Topic: WorldNetDaily
In a Dec. 7 WorldNetDaily article, Aaron Klein writes that "Pieces of U.S. State Department diplomatic correspondence have been referring to the Hezbollah terrorist organization as a 'resistance' group, according to cables released by WikiLeaks and reviewed by WND."
Except that's not true. The evidence Klein provides is a statement from a memo that "U.S.-Syrian discussions on Hezbollah have tended to 'agree to disagree' after hitting the wall of conflicting views on the legitimacy of armed resistance and Israeli occupation."
Much as Klein would like to think otherwise, that isolated statement is not evidence that the U.S. thinks Hezbollah is a "resistance" group. In fact, that statement in context of the entire memo is a portrayal of Hezbollah thinks of themselves, not the opinion of the U.S. government:
U.S.-Syrian discussions on Hizballah have tended to "agree to disagree" after hitting the wall of conflicting views on the legitimacy of armed resistance and Israeli occupation. Syrian officials, including President Asad, emphasize their political link to Hizballah and flatly deny that Syria is arming Hizballah. They then defend the right to armed resistance in response to prolonged Israeli occupation of Syrian and Lebanese territory. When convenient, Syrian officials claim they no longer have responsibility for Hizballah, noting "we are out of Lebanon." President Asad and FM Muallim have also suggested that the challenge of disarming Hizballah would be solved after Syria and Israel signed a peace treaty. This agreement would lead naturally to a deal between Lebanon and Israel, thereby removing the rationale for Hizballah's resistance movement and setting the stage for the transition of Hizballah to a purely political party.
There's nothing in the memo to support Klein's false suggestion that the U.S. considers Hezbollah to be legitimate "resistance" -- something Klein essentially admits by noting that "The cable and others from around the same time period went on to detail a series of complaints the State Department filed with the Syrian government over its continued arming of Hezbollah to the point the Iranian-backed group is thought to have more than 40,000 rockets and missiles pointed at Israel."
So there's no real reason for this article to exist except to falsely smear the Obama administration. Klein fails to note, however, that the memo was issued in 2007, when Obama was not the president.
