world, from Hiroshima to the more than 100,000 martyrs killed in Iraq and the tens of thousands killed in Palestine, Lebanon and Afghanistan," Fadlallah said.

He added, "There is a difference between arms which only serve invasions, occupations and aggressions, such as those of the United States and its ally Israel ... and the arms of a resistance which defends, protects, and liberates."

"Scud to Hezbollah" ... avoided

Nukes & Spooks/ here

So has Syria transferred medium-range Scud ballistic missiles to Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militant Shiite Muslim militia movement that holds posts in Lebanon's coalition government?

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Ehud Barak, were asked that question... The pair accused Syria and Iran of supplying Hezbollah with massive quantities of rockets and missiles. But both avoided using the word "Scud."

"Syria and Iran are providing Hezbollah with rockets and missiles of ever-increasing capability, ... We are at a point now where Hezbollah has far more rockets and missiles than most governments in the world and this is obviously destabilizing for the whole region and we are watching it very closely."....

Do Gates and Barak really not know if Hezbollah has Scuds? Or were they trying to tamp down regional tensions just as it appeared that the Obama administration had succeeded in persuading the Israelis and Palestinians to start indirect peace negotiations next week?

"We do not intend to provoke any kind of major collision in Lebanon or vis a vis Syria," said Barak.

Posted by G, Z, or B at 8:40 AM

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