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State of Palestine

2016-01-07T07:30:03Z

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[[File:Flag of Palestine.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The Flag of Palestine]]
[[File:Arms of Palestinian National Authority.png|thumb|Coat of Arms of the Palestinian National Authority]]
The '''State of Palestine''' was unilaterally declared on November 15, 1988 in [[Algiers]] at an extraordinary session in exile of the [[Palestine National Council]], the legislative arm of the [[Palestine Liberation Organization]]. Legal justification for this act was based on [[United Nations General Assembly]] Resolution 181 (II) of 29 November 1947, which provided for the termination and partition of the [[British Mandate for Palestine]] into two states.<ref>[http://unispal.un.org/unispal.nsf/0/7F0AF2BD897689B785256C330061D253 Resolution 181 (II). Future government of Palestine] - United Nations</ref>

At the time, the PLO did not have control over any part of [[Palestine]] (or any other territory), and therefore the State of Palestine failed to meet one of the main defining aspects of a real [[state]] - namely, occupying a territory.

The State of Palestine was recognized immediately by the [[Arab League]] and several other Islamic nations, at the expense of recognition of [[Israel]]. It maintains embassies in these countries (which are generally simply [[Palestine Liberation Organization]] delegations).

Currently 136 [[United Nations]] member states have formally recognized Palestine as a state (see also: [[List of States which recognize Palestine as an independent state.]]), stretching from Africa to Asia, Europe to Latin America.. Around 150 countries maintain diplomatic relations with the Palestinians in one form or another...
In October, 2011, Palestine was granted full membership at the U.N. cultural organization, [[UNESCO]], in a diplomatic victory won despite stiff resistance from the United States and Israel. <ref> [http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/12/15/182782.html More than 100 countries recognize Palestine as a state.] </ref>

A pro-Arab website expresses the Palestinian view concerning the border of Palestine by declaring they want a border which existed prior to the [[Six-Day War]]:
<blockquote>
The value of a UN resolution recognizing an independent state for the Palestinian people, with its borders running exactly along the 1949 Armistice line, which was the border between Israel and the West Bank until June 4, 1967, should not be undermined.<ref> [http://english.alarabiya.net/views/2011/04/27/146903.html Obama, Netanyahu and the 'Palestinian state'.] </ref>
</blockquote>

Pro-Israel advocates typically point out that Israel has repeatedly had to defend itself against attacks by neighboring Arab states and counter that reverting Israel's border to borders which existed before the Six-Day war would not allow Israel to have defensible borders.<ref>[http://www.defensibleborders.org/amidror.htm Defensible borders]</ref>

The Israeli government of Prime Minister [[Benjamin Netanyahu]] is openly opposed to the proposed Palestinian statehood and is threatening retaliatory action. US officials, notably Secretary of State [[Hillary Clinton]] are also opposed.

In November 2012, Palestine was granted the status of a non-member observer state by the [[United Nations General Assembly]]. This move was applauded by the [[Vatican]]. <ref>[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/29/vatican-palestinian-state_n_2215307.html?&ncid=edlinkusaolp00000009]</ref>

==Christians==
A large number of Christians are indigenous to Palestine, and many of these are descended from the first Christians- the first Jews who chose to follow Christ and recognize him as the messiah. Also many Arameans, another Semitic group native to the area, accepted Christ very early on in the history of Christianity, and thus contribute a lot to the genetics of today's Christians in the Palestinian Authority, later joined over thousand years later by surviving European crusaders and their families after their defeat at the hands of the Islamic armies<ref>http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/2045/palestinian-christianity-myth</ref>, when they blended into the native, Semitic Christian population.

The "Christian Left" and many others like to use Palestinian Christians as a propaganda tool to turn Christians against Israel. Many of the Christians have taken on Palestinian nationalism promoted by the nearby Arab states, regardless of the fact that Palestinian nationalism is heavily rooted in both Islamism and pan-Arabism, which reject human rights for Christians or recognition of the distinct non-Arab Semitic ethnicities, mainly Aramean or Jewish, to which most of them belong, mainly due to [[taqiyya]] or propaganda to advance an Islamic cause. Israel-hatred runs very deep for these Christians because of their loyalty to this Arab identity, and many of them even hate Jewish people as a whole regardless of the ethnic, and to a lesser extent, cultural, origins of many of their own. Additionally many of these Christians will take sides with people who express a deep hatred for their fellow Christians around the Middle East<ref>addref[[http://unitedwithisrael.org/poll-palestinians-greatest-supporters-of-isis-in-middle-east-2/]]</ref>.
In many cases, the self-declared Palestinian government encourages demographic shifts in areas inhabited by minorities<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinian_Christians#Persecutions</ref> (an example of this is the [[Samaritan Genocide]], a result of which only 300 [[Samaritans]] remain today in their traditional homeland in Samaria (the southern part of the West Bank) in one village (Kiryat Luza), in which there is an Israeli presence, responsible for protecting them from Arab ethnic cleansing. In [[Bethlehem]], Christians have become a small minority of the population under control of the Palestinian Authority<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bethlehem#Demographics</ref>. In Israel, however, ethnic and religious minorities, in villages in which they historically formed the majority, have retained their status as the majority of the population in the vast majority of cases, a trend which shows no indication of changing in the future. Christians in Israel can even form their own political parties<ref>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/joseph-puder/israeli-christians-moving-in-a-new-direction/</ref>.

Christy Anastas is a Palestinian Christian who speaks about persecution of Christians by the Palestinian Authority<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzCAqXrBGtU</ref>, an issue largely ignored by the western media.

==See also==
*[[Arab-Israeli conflict]]
*[[Hamas]]
*[[Israel]]
*[[Palestine]], for the region
*[[Palestinian Authority]]

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Middle Eastern Countries]]

Urmia

2016-01-07T04:51:06Z

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'''Urmia''' {Azerbaijani: Urmu Persian:ارومیه‎‎, Syriac: ܐܘܪܡܝܐ) is the second largest city in the northwestern part of [[Iran]] and capital of the West Azerbaijan Province. It is inhabited by mainly Iranian Azerbaijanis, but there are also minorities of [[Kurd]]s , [[Armenia]] ns and [[Assyrians]].

[[Category:Iran]]
[[Category:Middle East]]

Urmia

2016-01-07T04:50:32Z

Scatach: Created page with "'''Urmia''' Azerbaijani: Urmu Persian:ارومیه‎‎, Syriac: ܐܘܪܡܝܐis the second largest city in the northwestern part of Iran and capital of the West Azerbaij..."

'''Urmia''' Azerbaijani: Urmu Persian:ارومیه‎‎, Syriac: ܐܘܪܡܝܐis the second largest city in the northwestern part of [[Iran]] and capital of the West Azerbaijan Province. It is inhabited by mainly Iranian Azerbaijanis, but there are also minorities of [[Kurd]]s , [[Armenia]] ns and [[Assyrians]].

[[Category:Iran]]
[[Category:Middle East]]

Assyrians

2016-01-07T04:44:22Z

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The '''Assyrians''' are a modern people living in northern [[Iraq]] and [[Syria]] as well as parts of [[Turkey]] and western [[Iran]]. They are the bona fide descendant of the ancient Assyrians,who between the 9th and 7th centuries B.C. - controlled an empire that covered most of civilised south western Asia and Egypt. They were known in the past for their military might, administrative efficiency, architecture and sculpture , and feared for their brutality.

They entered history as a [[Bronze Age]] trading people, based around their capital Assur, (south of what is now [[Mosul]] in northern [[Iraq]] and part of the hegemony of their southern cousins based in Babylon. Assyrian trading posts from this period have been found as far a-field a western Turkey. In the later Bronze Age they were at various times within the ambit of Mitanni and [[Hittite]] influence; and when the folk-migrations known as the movement of the [[Sea Peoples]] in the late 12th century overturned the Hittites and weakened Egypt, the Assyrians – using iron weapons - began to move into the vacuum. Ninevah and Nimrud became co-capitals, although Assur remained the religious centre.

Their period of rapid expansion and widespread control began in the early 9th century with the military campaigns of Ashurnasipal II (r.883-859 B.C.) and at its greatest extent included present day Iraq, western [[Iran]], all of [[Syria]] and the lands of the [[Hebrew]]s, eastern [[Turkey]] and Egypt. They developed the art of siege craft (including the first recorded use of the battering ram) to levels not improved on until the [[Roman]]s and organised their army in a way not seen before (including the use of demountable chariots for transportation over rough terrain. They used terror, capable administration, and enforced migration to control their vassals. Their domination was an endless succession of wars as they expanded or maintained their empire.

They were defeated by a revolt by a coalition of Chaldean-Mede vassals in 612 B.C. and their cities and war machine completely annihilated.

*See also: [[Assyrian Empire]]

==Modern Times==

Assyrians today face persecution from [[ISIS]].More than 250 Assyrians have been kidnapped by ISIS since February of 2015, including some from Syria currently being held for ransom.<ref>http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/08/16/ISIS-post-pictures-of-Assyrian-women-kidnapped-in-Syria.html</ref> They became involved in the political turbulence in the area in the 1920s and 1930s caused by [[Soviet Russia]]n expansion, and new nationalism in [[Turkey]], Iraq and Syria. This was to bring about a diaspora of Assyrians to many parts of the globe including U.S.A. and various parts of the British Commonwealth.

==See Also==
The following entries pertain to the antecedents of the modern Assyrians and the Aramaic Church of the East and derivatives:

*[[Aramaic Church]]
*[[Adiabene]]
*[[Syro-Chaldean Church of North America]]
*[[First Century Aramaic Jewish Christian Gospel and poetry]]
*[[Aramaic Judaism, Jewish Aramaic Christianity, and John 1:1]]
*[[Evangelical Apostolic Church of North America (Syro-Chaldean)]]
*[[Early Aramaic Jewish Christian prophesying]]

References: Chambers Encyclopedia|Penguin Dictionary of Archaeology]]

[[Category:Ethnicities]]
[[Category:Middle East]]

Levant

2015-11-01T05:59:29Z

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The '''Levant''' is an [[archaic]] name for the countries of the Eastern [[Mediterranean]], particularly [[Israel]] and the [[Palestine|Palestinian territories]], [[Lebanon]] and [[Syria]]; the term derives from the [[French]] for 'rising', indicating that the Levant, the place where the [[sun]] rises, is to the east.[[Iraq]] is often included in the modern definition,as it includes similarities to [[Syria]] and [[Jordan]].

[[Category:Geography]]
[[Category:Middle East]]

Talk:Glenn Beck

2015-09-09T18:15:26Z

Scatach: /* the awful truth */ new section

==Moderate?==
What's wrong with calling Glenn Beck a moderate?

Update: I changed the article so that all the facts are neutral. [[User:PSMax8956|PSMax8956]] 13:11, 2 August 2007 (EDT)

Well, he calls himself a conservative. I'd put him in between hard-core conservatives like Ann Coulter and the more moderate "conservatives" like Bill O'Reilly. I like all of them, by the way.[[User:JamesL|JamesL]] 22:15, 13 December 2007 (EST)

:Beck refers to himself as libertarian AND conservative: [http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09047/949391-129.stm] [[User:ObserverNY|ObserverNY]] 10:06, 23 September 2009 (EDT)ObserverNY
::He says he's a libertarian who doesn't like libertarians.

==Media Matters==
I joined this, today actually, because I agree with the idea that Wikipedia has a liberal bias. On the subject of Media Matters, Wikipedia often refers to them as a "media watchdog group". In the Wikipedia article on Glenn Beck, Media Matters is cited no less than nine times. Since this website is NOT Wikipedia, we should use other sources.[[User:JamesL|JamesL]] 22:15, 13 December 2007 (EST)

Glenn is hardly a Moderate. He's a true blue Conservative and thats why I like the dude. I think you have Glenn confused with Jim Bohannan.

==Liberal silencing?==

This section should probably be removed, as no sources are cited, in accordance [[Conservapedia:Commandments]]. [[User:IStig|IStig]] 10:15, 5 October 2009 (EDT)

As it's been over a week since I posted that and nobody has provided sources, I have removed the section. If you want to reinstate it with reliable sources, be my guest. [[User:IStig|IStig]] 00:22, 15 October 2009 (EDT)

== Date of birth and birthplace ==

Glenn Beck was born February 10, 1964 in Seattle, Washington. [http://nndb.net/people/809/000049662/#FN1 Source]
I understand the page is locked due to vandalism, however, if an administrator can add this information to the main page (or unlock it so I can add it) it would help give Beck's biography some more depth and personal detail. Just a suggestion! :-) [[User:DerekE|DerekE]] 17:46, 25 February 2010 (EST)

== Lies? ==

Shouldn't there be some mention in this article of the times that Glenn Beck has told undefended and obvious lies? Certainly even the most extreme conservative can agree with that. 19:02, 6 May 2010 (EDT)
:What lies has Beck told? Be specific. [[User:Karajou|Karajou]] 19:21, 6 May 2010 (EDT)
::Uh, [http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090801235203AAgK2ig Yahoo Answers], has a rather long list, but frankly, you'll have to research them on your own. --[[User:Dzugavili|Dzugavili]] 19:24, 6 May 2010 (EDT)
::''He said that no other President had never been sworn into office without a Bible. He said he 'checked'.
He either did not check or checked up his [mistyped swearing] butt because he's lying. John Qunicy Adams used a law book. Franklin Pierce didn't even swear. He affirmed. Teddy Roosevelt used no Bible. Several Presidents kissed a Bible but did not swear on one.'' I pulled this one up, he's got links attached to it and it seems to be fairly legit. Frankly, I don't quite get the important of swearing in on a Bible in the first place, seeing as you're working for 1/20th of the human population. Don't get me wrong, it's a big job, just thinking that you're not really representing enough of the people to ask God to help you out. --[[User:Dzugavili|Dzugavili]] 19:28, 6 May 2010 (EDT)

::Sorry, Conservative, but I wanted to answer this guy. The Yahoo Answers was a waste of time. Just a bunch of rants by some clowns who attempted to link his name with some links that don't mention his name...except one [http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2009/jul/29/glenn-beck/glenn-beck-claims-science-czar-john-holdren-propos/]. And Holdren DID write that book and suggested THAT manner of population control, exactly as Beck said. In short, it was a bunch of non-answers written by a bunch of whining yahoos. [[User:Karajou|Karajou]] 19:43, 6 May 2010 (EDT)

What exactly happened to "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country"? Is individual responsibility not a factor here? {{unsigned|JimboJones}}
:Yes, you need to ask your fellow liberal Democrats why they abandoned that statement. I reckon it has something to do with expanding welfare.--[[User:Jpatt|Jpatt]] 13:07, 16 June 2011 (EDT)

== Image update ==

Please upload this newer image: [http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/Glenn_Beck_by_Gage_Skidmore_3.jpg] --[[User:JamesWilson|James Wilson]] 11:27, 8 May 2012 (EDT)

== Glenn Beck's Daughter's suicide? ==

Please provide proof one of his daughters committed suicide, or please remove the reference.
:And you are unable or unwilling to do it why? [[User:Karajou|Karajou]] 02:10, 16 June 2015 (EDT)

== the awful truth ==

Besides being a supporter of homosexuality, glenn beck is a huckster and has no idea what he's talking about. I recall in a book of his, saying that a law requiring people to wear seatbelts is a violation of liberty or something.Another, he tried to claim the Iranians are Nazis because "Iran" means "Aryan". Apparently he only thinks the term "Aryan" is used by Nazis.Idiot, has no understanding of history--[[User:Scatach|Scatach]] ([[User talk:Scatach|talk]]) 14:15, 9 September 2015 (EDT)

Talk:White supremacy

2015-09-09T18:11:35Z

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The Ku Klux Klan is an atheistic movement, really?
[http://www.christianpost.com/news/kkk-leader-were-a-christian-organization-claims-the-klan-is-not-a-hate-group-116614/][https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_terrorism#Ku_Klux_Klan][http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/21/virginia-kkk-fliers_n_5008647.html]. Sometimes people of all beliefs and backgrounds need to face up to the fact there are undesirable individuals or groups that share or partially share their beliefs. The Westboro Baptist church, which has been described as liberal by some Conservapedia members are anything but, same for Anders Breivik. Face up to it folks, the Conservative movement, like any moral system has some evil within it.--[[User:ColeP|ColeP]] ([[User talk:ColeP|talk]]) 11:09, 9 September 2015 (EDT)
:I think you are mistaken about the article ever indicating that the Ku Klux Klan was an atheist group who was racist. The article does mention the Creativity Movement which is an atheist, white supremacist group.

:Second, I updated the article to mention that the Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke was an evolutionary racist. [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] ([[User talk:Conservative|talk]]) 12:09, 9 September 2015 (EDT)

:: Whilst white supremacists (and other racist groups for that matter) may identify as being Christians, their beliefs and prejudices means that they aren't following the word of jesus correctly and are thus not real christians. [[User:FFAF|FFAF]] ([[User talk:FFAF|talk]]) 12:49, 9 September 2015 (EDT)
:::ColeP, the Ku Klux Klan lead a protest against the [[Westboro Baptist Church]].[http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/blogpost/post/klu-klux-klan-protests-westboro-baptist-church-video/2011/05/31/AGgoiPFH_blog.html]
[[Image:20001025 xnjdo FredGoreFiny.jpg|thumb|240px|right|Rev. [[Fred Phelps]] with [[Nobel Peace Prize]] winner [[Al Gore]] at a Westboro Baptist Church event.]]
:::Second, I think the Westboro Baptist Church is somewhat of a hodgepodge of conflicting political ideologies and difficult to categorize as far as their political ideology. For example, on the one hand, there are anti-homosexuality and the Democrats are pro-homosexual legal marriage. On the other hand, "The Westboro Church helped run Al Gore's Kansas campaign in 1988. Fred Phelps Jr. was a Gore delegate to the 1988 Democratic National Convention and invited to the first Clinton-Gore inauguration in 1993. Phelps Sr. ran for Governor of Kansas in 1990 and received 6.7% of the vote. In 1992, Fred Phelps Sr. ran for U.S. Senate and received 30.8% of the ballots cast.Phelps has strongly supported Fidel Castro and Saddam Hussein in the past. Hussein allowed a group of Westboro delegates to visit Iraq to protest against the U.S. Margie Phelps has gone on Twitter to proclaim her love for Obama and Democrats and hate the GOP and the Tea Party."[http://www.conservapedia.com/Westboro_Baptist_Church#Other_Activism] [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] ([[User talk:Conservative|talk]]) 13:47, 9 September 2015 (EDT)

It's because the Democratic party of today is drastically different from the democratic party of yesterday. --[[User:Scatach|Scatach]] ([[User talk:Scatach|talk]]) 14:11, 9 September 2015 (EDT)

Neoconservatism

2015-09-09T18:10:02Z

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A '''neoconservative''' (also spelled "neo-conservative"; colloquially, '''''neocon''''') in American politics is someone presented as a [[conservative]] but who actually favors big government, interventionalism, and a hostility to religion in politics and government. The word means "newly conservative," and thus formerly [[liberal]]. A neocon is a [[RINO Backer]], and like RINOs does not accept most of the important principles in the Republican Party platform. '''''Neocons do not participate in the [[March for Life]], stand up for traditional marriage, or advocate other [[conservative]] social values'''''. Neocons support attacking and even overthrowing foreign governments, despite how that often results in more persecution of Christians. Some neocons (like [[Dick Cheney]]) have profited immensely from the military-industrial complex.

The centerpiece of neocon strategy was to invade in [[Iraq]], which resulted in the murder of many [[Christian]]s there, and the ultimate collapse into mayhem of that entire nation in 2014.

==Description==
Many older neocons had been liberals in their youth and admired President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], while younger neocons are more economically conservative than Roosevelt but like to downplay the social issues. In 2010 the highest priority of the neoconservatives was to increase military action by the [[United States]] in the [[Middle East]] and [[Afghanistan]], and to expand it to an American confrontation against [[Iran]]; in 2011 their goals include supporting a military attack on [[Libya]], continuing the [[Afghanistan War]] indefinitely, and even suggesting military action against [[Syria]]. There is a revolving door between some neocons and highly paid positions in the defense industry, which may explain the constant neoconservative demands for more wars.

In the European nations of [[Britain]] and [[France]], neoconservatives dominate right-leaning politics, but in the United States neocons are less influential than the [[conservative movement]]. For example, neocons begrudgingly supported [[Mitt Romney]] as the Republican nominee for [[Presidential Election 2012|President in 2012]], even though he was not their first choice and Romney has never supported the neocon agenda.

Neoconservatives tend to oppose the appointment of social conservatives to high governmental positions, such as nomination to the [[U.S. Supreme Court]]. Neoconservatives support candidates who are liberal on social issues instead.

Neoconservatives favor expensive foreign interventionalism with massive federal spending, often to replace a dictator with a new system of government that may be worse. Sometimes this is expressed as a desire to install a democracy in a culture that may be incompatible with it. The neoconservative position was discredited in the failure of democracy in the Iranian elections of 2009.

The neoconservative movement emerged in the mid 1970s, played a limited role in the [[Ronald Reagan]] Administration, and then had a voice in the Defense Department under the [[George W. Bush]] Administration after [[9/11]]. Candidates favored by neoconservatives for [[presidential election 2012|president in 2012]] include [[Newt Gingrich]], [[Mike Huckabee]], [[Mike Pence]] and, to a lesser extent because she pulls support away from those candidates, [[Sarah Palin]].

Some prominent spokesmen include [[Bill Kristol]], [[Paul Wolfowitz]], [[Lewis Libby]], [[Norman Podhoretz]], [[Charles Krauthammer]], [[Richard Perle]], [[Robert Kagan]], [[Christopher Hitchens]], [[Bernard Lewis]], [[Stephen Schwartz]], Elliott Abrams, Ben Wattenberg and Carl Gershman.

In contrast to traditional conservatives, neoconservatives favor [[globalism]], downplay religious issues and differences, are unlikely to actively oppose [[abortion]] and [[homosexuality]]. Neocons disagree with [[conservatives]] on issues such as classroom prayer, the [[separation of powers]], cultural unity, and [[immigration]]. Neocons favor a strong active state in world affairs.

On foreign policy, neoconservatives believe that democracy can and should be installed by the [[United States]] around the world, even in Muslim countries such as [[Iraq]], [[Iran]], and [[Saudi Arabia]].

Neoconservatives were prominent in the [[George W. Bush]] administration by supporting an interventionist domestic policy they called 'compassionate conservatism' and a strong foreign policy, and especially favored the [[Operation Iraqi Freedom|Iraq War]] and its efforts to spread democracy worldwide.

==Dual origins==
[[Image:Kris.gif|thumb|right|Irving Kristol was dubbed by many as "the Godfather" of Neo-conservatism]]
One major strand of Neoconservatism emerged from a group of New York intellectuals, many of whom attended City College of New York in the late 1930s, a group that includes [[Irving Kristol]], [[Daniel Bell]], [[Seymour Martin Lipset]] and [[Nathan Glazer]].<ref>[http://www.amazon.com/Neoconservative-Revolution-Jewish-Intellectuals-Shaping/dp/0521836565/ref=sr_1_3/102-2076504-6567320?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1175142752&sr=8-3 The Neoconservative Revolution: Jewish Intellectuals and the Shaping of Public Policy, Murray Friedman, 2005]</ref> Many of this group came to despise the counterculture of the 1960s and what they felt was a growing "[[anti-Americanism]]" among many baby boomers. During the [[Cold War]] era, most vigorously opposed the Stalinist regime.<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/19/magazine/neo.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5090&en=4126fa38fefd80de&ex=1298005200 After Neoconservatism, February 19, 2006]</ref> Kristol described a neoconservative as a '''"liberal mugged by reality"'''.

Paleoconservatives, who dislike Neoconservatism intensely, have argued that it emerged from [[Trotskyite]] theories, especially the notion of permanent revolution. There are four fundamental flaws in the paleoconservatives' attack: most of the neoconservatives were never Trotskyites; none of them ever subscribed to the right-wing Socialism of Max Shachtman; the assertion that neoconservatives subscribe to "inverted Trotskyism" is misleading; and neoconservatives advocate democratic globalism, not permanent revolution.<ref>William F. King, "Neoconservatives and 'Trotskyism'" ''American Communist History'' 2004 3(2): 247-266 online at [[EBSCO]]</ref>

===Strauss===
A second main line of development of neoconservatism was strongly influenced by the work of German-American political philosopher [[Leo Strauss]]. Some of Strauss' students include Supreme Court nominee [[Robert Bork]], former Deputy Secretary of Defense [[Paul Wolfowitz]], former Assistant Secretary of State [[Alan Keyes]], former Secretary of Education [[William Bennett]], ''Weekly Standard'' editor [[William Kristol]], political philosopher [[Allan Bloom]], former New York Post editorials editor [[John Podhoretz]], former National Endowment for the Humanities Deputy Chairman [[John T. Agresto]]; politial scientist [[Harry V. Jaffa]]; and [[Nobel Prize]] winning novelist [[Saul Bellow]].

== Values ==
Neoconservatives also tend to minimize or overlook the significance of religious beliefs in conflicts and policies, as in advocating the installation of democracy in [[Muslim]] countries with little regard for Islamic beliefs and practices.

Neoconservatives hold an idealistic belief in social progress and the universality of [[human rights]], coupled with anti-Communism. They hold the view that there is a universal desire to live in a technologically advanced and prosperous society and liberal democracy is one of the byproducts of such modernization.

== Publications ==
The leading publications of neoconservatives since the 1970s have been [[Commentary]], [[The Public Interest]] (founded by Daniel Bell and Irving Kristol) and [[The Weekly Standard]]. Many Washington think tanks, such as the [[American Enterprise Institute]] (AEI), the [[Project For New American Century]] (PNAC), Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA) and Henry Jackson Society are now dominated by neoconservatives.

== Social Issues ==
[[Image:Wolfowitz.jpg|thumb|right|180px|As Deputy Secretary of Defense 2001-4, [[Paul Wolfowitz]] was a prominent advocate of neocon foreign policy ideas in the George W. Bush administration, especially the "[[Bush Doctrine]]."]]
Neoconservatives positions on social issues are mixed with some holding to [[liberal]] positions on social matters, and are unlikely to agree with religious conservatives on issues like abortion, prayer in school and same-sex marriage. Other neoconservatives of the Straussian type tend to have greater degrees of agreement with religious and cultural conservatives on social issues. Neoconservatives differ from libertarians in that neoconservatives tend to support [[Big government]] policies to further their objectives, and to support Bush's 2001 [[Patriot act]].

Neoconservatives often describe themselves as "conservative". [[William Kristol]], a leading neoconservative, described himself as the "token conservative" when he taught at [[Harvard University]]'s [[Kennedy School of Government]].<ref>http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/archives/2003/03/12/news/7602.shtml</ref>

In anticipation of vacancies on the [[U.S. Supreme Court]], the neoconservatives urged on Bush the selection of [[Michael McConnell]], a [[libertarian]]-leaning jurist, and [[J. Michael Luttig]], who declared ''[[Roe v. Wade]]'' to be "super-stare decisis"<ref>http://althouse.blogspot.com/2005/07/arlen-specter-makes-up-term.html</ref> and later left the judiciary to become general counsel of Boeing.<ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/10/AR2006051000929.html</ref> Both were passed over in filling the vacancies and both left the judiciary entirely after missing their best chance for being appointed to the Supreme Court passed.

The term was coined by Socialist party leader [[Michael Harrington]] to describe the rightward turn of onetime liberals, and it was proudly accepted first by Irving Kristol then by most of the others.

==See also==
* [[George W. Bush]]
* [[Dick Cheney]]
* [[Donald Rumsfeld]]
* [[John Bolton]]
* [[Bill Kristol]]
* [[Irving Kristol]]
* [[Permanent Revolution]], a Troyskite idea that Neocons do ''not'' accept
* [[Norman Podhoretz]]
* [[Leo Strauss]]
* [[Lionel Trilling]], a major literary critic who influenced many neocons
* [[Paul Wolfowitz]], a powerful #2 under [[Donald Rumsfeld]] in the Defense Department in 2001-4, advocated invasion of Iraq

==Further reading==
* Bloom, Allan. ''The Closing of the American Mind'' (1988)
* Dorrien, Gary. ''The Neoconservative Mind,'' (1993)
* Friedman, Murray. ''The Neoconservative Revolution: Jewish Intellectuals and the Shaping of Public Policy''. (2006) [http://www.amazon.com/Neoconservative-Revolution-Jewish-Intellectuals-Shaping/dp/0521545013/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1241491052&sr=8-5 excerpt and text search].
* Fu kuyama, Francis. ''America at the Crossroads: Democracy, Power, and the Neoconservative Legacy,'' (2006)
* Gerson, Mark. ''The Neoconservative Vision: From the Cold War to Culture Wars '' (1997)
* Halper, Stefan and Jonathan Clarke. ''America Alone: The Neo-Conservatives and the Global Order'' (2004) [http://www.amazon.com/America-Alone-Neo-Conservatives-Global-Order/dp/0521674603/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1255319175&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]* Heilbrun, Jacob. ''They Knew They Were Right: The Rise of the Neocons'' (2009) [http://www.amazon.com/They-Knew-Were-Right-Neocons/dp/140007620X/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1241491052&sr=8-9 excerpt and text search]
* Murray, Douglas. ''Neoconservatism: Why We Need It'' (2006)
* Steinfels, Peter. ''The Neoconservatives: The Men Who Are Changing America's Politics.'' (1979)
*Stelzer, Irwin. ''Neo-conservatism'' (2004)
===Primary sources===
* Demuth, Christopher, and William Kristol, eds. ''The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol'' (1995) [http://www.amazon.com/Neoconservative-Imagination-Essays-Irving-Kristol/dp/0844738999/ref=sr_1_18?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1241491256&sr=1-18 excerpt and text search]
* Gerson, Mark ed., ''The Essential Neo-Conservative Reader'' (1997))
* Kristol, Irving. ''Neoconservatism: the Autobiography of an Idea'' (1999) [http://www.amazon.com/Neo-conservatism-Autobiography-Idea-Irving-Kristol/dp/1566632285/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1241491185&sr=1-10 excerpt and text search]
* Stelzer, Irwin, ed. ''The NeoCon Reader'' (2005) [http://www.amazon.com/Neocon-Reader-Irwin-Stelzer/dp/0802141935/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1241491185&sr=1-4 excerpt and text search]

==External links==
*[http://www.opinionjournal.com/federation/feature/?id=110010684 Neoconservatism's Future: It's still the only game in town], Joshua Muravchik, OpinionJournal.com, October 3, 2007. From ''[[Commentary]]''.
*[http://www.henryjacksonsociety.org/ The Henry Jackson Society]
*[http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/003/000tzmlw.asp The Neoconservative Persuasion by Irving Kristol]

==== References ====
<references/>

[[Category:Neoconservative]]
[[Category:Conservatives]]
[[Category:Reagan Era]]
[[Category:Afghanistan War]]
[[Category:1980s]]

Talk:United States presidential election, 2016

2015-09-03T06:12:11Z

Scatach: /* Pros and Cons */

==Rubio Citizenship/Eligibility==
He is clearly eligible under both the 14th amendment and the [http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R42097.pdf 2011 finding] of the Congressional Research Service. Under the arguments frequently given by people claiming Rubio to be ineligible(namely, that his parents were not US citizens when he was born), this would also mean that the first 7 Presidents of the United States were also ineligible as either they or their parents were British subjects at the time of their birth. Martin Van Buren being the first President to actually be born a US citizen by the standards laid out by these detractors. [[User:Fnarrow|Fnarrow]] 00:55, 3 May 2013 (EDT)
:The Constitution has been interpreted to "grandfather" people who were citizens of the various states/colonies prior to the Constitution being ratified. [[User:Wschact|Wschact]] 06:54, 28 May 2013 (EDT)
==Where is Mike Huckabee?==
He should be included in this list. A socially conservative protestant who lowers taxes.

==John Kasich==
Surely Ohio governor (and ''National Review'' favorite) John Kasich belongs on a list like this.[http://www.nationalreview.com/article/392401/john-kasich-2016-contender-joel-gehrke] Whoever is at the top of the ticket, Ohio is a must-win state, which makes Kasich a logical choice for veep. [[User:PeterKa|PeterKa]] 21:54, 25 March 2015 (EDT)

== Rubio popularity in Florida ==

I think his popularity in Florida and his ability to win the state are exaggerated here. His approval ratings in Florida have never been high. I can't say I know a single person here, on either side of the aisle, who approves of his record. It may give him leverage, but not much. Also, polls show that he doesn't have the support of Hispanic or Cuban groups in the state. [[User:ScottH35|ScottH35]] 18:00, 13 April 2015 (EDT)

== "Rubio will probably pull out of the primaries on the eve of New Hampshire and endorse Jeb Bush in the hopes that Bush will pick his as V.P." ==

Not possible. "The Electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves..." (Constitution of the United States, Amendment XII). [[User:IsabellW|IsabellW]] 20:45, 19 April 2015 (EDT)

:Great point! But Cheney simply changed his state of voter registration from Texas to Wyoming to resolve that same objection back in 2000. Rubio could do likewise, although that would be politically difficult for him as the senator of Florida.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 21:09, 19 April 2015 (EDT)

::It seems like it would be more than politically difficult. The Constitution, of course, only mentions that a senator must be an inhabitant of the state at the time of their selection(later election). However, it doesn't seem to be clear if a senator could change their state of residency while in office. A fair amount of googling doesn't seem to resolve the question and I can't find anything to answer it. I wonder if it has ever happened? I know of plenty of congressmen who have lived outside their state while retaining residency there, but none of actual switched residency. I imagine there would be a court case about it were he to do so. [[User:ScottH35|ScottH35]] 15:54, 20 April 2015 (EDT)
:::I am guessing that people may have been less likely to move between states back when the U.S. Constitution was written.

:::It would also be interesting to know how cultural/economic differences have widened/narrowed over time between states/regions of the USA on various matters. On the one hand radio/TV/internet/automobile/interstate highway/national franchises would make things more homogeneous in the USA (of course the internet and cable TV causes "ideological cocooning" too), while the [[culture war]] post 1960s has created tensions within various parts of the USA.

:::And since political ideologies have economic/social consequences, many people are "voting with their feet" and leaving liberal states in order to better earn income or have a better place to raise their family. [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 16:15, 20 April 2015 (EDT)

Actually, I think I've always read this part of the Constitution wrong. It seems to say that the ''electors'' cannot vote for both a president and VP from ''their'' state. If Bush ran with Rubio as VP, the Florida electors would not be able to vote for that ticket. But that would only be a problem if Bush had won fewer that 299 electoral votes. If he won more, the Florida electors could vote for someone else as VP and Rubio would still have a majority. Of course they'd never chance that. [[User:IsabellW|IsabellW]] 16:01, 21 April 2015 (EDT)

==Scott Walker==
"The two-term Republican governor of Wisconsin is strongly opposed to same-sex marriage -- and recently called for a constitutional amendment to reverse the Supreme Court’s decision ruling same sex unions legal in all 50 states," according to [http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/scott-walker-opposes-gay-marriage-supports-sex-couple/story?id=32404379 ABC News]. The linked article is a detailed recent profile and interview. [[User:PeterKa|PeterKa]] 14:57, 26 July 2015 (EDT)

:I read the article. Walker's support of a pie-in-the-sky constitutional amendment is for cosmetic purposes. It's obvious he's not going to speak out against the [[homosexual agenda]] or issue any order to block enforcement of ''[Obergefell]]''. This article in Politico is more informative about Walker's weakness on the issue: "Walker goes mum on same-sex marriage." [http://www.politico.com/story/2015/06/scott-walker-silent-constitutional-amendment-states-gay-marriage-119505.html]

== See also ''Candidates on homosexuality'' ==

No links to their positions on actual issues that matter? [[User:IsabellW|IsabellW]] 13:48, 1 August 2015 (EDT)

== Pros and Cons ==

These don't add up. Are these good things about each candidate or what will likely get them votes? It is interesting to note involvement in Iraq war is a con for Rice. I guess everyone has come around to that now--[[User:Scatach|Scatach]] ([[User talk:Scatach|talk]]) 00:26, 3 September 2015 (EDT)

:On the contrary, Jeb Bush seems to be the only one who stumbled into ambivalence about the Iraq War. The rise of ISIS showed Bush and Rumsfeld's prescience in wanting to keep troops there and showed Obama's elitist dismissiveness of the critical region. [[User:VargasMilan|VargasMilan]] ([[User talk:VargasMilan|talk]]) 00:46, 3 September 2015 (EDT)

::Of course, it was a bad decision to completely withdraw troops in 2011.But to be fair, the Islamic State would not exist in the first place if the U.S. would not have invaded the country to begin with. It is hardly elitist for Obama to have made that decision though, considering the vast majority of the American people had grown tired of "war".--[[User:Scatach|Scatach]] ([[User talk:Scatach|talk]]) 01:21, 3 September 2015 (EDT)

:Those soldiers were there to wipe out terrorists. It's no accident that they came back in the same place. Removing all the troops wasn't just a bad decision, it made Donald Rumsfeld, to name one, very angry that Obama dismissed good military sense that would have cost a minimum of casualties like the troops kept in Germany after World War II. It was elitist to think the coalition troops weren't "authentic" enough to play a role in Iraq's emergence as a free nation. [[User:VargasMilan|VargasMilan]] ([[User talk:VargasMilan|talk]]) 02:01, 3 September 2015 (EDT)

::Donald Rumsfeld's feelings do not matter. I understand your sentiment however. I would be more upset the U.S. is not doing much of anything to combat the Islamic State right now then make it solely about Obama--[[User:Scatach|Scatach]] ([[User talk:Scatach|talk]]) 02:12, 3 September 2015 (EDT)

Talk:United States presidential election, 2016

2015-09-03T05:21:15Z

Scatach: /* Pros and Cons */

Talk:United States presidential election, 2016

2015-09-03T04:26:31Z

Scatach: /* Pros and Cons */ new section

United States presidential election, 2016

2015-09-03T04:23:55Z

Scatach: /* Announced Democratic candidates */

''See also [[2016 presidential debates]] and the [[candidates on homosexuality]]''

The 58th United States presidential election will be held on November 8, 2016. The 2016 election will be an open field in the [[Republican Party]]. [[Democrats]], as in [[communist]] countries, are not expected to have any choice other than [[Hillary Clinton]].

==Republican Party candidates==

===Announced Republican candidates===
A record-breaking total of 17 individuals have formally announced their candidacy for the Republican nomination in the 2016 presidential election. Their first [[2016 presidential debate|debate]] is on Thursday, August 6th, on the [[Fox News Channel]].

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Candidate
!Pros
!Cons
!Trending ...
|-
|[[Mike Huckabee]]
|Former Arkansas governor who ran well in the 2008 primaries, and is particularly popular with [[evangelicals]]. He is the strongest candidate against [[judicial supremacy]] and the [[homosexual agenda]]. Huckabee has kept himself in the public eye for the past six and a half years as the host of a news-and-commentary show on the Fox network.
|His record on social issues is rock solid, but some question his record on fiscal issues.
|On September 2, 2015, he announced his support for the [[Christian]] Kentucky clerk Kim Davis, and telephoned her as other candidates were either ducking the issue, or speaking out against her. Huckabee launched an exploratory committee on April 17, 2015. <ref>http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/huckabee-set-to-announce-claims-ive-beaten-clinton-political-machine/article/2563219</ref> He announced his candidacy on May 5, 2015.<ref>http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/05/05/huckabee-announces-2016-white-house-bid/</ref>
|-
|[[Rand Paul]]
|Son of [[Ron Paul]], voted against GOP establishment's spending compromise bills, advocate for cutting spending, can unite libertarians and conservatives, voted against NDAA. Made waves with historic [[filibuster]] against [[CIA]] director John Brennan over the Obama administration's claimed authority to use drone strikes against US citizens on American soil.
|Some of his father's more hardcore followers think he's a "traitor" for endorsing [[Mitt Romney]] in 2012, voted for [[Chuck Hagel]] as Defense Secretary. Supported the Supreme Court's liberal wing when it struck down Section 3 of the [[Defense of Marriage Act]], suggesting he's somewhat supportive of the [[Homosexual Agenda]].
|Has criticized [[Paul Ryan]], [[Jeb Bush]], and [[Chris Christie]] as a candidate might, delivered 2013 Tea Party response to the SOTU, which the news media didn't cover. Announced candidacy on April 7, 2015.<ref>http://www.c-span.org/video/?325139-1/senator-rand-paul-rky-presidential-campaign-announcement</ref>
|-
|[[Ted Cruz]]
|Solid on opposition to Obamacare and gun control. Good debater.
|Like Obama, some question as to eligibility. As a first-term Senator, relatively inexperienced. Alienated some due to role in government shutdown.
|Bypassed the exploratory committee process and instead made his formal announcement of candidacy on March 23, 2015.<ref>http://www.c-span.org/video/?324979-1/ted-cruz-presidential-campaign-announcement</ref> Has gained in the polls since the first debate.
|-
|[[Marco Rubio]]
|Favorite of [[Fox News]], articulate, Hispanic, able to win key battleground state of [[Florida]] since he's from there, was on Romney's shortlist in 2012.
|Has been seen as a stalking horse for Jeb Bush.
Rubio used to be a Tea Party favorite when he defeated [[RINO]] [[Charlie Crist]], but many have since soured on his actions, endorsed amnesty and has written an amnesty bill with [[Chuck Schumer]] and six other Senators, friends with [[Jeb Bush]], denounced [[Michele Bachmann]]'s investigation into [[Huma Abedin]], supports the party's [[neoconservative]] wing which is why he supports sending troops into Syria.
|Visited Iowa in December 2012 to speak at [[Jack Kemp]] library, delivered GOP response to Obama's 2013 SOTU, put his capital on the line working with seven other Senators on a controversial amnesty plan many conservatives oppose but has now eased away from it. Announced candidacy on April 13, 2015.<ref>http://www.c-span.org/video/?325251-1/senator-marco-rubio-rfl-presidential-campaign-announcement</ref>
|-
|[[Carly Fiorina]]
|Former CEO, a good track record of attacking liberalism. Has gained support and attention since the first debate. She was widely considered the winner of the preliminary debate held for those not in the Top Ten as rated by the polls.
|Failed to win an election as a candidate for Senator, rejected Tea Party support, embraces the establishment GOP.
|Her entrance in the 2016 campaign would deny Democrats and Hillary Clinton the image of men vs. a women argument, aka 'war on women'. Fiorina formally launched her campaign for the Republican nomination on May 4, 2014.<ref>http://www.wsj.com/articles/carly-fiorina-im-running-for-president-1430739879</ref>
|-
|[[Ben Carson]]
|Plain-spoken, with common-sense solutions to the country's problems.
|Has said states can enact gun control.
|The world-renowned surgeon made waves by skewering Obama's policies at the White House correspondent's dinner. Carson formally announced his candidacy on May 4, 2015, in Detroit, saying ""I'm Ben Carson, and I'm a candidate for president of the United States."<ref>http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/05/04/ben-carson-tells-tv-station-is-running-for-president/</ref>
|-
|[[Rick Santorum]]
|Strong social conservative base, runner-up in the 2012 primary, by 2016 endorsing [[RINO]]-turned-Democrat [[Arlen Specter]] will be a distant memory for many because he died in 2012. Strongly opposed to [[homosexual agenda]].
|May have been a [[stalking horse]] for Romney in the last election, which he'll vehemently deny; in 2016 voters may want a new face to lead the party instead of an also-ran, media portrays as fanatic, voted for Bush's spending to be 'part of the team'.
|Has founded an organization called Patriot Voices which may serve as a fulcrum for his campaign. Santorum announced his candidacy on May 27, 2015.<ref>http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/05/27/santorum-set-to-announce-2016-plans-wednesday/</ref> Is currently near the bottom of the field of 17 Republican candidates.
|-
|[[George Pataki]]
|Former governor of a large state.
|Very low name-recognition nationally.
|Pataki announced his candidacy on May 28, 2015.<ref>http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/05/28/former-new-york-gov-pataki-announces-run-for-2016-gop-presidential-nomination/</ref>
|-
|[[Lindsey Graham]]
|Moderate Senator from South Carolina. Is pro-military and an advocate for a strong national defense. Good public speaker.
|Widely seen as a liberal on immigration issues. Is considered a clone of Sen. [[John McCain]] in the Senate.
|Announced the formation of a presidential exploratory committee in January 2015. Graham announced his candidacy on June 1, 2015.<ref>http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/06/01/graham-set-to-enter-2016-race-with-focus-on-middle-east/</ref>
|-
|[[Rick Perry]]
|Strong record of experience as Governor of [[Texas]]. Supports [[Second Amendment]]. Before the next election he might see a debating coach. Strong fundraiser. Not expanding [[Medicare]] to adjust for [[Obamacare]] like some other Governors are doing.
|Performed poorly in the last time, is an also-ran without [[Rick Santorum]]'s likely momentum in a race that will probably also have multiple other Republican Governors, also signed a state version of the DREAM Act and mandated vaccines for schoolgirls.
|Perry announced his candidacy on June 4, 2015.<ref>http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/06/04/former-texas-gov-rick-perry-to-join-2016-gop-field/</ref> Media reported that, as of early August, the Perry campaign was not able to continue paying staff and had asked some to become volunteers.
|-
|[[Jeb Bush]]
|Able to win Florida, has Hispanic wife and kids, multilingual, backing of [[Karl Rove]] though if he doesn't run Rubio will get it. Presumably has the backing of most [[George_H.W._Bush#Family|Bush family]] members, with the notable exception of his mother, [[Barbara Bush|Barbara]], who stated, "We've had enough Bushes" during an April 2013 interview<ref>http://www.nbcnews.com/video/nightly-news/51667537#51667537</ref>.
|Outspokenly supports amnesty and Common Core, neither Tea Partiers or independent voters want a third Bush, told GOP primary voters they wouldn't elect Reagan today.
|Might count on Rubio to be a stalking horse because of their friendship but has contradicted Rubio on immigration in his latest book, if he and Clinton are the nominees many voters might gravitate to a third party. Bush officially announced his candidacy on June 15, 2015.<ref>http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/06/15/after-long-wind-up-bush-set-to-enter-2016-white-house-race/</ref>
|-
|[[Donald Trump]]
|Business smart, name recognition, holds some conservative positions. Leads in almost all polls. Has forcefully campaigned on the issues of illegal immigration and international trade.
|Celebrity type with a bombastic style that can be a distraction.
|Trump announced his candidacy on June 16, 2015.<ref>http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/06/16/trump-announces-white-house-bid-joins-crowded-gop-field/</ref>
|-
|[[Bobby Jindal]]
|Populist conservative who says conservatives should be skeptical of big business, Indian-American, cleaned up Louisiana after Katrina and Governor Blanco, evangelical who also focuses on energy issues like Perry before him.
|Severely lacking in charisma.
|Jindal announced the formation of an exploratory committee on May 18, 2015.<ref>http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/18/politics/bobby-jindal-forms-exploratory-committee/</ref> Jindal announced his candidacy on June 24, 2015.<ref>http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/06/24/louisiana-gov-jindal-looks-ready-to-jump-into-2016-race/</ref>
|-
|[[Chris Christie]]
|Blunt criticism of teacher's unions won conservatives over for about a year, [[Ann Coulter]] supports him.
|Unprofessional style, abrasiveness, overweight, praised Obama's Hurricane Sandy efforts only days before the 2012 election, has gotten heat for appointing Sharia judge and having pro-abortion Lieutenant Governor. Not endearing himself to conservatives with his statements on things like gun control. Is near the bottom in most polls.
|Christie announced his candidacy on June 30, 2015.<ref>http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/06/30/christie-announces-2016-bid-for-white-house-becomes-14th-gop-hopeful/</ref>
|-
|[[Scott Walker]]
|A once-seeming [[movement conservative]] who defeated a recall that was pushed by [[George Soros]] and the unions, exhibited conservative determination in passing right-to-work in his state and surviving the relentless union attacks that followed.
|[[AFL-CIO]] and the other union special interests have him as a top target, but he stood his ground until recently where he's starting to adopt RINO stances on issues, such as refusing to speak out against [[same-sex marriage]] in a meaningful way and not taking a strong stance against the ''[[Obergefell]]'' decision.
|January 2015 polling showed him leading the GOP field in Iowa, but has slipped since then. Walker formally announced his candidacy on July 13, 2015.<ref>http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/07/13/walker-announces-2016-white-house-bid/</ref>
|-
|[[John Kasich]]
|Two-term Ohio Governor, former U.S. Congressman. Popular with establishment types worried about Jeb Bush's inability to gain any traction.
|Expanded Medicare in his state, said the [[Bible]] supports [[Obamacare]], D.C. beltway insider, and will not oppose [[same-sex marriage]].
|On July 21, 2015, Kasich officially declared his candidacy, stating, "I have decided to run for president of the United States."<ref>http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2015/07/21/john-kasich-presidential-announcement.html</ref>
|-
|[[Jim Gilmore]]
|Former governor of Virginia, a crucial swing state.
|
|On July 30, 2015, Gilmore officially declared his candidacy, stating, "I am a candidate for president because our current Washington leadership is guiding America on a path to decline, and I can reverse that decline."<ref>http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/07/30/former-virginia-gov-gilmore-enters-white-house-race/</ref>
|}

===Other possible Republican candidates===
These individuals have expressed interest in running or have been mentioned as possible candidates.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Candidate
!Pros
!Cons
!Trending ...
|-
|[[Sarah Palin]]
|Very popular with the conservative base, record of cutting the size of government, expert on energy issues. Already experienced on national ticket.
|Thanks to the media, the electorate has already made up their minds about her. May prefer the role of commentator and not run for her and her children's sakes.
|
|-
|[[Condoleezza Rice]]
|Articulate, popular, foreign policy experience, takes the race and gender cards off the table, gave impassioned speech at the RNC, inspiring childhood story.
|Pro-choice, ties to Bush administration, never elected to any office, just appointed; left-wing immigration stance, had role leading up to [[Iraq War]], single status will mean she won't have the emotional support of a family for a Presidential run as [[Laura Bush]] has said; admired by some conservatives, disliked by others like [[paleoconservatives]] and from how [[Dick Cheney]] and [[Donald Rumsfeld]] have criticized her, she doesn't even have all the [[neoconservatives]] wrapped up.
|Some conservatives would think her running would be a good idea, others won't. She declined to run in 2008 and 2012, but from the speculation she was going to be Romney's VP, she might this time.
|-
|[[John Thune]]
|Senator who defeated [[Tom Daschle]], relatively conservative for a Senator.
|Voted for TARP and often votes for other spending bills the leadership pushes, not well known.
|
|-
|[[Susana Martinez]]
|Gave a good speech at the RNC, conservative Governor of a blue state, Hispanic.
|Might not be interested, expanded Medicare in her state.
|
|-
|[[Jan Brewer]]
|Former governor of Arizona. If she runs, will use potent immigration issue as foil to Bush and Rubio. Can take its mantle and change debate to pressure other candidates to tack right on the issue. Outspoken critic of Obama.
|May not be interested in the Presidency, expanded Medicare waiver for Obamacare, and is no longer in elective office. Has lost some support from conservatives.
|
|-
|[[Kelly Ayotte]]
|Represents a swing state
|Voted in favor of amnesty
|If Rubio is the Presidential nominee, he's likely to make Ayotte his running mate hoping the ticket will appeal to two swing states (Florida and New Hampshire), Hispanics, and women, offsetting Hillary with the last group. Both Rubio and Ayotte have been taken under the wings of McCain and Graham since getting in the Senate.
|-
|[[Allen West]]
|Conservative black Congressman from Florida who speaks his mind, some conservative activists insist that he run.
|Lost his race for re-election to the House two years after getting voted in.
|Has compared his loss to [[Abraham Lincoln]]'s before he became President in a radio interview.
|-
|[[Brian Sandoval]]
|Hispanic, fiscal conservative
|Pro-choice, expanded Medicare in his state, [[Harry Reid]] doesn't seem to mind his performance as Governor. <ref>http://blogs.rgj.com/politics/2013/02/20/reid-says-hell-run-for-re-election-in-2016-wont-comment-on-sandoval-as-opponent/</ref>
|Sandoval is likely to win Reid's seat for the U.S. Senate instead of running for president.
|}

==Democratic Party candidates==

===Announced Democratic candidates===
These individuals have formally announced their candidacy for the Democratic nomination in the 2016 presidential election.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Candidate
!Pros
!Cons
!Trending ...
|-
|[[Hillary Clinton]]
|Has wanted to be President for decades, has Clinton machine and big money behind her, teflon image helped along by the media, quitting Secretary of State position lets her run, she will have the "sexist" card at her disposal.
|Role in Benghazi and decades worth of scandals going back to the 90s, cheerleaded for the Iraq war, facing corruption chargesfeminist. Bill Clinton may be a distraction.
|Clinton announced her candidacy on April 12, 2015.<ref>https://www.hillaryclinton.com</ref>
|-
|[[Bernie Sanders]]
|Independent that is lockstep with the Democrat party. Popular among socialists.
|As head of the Veterans Affairs Committee, he has done nothing to fix scandals and help veterans. Endorses Obama's policies.
|At a press conference on April 30, 2015, Sanders announced that he is running for the Democratic nomination.<ref>http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/04/29/vermont-sen-bernie-sanders-am-running-for-president/</ref>
|-
|[[Martin O'Malley]]
|Former governor of Maryland. Partisan and aggressive liberal.
|Martin who? He has low name recognition. Fiercely supports raising taxes and other very liberal stances, although that might help in the primary.
|O'Malley announced his candidacy on May 30, 2015.<ref>http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/05/30/omalley-returns-to-baltimore-set-to-seek-democratic-nomination-2016-white-house/</ref>
|-
|[[Lincoln Chafee]]
|Former governor of Rhode Island, former Republican
|
|Chafee announced his candidacy on June 3, 2015.<ref>http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/06/03/former-ri-gov-lincoln-chafee-one-time-republican-declares-candidacy-for/</ref>
|-
|[[Jim Webb]]
|Former Virginia Senator and Secretary of the Navy
|Webb's surprise candidacy looks like a public relations stunt by party bosses to make the [[Democrat Party]] look more mainstream than it is. It is doubtful that this is a serious attempt to win the nomination.
|Announced his candidacy July 2, 2015 <ref>http://www.webb2016.com</ref>
|-
|}

[[Democrats]] will not have a choice other than [[liberal]] Hillary Clinton. If a competitive race were allowed by the party bosses (and it won't be), the candidates mentioned below her could be contenders:

===Other possible Democratic candidates===
These individuals have expressed interest in running or have been mentioned as possible candidates.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Candidate
!Pros
!Cons
!Trending ...
|-
|[[Joe Biden]]
|Tries to set image as he's "one of the folks" even though he's a millionaire. He'll have Obama's Chicago machine. Incumbent VPs often receive the party nomination
|Very gaffe-prone, VP to an unpopular administration.
|Currently yukking it up as Obama's Vice-President and has openly expressed some interest in running. Hasn't talked about running...yet. Should be good seeing how he and Hillary deal with each other on the stage if they both run.
|-
|[[Andrew Cuomo]]
|Tried to make himself look like a fiscal conservative, he's part of a political family like Jeb and Hillary, governor of a large state.
|Uncompelling, declared intentions to seize guns from lawful gun owners, which he's used executive orders to do.
|His late father, the former Governor, said he expected him to run. His gun confiscating executive orders are not sitting well with the American people by and large.
|-
|[[Mark Warner]]
|Senator from a swing state with a relatively moderate record compared to others, might try to get points with independents that the other Democrats won't have.
|He votes with his party most of the time, voted for gun control even though he claims to be pro-gun.
|
|-
|[[Elizabeth Warren]]
|Popular in [[Occupy Wall Street]] and other progressive circles, elected in very competitive Senate race.
|Caught lying about being a Native American so she could get [[affirmative action]] at Harvard, her very liberal views and rhetoric probably won't resonate in states less liberal than [[Massachusetts]].
|Won election to the Senate in November 2012 against [[Scott Brown]].
|-
|[[Al Gore]]
|Former Senator and Vice-President. Represented a state that generally votes Republican. Since leaving office, Gore has made a career out of lecturing the world on the dangers of "Climate Change."
|
|Is being talked up as a possible candidate by Democrats worried about the scandals attached to Hillary Clinton.

|}

== References ==
<references/>

{{DEFAULTSORT: 2016, United States presidential election,}}
[[Category: United States Presidential Elections]]
[[Category:2016 presidential election]]

Talk:The Young Turks

2015-09-03T02:52:02Z

Scatach: @ Conservative

Why did you delete this page I contributed to? What's wrong with having a page on the young turks?--[[User:Scatach|Scatach]] ([[User talk:Scatach|talk]]) 22:52, 2 September 2015 (EDT)

The Young Turks

2015-09-03T02:37:09Z

Scatach:

'''The Young Turks''' is a [[liberal]] [[progressive]] web show hosted by Cenk Uyghur.
== Karen Straughan==
The host, Cenk Uyghur, interviewed a female anti-feminist known as Karen Straughan. During the interview, Uyghur became visibly agitated,repeatedly cutting off Straughan which culminated in him eventually telling her to make him a sandwich. This is ironic considering Cenk Uyghur has espoused feminist views on the show before.<ref>http://mgtow.tv/?p=572</ref>

The Young Turks

2015-09-03T02:31:19Z

Scatach:

'''The Young Turks''' are a self-identified [[progressive]] web show hosted by Cenk Uyghur.

Free Syrian Army

2015-09-01T01:09:03Z

Scatach: /* Foreign Intervention */

The '''Free Syrian Army''' (FSA) is the armed part of syrian opposition that fights in the [[Syrian Civil War]]. It fights the Syrian Army, the Kurds and sometimes also Islamists.<ref>http://frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/boko-haram-joins-free-syrian-army-in-descending-into-cannibalism/</ref> Its colonel is Riad al-Asaad. The FSA was founded on July 29th, 2011 by seven officers.<ref>http://www.joshualandis.com/blog/free-syrian-army-established-to-fight-the-syrian-army/</ref>
The bulk of the FSA is made up of Sunnis, especially Islamists. Many have even left the FSA and joined Al-Qaeda affiliate Jahbat al-Nusra.<ref>http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/may/08/free-syrian-army-rebels-defect-islamist-group</ref>

==Foreign Involvement==
Despite the name, many fighters in the FSA are not Syrian. An American convert to Islam and former U.S. armed forces member Eric Harroun fought with the FSA.He started appearing in Youtube videos in late 2012 with other fighters.He came back to the U.S. in 2013 and later died of a drug overdose in 2014.<ref>http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/eric-harroun-us-army-vet-fought-syria-died/story?id=23273218</ref>

==Controversy==
It was often criticized for its Islamist fighters, who persecute [[Christians in Syria]]. But it attacked also the [[Shia|Shiite]] village Hatla and killed 60 fighters and civilians.<ref>http://cnsnews.com/news/article/syrian-extremist-rebels-raid-shiite-village</ref> The Nigerian Anti-Christian terrorist group [[Boko Haram]] joined the FSA also.<ref>http://frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/boko-haram-joins-free-syrian-army-in-descending-into-cannibalism/</ref> The [[United Nations]] reported that child soldiers are fighting with the Free Syrian Army.<ref>http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/26/us-syria-un-idUSBRE82P0W220120326</ref> The Free Syrian Army is dominated by the [[Muslim Brotherhood]], works with [[Al-Qaeda]] and is trained by [[Hamas]].<ref>http://frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/hamas-terrorists-now-training-free-syrian-army-terrorists/</ref>

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Syria]]

Free Syrian Army

2015-09-01T01:08:39Z

Scatach:

The '''Free Syrian Army''' (FSA) is the armed part of syrian opposition that fights in the [[Syrian Civil War]]. It fights the Syrian Army, the Kurds and sometimes also Islamists.<ref>http://frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/boko-haram-joins-free-syrian-army-in-descending-into-cannibalism/</ref> Its colonel is Riad al-Asaad. The FSA was founded on July 29th, 2011 by seven officers.<ref>http://www.joshualandis.com/blog/free-syrian-army-established-to-fight-the-syrian-army/</ref>
The bulk of the FSA is made up of Sunnis, especially Islamists. Many have even left the FSA and joined Al-Qaeda affiliate Jahbat al-Nusra.<ref>http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/may/08/free-syrian-army-rebels-defect-islamist-group</ref>

==Foreign Intervention==
Despite the name, many fighters in the FSA are not Syrian. An American convert to Islam and former U.S. armed forces member Eric Harroun fought with the FSA.He started appearing in Youtube videos in late 2012 with other fighters.He came back to the U.S. in 2013 and later died of a drug overdose in 2014.<ref>http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/eric-harroun-us-army-vet-fought-syria-died/story?id=23273218</ref>
==Controversy==
It was often criticized for its Islamist fighters, who persecute [[Christians in Syria]]. But it attacked also the [[Shia|Shiite]] village Hatla and killed 60 fighters and civilians.<ref>http://cnsnews.com/news/article/syrian-extremist-rebels-raid-shiite-village</ref> The Nigerian Anti-Christian terrorist group [[Boko Haram]] joined the FSA also.<ref>http://frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/boko-haram-joins-free-syrian-army-in-descending-into-cannibalism/</ref> The [[United Nations]] reported that child soldiers are fighting with the Free Syrian Army.<ref>http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/26/us-syria-un-idUSBRE82P0W220120326</ref> The Free Syrian Army is dominated by the [[Muslim Brotherhood]], works with [[Al-Qaeda]] and is trained by [[Hamas]].<ref>http://frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/hamas-terrorists-now-training-free-syrian-army-terrorists/</ref>

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Syria]]

Free Syrian Army

2015-09-01T01:01:37Z

Scatach: /* Controversy */

The '''Free Syrian Army''' (FSA) is the armed part of syrian opposition that fights in the [[Syrian Civil War]]. It fights the Syrian Army, the Kurds and sometimes also Islamists.<ref>http://frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/boko-haram-joins-free-syrian-army-in-descending-into-cannibalism/</ref> Its colonel is Riad al-Asaad. The FSA was founded on July 29th, 2011 by seven officers.<ref>http://www.joshualandis.com/blog/free-syrian-army-established-to-fight-the-syrian-army/</ref>
The bulk of the FSA is made up of Sunnis, especially Islamists. Many have even left the FSA and joined Al-Qaeda affiliate Jahbat al-Nusra.<ref>http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/may/08/free-syrian-army-rebels-defect-islamist-group</ref>

==Controversy==
It was often criticized for its Islamist fighters, who persecute [[Christians in Syria]]. But it attacked also the [[Shia|Shiite]] village Hatla and killed 60 fighters and civilians.<ref>http://cnsnews.com/news/article/syrian-extremist-rebels-raid-shiite-village</ref> The Nigerian Anti-Christian terrorist group [[Boko Haram]] joined the FSA also.<ref>http://frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/boko-haram-joins-free-syrian-army-in-descending-into-cannibalism/</ref> The [[United Nations]] reported that child soldiers are fighting with the Free Syrian Army.<ref>http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/26/us-syria-un-idUSBRE82P0W220120326</ref> The Free Syrian Army is dominated by the [[Muslim Brotherhood]], works with [[Al-Qaeda]] and is trained by [[Hamas]].<ref>http://frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/hamas-terrorists-now-training-free-syrian-army-terrorists/</ref>

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Syria]]

Hezbollah

2015-08-31T19:33:20Z

Scatach: /* Iranian founded, Iranian/Syrian Backed: Arab Islamic Hezbollah Global Terrorists */ title is way too long

[[Image:800px-Flag of Hezbollah svg.png|right|thumb|200px|Flag of Hezbollah.]]
'''Hezbollah''' (حزب الله, "Party of [[Allah]]"; sometimes spelled ''Hizbullah'', ''Hezbullah'', or ''Hezballah'') is a Shi'a [[Islam|Islamic]] [[terrorist]] organization based in [[Lebanon]] and supported by [[Syria]]<ref>It has been declared a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada, Israel, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Australia. See:
*[http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/fs/37191.htm United States Department of State]
*[http://www.osfi-bsif.gc.ca/eng/documents/advisories/docs/entstld.txt Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions Canada]
*[http://www.psepc.gc.ca/prg/ns/le/cle-en.asp Listed entities pursuant to the Anti-Terrorism Act (2001, c. 41)]
*[http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/2000_2009/2005/Summary+of+Terrorist+Activity+2004.htm Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs]
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5262484.stm BBC news]
*[http://www.minbuza.nl/nl/actueel/brievenparlement,2003/12/beantwoording_toezegging_inzake_de_positie_van_hezbollah.html The Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs]
*[http://www.nationalsecurity.gov.au/agd/www/nationalsecurity.nsf/AllDocs/7986D1536C0FFD5FCA256FCD001BE859?OpenDocument Australian National Security]</ref> and [[Iran]].

The Radical Shia group was founded with the intention of creating an Islamic republic in Lebanon. Strongly anti-West and anti-Israel.<ref>[[U.S. Department of State]], ''Background Information on Foreign Terrorist Organizations,'' Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism, October 8, 1999 http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/rpt/fto/2801.htm</ref>

It was founded in 1982 during the Lebanese civil war. Its current Secretary General, Hassan Nasrallah, has publicly stated a clear genocidal goal: "''if Jews all gather in Israel, it will save us the trouble of going after them worldwide.''"<ref>''The Daily Star'' (Beirut) October 23, 2002, http://web.archive.org/web/20021024133755/http://www.dailystar.com.lb/23_10_02/art5.asp, http://tenc.net/a/graduation.htm, http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/774649/posts</ref><ref>"The Enemy Within," Elena Lappin, the New York Times, May 23, 2004 http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/23/books/the-enemy-within.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm</ref><ref>HuffingtonPost, Alan Dershowitz: Hezbollah's Goal: "Going After [the Jews] Worldwide," Aug 10, 2006 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alan-dershowitz/hezbollahs-goal-going-aft_b_26983.html</ref><ref>''CAMERA: Hassan Nasrallah: In His Own Words,'' Jul 26, 2006 http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=7&x_issue=11&x_article=1158</ref><ref>Joseph Telushkin, ''Jewish Literacy Revised Ed: The Most Important Things to Know About the Jewish Religion, Its People, and Its History,'' HarperCollins (2008), p. 376, "On one noted occasion, Nasrallah had even encouraged Jews throughout the world to move to Israel on the grounds that 'If [Jews] all gather in Israel, it will save us the trouble of going after them worldwide.' " http://books.google.com/books?id=bIHtJzYCkqEC&pg=PA376</ref><ref>Arthur Ledeen, ''Accomplice to evil: Iran and the war against the West,'' Macmillan (2009), p. 108 http://books.google.com/books?id=LOmDsgYzS7gC&pg=PA108</ref><ref>Robert S. Wistrich, ''A lethal obsession: anti-semitism from antiquity to the global Jihad,'' Random House Digital, Inc. (2010) http://books.google.com/books?id=Lzs48d3tudsC&pg=PT989</ref> The organization's privately controlled TV broadcast station ''Al-Manar'' was banned in [[France]], [[Germany]], [[Spain]] and the [[US]]<ref>"Hezbollah TV comes to Australia," Barney Zwartz, The Age, August 1, 2009. http://www.theage.com.au/national/hezbollah-tv-comes-to-australia-20090731-e4ja.html</ref> for inciting racial hatred and [[Holocaust denial]].

=Founding=

Author explains that the "Impetus for the founding of the Lebanese Hezbollah came from the Hezbollah Party formed in Iran in 1978 by Hadi Ghaffary, a cleric with close ties to Ayatollah," and that "Khomeini decided to export his Islamic revolution and to form a Hezbollah group among the Shi'ites of Lebanon."<ref>Stephen E. Atkins, "Encyclopedia of modern worldwide extremists and extremist groups," p. 130. (Greenwood Publishing Group, 2004) 404 pp. http://books.google.com/books?id=b8k4rEPvq_8C&pg=PA130</ref>

Huzbollah is a radical Shi’a Muslim organization fighting against Israel and "western imperialism" in Lebanon, and has advocated since its beginning (1982) for an Islamic State, Tehran style<ref>http://www.analyst-network.com/article.php?art_id=2082</ref>. The group does not recognize the legitimacy of the State of Israel. Hezbollah refers to itself with multiple titles including the "Organization of the Oppressed on Earth" and the "Revolutionary Justice Organization." Its main goal is the establishment of an Islamic government across the Arab world that will "liberate" Jerusalem and the entire area of the present-day State of Israel.

It is financed and armed by Iran,<ref>"Iran Arming Hezbollah In Lebanon, Us Says", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Apr 18, 1996 http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=sPFRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=DnADAAAAIBAJ&pg=4686,1073300</ref> it acts as its proxy<ref>Written Testimony of Ambassador Roger F. Noriega...
Before a Hearing of the Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence
Committee on Homeland Security, U.S. House of Representatives, Thursday, July 7, 2011, http://homeland.house.gov/sites/homeland.house.gov/files/Testimony%20Noriega.pdf</ref> and enjoys full backing from Syria. Hezbollah was founded with the help of Iranian Revolutionary Guards.

Syria backs Hizballah morally and has also supplied it with money and arms. In return, Hizballah protects Syria’s political and military interests in Lebanon.
<ref>http://www.adl.org/israel/advocacy/glossary/hezbollah.asp</ref><ref>http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Terrorism/hizbollah.html</ref>

The two major leaders of Hezbollah are Secretary General Sheikh Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and the organization's spiritual chief, Sheikh Muhammad Husayn Fadlallah, both named "specially designated global terrorists" by the U.S. government.
<ref name=emerson>http://www.steveemerson.com/4281/blood-money-hezbollahs-revenue-stream-flows</ref>

It was founded and continued, and still is marked by violence, locally and worldwide, though, recently, it tries to portray itself as a mere "political" party.
It has been said that: "The very year Hezbollah was founded it became the most lethal terrorist organization in Lebanon" & "neither had ever managed to spill so much blood in a single incident."
<ref name=elieberman>''Radical, Religious, and Violent: The New Economics of Terrorism'', Eli Berman, MIT Press, 2009, p. 50 [http://books.google.com/books?id=R7jvDS3OiAUC&pg=PA50]</ref>

==Funding==

''Dirty Money, Blood Money''

===Criminal funding===

The Lebanese Shiite Terrorist Organization has been highlighted as a profile in "Crime and Terrorism" - Hezbollah's Criminal activity is widely in Lebanon and worldwide <ref>http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/html/hezbollah.htm</ref>, or what researches call: "various criminal enterprises to raise funds for Hezbollah."
<ref>http://www.amazon.com/Lightning-Out-Lebanon-Hezbollah-Terrorists/dp/0345475682</ref>
Among the illegal, criminal methods of the Islamic group is wide fraud, drug trafficking, credit card fraud & cigarette smuggling, it has been known that "Cigarette Smuggling Funds Terrorism." <ref>http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2005/2/13/135754.shtml</ref>
<ref>http://www.goofigure.com/UserGoofigureDetail.asp?gooID=5094</ref>
In a 2009 report on "Hezbollah: narco-Islamism Middle East Strategy at Harvard" researchers have found that: 'more than any other Islamist group, Hezbollah has a long record of engaging in criminal activity to support its activities.'
<ref>http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/mesh/2009/03/hezbollah-narco-islamism/</ref>
<ref>http://counterterrorismblog.org/2007/11/hezbollah_financing_through_cr.php</ref>

====Latin America====

The 'Hezbollah's global finance network' includes "The Triple Frontier" (in South America) - "Argentina, Brasil & Paraguay." <ref>http://www.meib.org/articles/0201_l2.htm</ref>, <ref>http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Front_Page/HH03Aa01.html</ref>

There's an extensive report on "Hezbollah and the Drug Trade in South America" - Hezbollah is active in the drug trade in Colombia, a web of criminality that extends from Lebanon to Africa to South America.
<ref>http://www.investigativeproject.org/documents/testimony/313.pdf</ref>

Douglas Farah wrote in 2006 on "Hezbollah’s External Support Network in West Africa and Latin America" that Hezbollah, has the largest financial structure in Latin America and it is similar to that in of the organization’s Africa structure, that is to say, structured along family/clan lines. These clans have family members across the continent’s main free trade zones of Panama, (Venezuela's) Isla Margarita and the TBA (tri-border area), allowing for multiple opportunities to launder funds by over invoicing stocks, under invoicing merchandise and thtough the use of little-monitored electronic money transfer systems and bulk money smuggling. The first study of this overlapping clan structure spread across broad geographic areas was not undertaken until 2004.

The TBA has for years drawn attention as a center for contraband smuggling, drug trafficking and large-scale money laundering, in part because all of the countries whose borders are involved profit from the illicit trade. It is also an easy place to hide and move money. Estimates of the amount of drug money alone laundered through the two main urban centers in the TBA, Foz do Iguacu and Ciudad del Este, range as high as $12 billion a year.
<ref>http://www.strategycenter.net/research/pubID.118/pub_detail.asp</ref>

From a 2003 research on Hezbollah "Hezbollah: A Case Study of Global Reach":
Hezbollah is also active in Chile, Venezuela, Cuba, Panama and Ecuador.
<ref>http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/print.php?template=C07&CID=132</ref>

Counter terrorism expert Steven Emerson wrote in 2007 in an article titled "Blood Money: Hezbollah's revenue stream flows through the Americas":<blockquote>A New Front. Hezbollah operatives have frequently sought out sympathetic members of the Lebanese Diaspora to assist them, several of whom have owned and operated Lebanese restaurants. Salim Boughader Mucharrafille, owner of Cafe La Libanesa in Tijuana, Mexico, was arrested in December 2002 for running a ring that allegedly smuggled at least 200 Lebanese compatriots into the United States , including an employee of Al- Manar, Hezbollah's television station. Although it was never confirmed, Boughader was suspected of having helped Kourani to slip over the border. Last May, a Mexican judge sentenced Boughader to 14 years in prison for organized crime and human smuggling.
 
The case of Rady Zaiter, a.k.a. David Assi Alvarez, is an example of drug-running activities designed to benefit Hezbollah, using a restaurant as a front. In June 2005, Ecuadorian police broke up an international drug-trafficking ring led by the owners of El Turco restaurant: Zaiter and his partner, Maher Hamajo. The restaurant in Quito served as the logistical center for the ring's activities. Drug mules carried cocaine in double bottomed suitcases bound for other countries in South America, as well as Europe and the Middle East. According to investigating authorities, Hezbollah received at least 70 percent of the drug money. Additionally, officials confiscated more than $150,000 and 2,000 euros. Further arrests were made in Brazil, Syria and the Dutch Antilles, bringing the total apprehended to 19 people. El Turco, like the Detroit-area restaurant La Shish that was recently allegedly linked to Hezbollah, was a very popular restaurant, appreciated by the locals.
<ref name=emerson>http://www.steveemerson.com/4281/blood-money-hezbollahs-revenue-stream-flows</ref></blockquote>

In 2008, Colombia smashed a drug ring tied to Hezbollah, Colombian authorities said that they had broken up a drug and money-laundering ring in an international operation that included the capture of three suspects from the Middle East who used profits from the drug trade to fund Hezbollah.

More than 100 suspects were arrested in Colombia and overseas on charges that they trafficked drugs and laundered cash for Colombia’s Norte del Valle cartel and outlawed paramilitaries, in a network that stretched from South America to Asia.
"The criminal organization used routes through Venezuela, Panama, Guatemala, the Middle East and Europe, bringing in cash from the sale of these substances," the statement said.
<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/22/world/americas/22colombia.html</ref><ref>http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/a-13-2008-10-22-voa37-66602227.html</ref>

From 'Inside Homeland Security' 2009: <blockquote>Muslim businessmen operating companies in Panama "for many years" have laundered funds for Hezbollah, Hamas and the PLO.<ref>http://www.insidehomelandsecurity.com/articles/news/59/15/The-Rise-of-Islamist-Extremism-in-Latin-America</ref></blockquote>

====U.S.====

The [[Washington Times]] had an editorial (2005) on 'Hezbollah in
America,' a 41-year-old businessman, was arrested at his Dearborn home on charges of smuggling funds to Hezbollah.<ref>http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20050519-092915-7312r.htm</ref>
In 2009, a grand jury in Philadelphia indicted four men in connection with a plot to support Hezbollah through schemes like buying machine guns.<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/25/us/25philly.html?_r=1</ref>

Al-Mabarrat has a U.S.-based branch headquartered in Dearborn, Mich. Founded in 1991, the Al-Mabarrat Charitable Organization-USA, Inc., has repeatedly changed its name over the past 15 years. Although Al-Mabarrat acknowledges on its Web site that it works in conjunction with the Al-Mabarrat Association in Lebanon (whose logo it shares), it omits the fact that Al-Mabarrat Lebanon is run by Sheikh Fadlallah. Despite Al- Mabarrat USA's direct link to a Fadlallah-controlled organization, the U.S. branch continues to operate unfettered.

Hezbollah's use of Al-Mabarrat as a fund-raising front is a savvy strategic move, mirroring a tactic long exploited by terrorist groups operating on U.S. soil. By utilizing charities, terrorists can generate popular support by providing some legitimate services, attract contributions from donors both unwitting and aware, and attempt to obscure financial trails. But such operations extend far beyond the United States.
<ref name=emerson>http://www.steveemerson.com/4281/blood-money-hezbollahs-revenue-stream-flows</ref>

In October 2011, it was revealed that a suspect in an Iranian plot to assassinate Saudi ambassador to the US, is linked to Hezbollah.<ref>Saudi ambassador assassination plot suspect linked to Hezbollah and Bahrain unrest
Al-Arabiya, 19 October 2011 http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/10/19/172590.html</ref>

====Europe====

There's a serious "Hezbollah's Terrorist Threat to the European Union" writes [[The Heritage]] (2007)
<ref>http://www.heritage.org/Research/Testimony/Hezbollahs-Terrorist-Threat-to-the-European-Union</ref>.
From a report on "Hezbollah Around the World" - Arabs, Muslims in [[Germany]] have been key fund raising center for Hezbollah. through crimes of: drug trafficking, weapons and people smuggling, document and currency fraud. <ref>http://www.adl.org/main_Terrorism/hezbollah_overview.htm?Multi_page_sections=sHeading_7</ref> From a May 2010 report: 'Hezbollah funded by drug trade in Europe,' German police arrested Lebanese men who transferred millions of Euros to family connected to Hezbollah.
<ref>http://www.haaretz.com/news/report-hezbollah-funded-by-drug-trade-in-europe-1.261091</ref><ref>http://www.thelocal.de/national/20100109-24465.html</ref>

Hezbollah has established several front charities, mainly operating from Great Britain and Germany, to raise funds earmarked to support the group's members in Lebanon . For example, the British-based Lebanese Welfare Committee, HELP Charity Association for Relief and Abrar Islamic Foundation are among the charities suspected of channeling funds to Sheikh Nasrallah and Hezbollah.
<ref name=emerson>http://www.steveemerson.com/4281/blood-money-hezbollahs-revenue-stream-flows </ref>

====U.S. Mexican border====

Hezbollah is also accused of using the same southern narcotics routes that Mexican drug kingpins use, that Hezbollah members have entered the U.S. border through drug cartel.
<ref>http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/mar/27/hezbollah-uses-mexican-drug-routes-into-us/print/</ref><ref>http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/hezbollah-using-drug-smuggling-routes/story.aspx?guid=%7BA14CB7E3-86EE-4ECE-A417-E31BF77E65FD%7D&dist=msr_2</ref>
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review wrote an article on ‎Apr 10, 2009, "The Hezbollah threat: It's here, now." <ref>http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/opinion/s_620146.html</ref>

===Blood diamonds===

The [[Associated Press]] reported on "Blood diamonds fund Hezbollah" (2004): that Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrilla movement is systematically siphoning profits from West Africa's multimillion-dollar diamond trade, in part by threatening the Lebanese merchants who long have handled much of the region's diamond business, US diplomats in West [[Africa]] charge.

The pervasive claim is wider --on organised and co-ercive Hezbollah profiteering from West Africa's diamond trade-- than most [[US]] officials have previously acknowledged.

"One thing that's incontrovertible is the financing of Hezbollah. It's not even an open secret; there is no secret," Larry Andre, deputy chief of mission for the [[US Embassy]] in diamond-rich [[Sierra Leone]], told The [[Associated Press]].
<ref>http://www.news24.com/Africa/News/Blood-diamonds-fund-Hezbollah-20040629</ref><ref>http://archive.wn.com/2004/07/02/1400/diamond/sale.html</ref>

T. Schure wrote in "Blood Diamonds: Still Bloody" (May 14, 2010) that West Africa is a well known transit center for smuggled diamonds, especially for Lebanese traders, with many sales funding criminal and terrorist groups including Hezbollah.
<ref>http://www.worldpress.org/Africa/3543.cfm</ref>

Douglas Farah in the [[Washington Post]]: "Digging Up Congo's Dirty Gems; Officials Say Diamond Trade Funds Radical Islamic Groups", that diamond dealers and intelligence sources said Hezbollah and other groups buy diamonds in. Congo -- sometimes through middlemen, sometimes directly.

European and American intelligence sources have long known that Hezbollah has raised significant amounts of money in West Africa through the largely Shiite Muslim Lebanese communities in Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Togo. There are an estimated 120,000 Lebanese in West Africa, mostly involved in import-export businesses.

"Hezbollah is active in all these countries and are deeply involved in many businesses across the region," said one European official tracking the movement. "It is only a small part of the Lebanese community that is sympathetic, but many people contribute to them just to keep Hezbollah off their backs."

For at least since the early 1980s, Hezbollah had also raised some cash through the sale of diamonds from Sierra Leone, intelligence sources said. Bah, they said, was long suspected of brokering diamond deals through buyers connected to Hezbollah, assisted by sympathetic Lebanese businessmen across the region.
<ref>D. Farah, ''Digging Up Congo's Dirty Gems; Officials Say Diamond Trade Funds Radical Islamic Groups'', Washington Post, 30 December, 2001 [http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A40026-2001Dec29&notFound=true ][http://www.globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/182/33794.html ] [http://www.kongo-kinshasa.de/dokumente/divers/wp12-01.pdf ]
qdt in:[http://books.google.com/books?id=luPNuThpx6QC&pg=PA86 ]</ref>

==Character, racism, fascism==

A writer in the [[Christian Science Monitor]] explains that "Hizbullah's real goal is racist: To free the Middle East holy lands of Jews... Hizbullah's goal is not the "liberation" of Palestine. Its members are not Palestinian. They are (Arab) Islamic extremists who want to "liberate" all Islamic land."<ref>http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0727/p09s01-coop.html</ref>

Its [[Al-Manar]] television is infamous for being [[racist]], several [[European]] countries, including [[France]], [[Spain]], [[Germany]] and the [[Netherlands]], as well as [[Australia]], have also taken measures to block Al-Manar. In March 2005, the broadcasting regulators in the [[European Union]] agreed to ban satellite broadcasting of Al-Manar on the basis that the channel carried racist material and incitement. As a result, several satellite service providers, most of them European, dropped Al-Manar, making it unavailable in North and South America, Asia and Australia. Al-Manar, is, however, still available in Europe through Arab satellite companies and its Web site offers English, French and Spanish translations of its material.
<ref>http://www.adl.org/main_terrorism/hezbollah_overview.htm?Multi_page_sections=sHeading_8 </ref>

On its TV, [[Jews]] are termed pigs and monkeys (stemming from radical Islamic teaching of "apes & pigs" - branding Christians as pigs, Jews as apes [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5426633 ][http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/christopher_howse/blog/2007/02/07/whats_this_about_apes_and_pigs ][http://www.onenewsnow.com/2007/02/pupils_aged_five_poisoned_at_i.php ][http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2007060106,00.html ][http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/06/25/wsaudi25.xml ][http://www.obsessionthemovie.com/ ]) and the [[Holocaust]] is denied. Participants in a network-sponsored symposium urge that Israel "be completely wiped out" and "just like [[Hitler]] fought the Jews" the "great Islamic nation of Jihad" should "fight the Jews and burn them."
<ref>http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2006/08/08/death_and_destruction_are_hezbollahs_goals/</ref>

It has been written in an article titled "Hezbollah's Nazi roots" that "Hezbollah's Nazi salute evokes memories of [[Hitler]]'s support for [[Arab]] agitators such as the Grand Mufti ([[al-Husayni]]) of Jerusalem and the leaders of a pro-[[Nazi]] coup."<ref>http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/issuesideas/story.html?id=e3157f0d-21ad-41e9-b26e-a3c06a460e73</ref>

From the book, 'Planting hatred, sowing pain: the psychology of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict':<blockquote>
Palestinians are constantly exposed to cultural products that expouse classical anti-Semitic ideas. Fir example, a television series produced by Hezbollah, the south Lebanon Shiite militia group, titled Al-Shatat. This series is focused oin the old middle-ages myth of the blood libel (in which Jews --supposedly-- need the blood of Christian children for the Passover matzoth).
<ref>''Planting hatred, sowing pain: the psychology of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict'', Moises F. Salinas, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007, p. 24 [http://books.google.com/books?id=9Tt9d6gnUkoC&pg=PR24]</ref></blockquote>

Related, from an [[ADL]] speech: <blockquote>In recent years, Jews were killed because they were Jews, something we have not witnessed since World War II, at the hands of jihadists. There was the Buenos Aires bombings of the Israeli embassy and the Jewish center; there was the kidnapping and murder of Daniel Pearl in Pakistan; there was the kidnapping and murder of Ilan Halimi in Paris; and there was the attack on the Seattle Jewish Federation. Hamas and Hezbollah do not want to kill for land, but to eliminate Jews and a Jewish presence.<ref>http://www.adl.org/main_Anti_Semitism_International/threat_islamic_extremism.htm</ref></blockquote>

===Nasrallah & the Jews===

Within a month of Nasrallah's taking over as leader, Hezbollah (with the help of Iranian intelligence) bombed the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires, killing 29 and injuring over 200. The next attack perpetrated by Hezbollah—again with Iranian help—was the bombing of the Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, killing 86 and injuring over 200.

The widening arena of Hezbollah's attacks stemmed from Nasrallah's perception that Jews anywhere are legitimate targets. In fact, Nasarallah has said:
<blockquote>
If they (Jews) all gather in Israel, it will save us the trouble of going after them worldwide. (Daily Star, Oct. 23, 2002)<ref>http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_ID=1&article_ID=38204&categ_id=2#axzz0pYls8Frn</ref><ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/23/books/the-enemy-within.html?sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2</ref><ref>http://www.adl.org/main_terrorism/hezbollah_overview.htm?Multi_page_sections=sHeading_7</ref><ref>http://www.ajc.org/atf/cf/%7B42D75369-D582-4380-8395-D25925B85EAF%7D/HIZBALLAH_SPEAKS_092006.PDF</ref></blockquote>

Shiite scholar Amal Saad-Ghorayeb analyzed the anti-Jewish roots of Hezbollah ideology in her book Hezbollah: Politics & Religion. In it, she quotes Hassan Nasrallah describing his antipathy toward Jews:

<blockquote>If we searched the entire world for a person more cowardly, despicable, weak and feeble in psyche, mind, ideology and religion, we would not find anyone like the Jew. Notice, I do not say the Israeli. (New Yorker, Oct. 14, 2002)<ref>''Nuclear logics: contrasting paths in East Asia and the Middle East'' by Etel Solingen, Princeton University Press, 2007 [http://books.google.com/books?id=dZc3udnvlbIC&pg=PA335]</ref></blockquote>

Nasrallah also incoroporates anti-Semitic rhetoric in speeches. For example, he has characterized Jews as the "grandsons of apes and pigs" and "Allah's most cowardly and greedy creatures." (MEMRI: Al- Manar, Feb. 3, 2006)
<ref>http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=7&x_issue=11&x_article=1158</ref><ref>http://www.jcpa.org/text/ahmadinejad2-words.pdf</ref>

In 1998, Ashura commemorations of Hessein's martyrdom coincided with Israel's fiftieth anniversary. Nasrallah used the occasion to lambaste Israelis as "the descendants of apes and pigs. "A few million vagabonds from all over the world, brought together..."
<ref>''Dreams and shadows: the future of the Middle East,'' Robin B. Wright, Penguin Group, 2008, ISBN 1594201110, 9781594201110, p. 180[http://books.google.com/books?id=nzXA7PZdO0AC&pg=PA180]</ref><ref>''Out of step: life-story of a politician : politics and religion in a world at war'', Jack Brian Bloom, Jack Bloom, 2005, p. 104 [http://books.google.com/books?id=Kr2gAAAAMAAJ&dq=hezbollah]</ref><ref>''The War Against the West: Crucial Conversations with the Most Informed Experts about Our Enemies, Our Defenses, Our Strategy and Our Leaders in the Long War Against Islamist Extremism'', Hugh Hewitt, Xulon Press, 2008, p. 200 [http://books.google.com/books?id=CFCHgaADriIC&pg=PA200]</ref>

==Iran's arm: "Big Satan, Little Satan"==

Israel and the United States as Portrayed in the Doctrine of Hezbollah:

1) Hatred of Israel ("that vile microbe") and the Jewish people, --As an arm of Iran it regards, <ref>http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2007/3/30/204228.shtml?s=lh</ref> <ref>http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/GC25Ak04.html</ref> <ref>http://www.ict.org.il/Articles/tabid/66/Articlsid/231/currentpage/10/Default.aspx</ref>
<ref>http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3272498,00.html</ref>
<ref>http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123093176783149767.html</ref>
<ref>http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/html/iran_hezbollah_e1b.htm</ref> and it seeks to-- Eradicating the 'Little Satan.'
2) Hatred of the [[United States]] ("the big Satan")
<ref>http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/html/hezbollah.htm</ref>

==Death cult, suicide missions, martyrdom philosophy, inventing 'mass casualty' bombing==

The doctrine of Hezbollah: Suicide attacks ("the shortest road to Allah") are of supreme value.
<ref>http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/html/hezbollah.htm</ref>

In May 2006, Nasrallah appeared on the network to explain that "our nation's willingness to sacrifice their blood, souls, children, fathers, and families" is an advantage over the Jews "who guard their lives."
<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/08/opinion/08iht-edlevin.2417146.html</ref>

The modern, high-casualty suicide attack, which has changed our lives irreversibly, was invented by Hezbollah in Lebanon in 1982.
<ref name=elieberman>''Radical, Religious, and Violent: The New Economics of Terrorism'', Eli Berman, MIT Press, 2009, p. 50 [http://books.google.com/books?id=R7jvDS3OiAUC&pg=PA50]</ref>

To attack the multinational forces, Hezbolah invented a terrible new weapon--the suicide truck bomb. The group loaded several hundred pounds of explosives into a truck. A member of the group--someone prepared to sacrifice his or her life--would drive the truck in front of an embassy or into a military base.
The driver then set off the explosives with a control switch in the truck's cab. The detonation would instantly destroy the driver, the truck, and any buildings or people standing within several hundred feet.
Sheikh Fadlallah and Hezbollah never took credit for these attacks. As a Shi'ite cleric, Fadlallah knew that Islam would get tarnished by terrorism and the killing of innocent civilians. Fadlallah also claimed to be running the Hezbollah as a political, not a military organization.
However, as Many Islamic nation have declared jihads against enemies. For this reason, an organization calling itself the "Islamic Jihad" publicly claimed responsibility for terrorists acts in Lebanon. For several years, the United States and other governments tried to find out who was running the Islamic Jihad. In fact, Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad were one and the same.
<ref>''International Terrorists'', profiles Series, profiles (Minneapolis, Minn.),
by Thomas Streissguth, The Oliver Press, Inc., 1993, ISBN 1881508072, 9781881508076, pp. 130-131 [http://books.google.com/books?id=vdKnY1vRKZkC&pg=PA130]</ref>

==Regional plans==

Amongst its stated objectives is the establishment of a Shiite theocracy in [[Lebanon]].
<ref>http://www.aph.gov.au/Library/pubs/rn/2002-03/03rn42.htm</ref>
Hezbollah's goal is the establishment of an Islamic state encompassing Lebanon and Israel.
<ref>http://www.adl.org/terrorism/symbols/hezbollah.asp</ref>
Many in the [[Lebanese]] [[Christian]] diaspora, beyond the reach of Hezbollah intimidation, speak out forcefully against turning Lebanon into a [[Shia]] [[theocracy]] emulating Iran.
<ref>http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2006/08/08/death_and_destruction_are_hezbollahs_goals/</ref>

==Global Plans==

The [[Associated Press]] reported in May, 2010, that a [[Muslim]] cleric calls for 'Greater Iran' - [[Shi'ite]] '''Islamic union''' would stretch from [[Afghanistan]] to [[Israel]]. Ayatollah Mohammad Bagher Kharrazi said the creation of what he termed an "Islamic United States" is a central aim of the political party he leads - called Hizbullah, or Party of God. He added that he hoped to make his vision a reality if the party won the next presidential election. "The Islamic United States will be an introduction to the formation of the global village of the oppressed and that will be a prelude to the single global rule of the Mahdi," the newspaper quoted him as saying. <ref>http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ixeFBxfLzaSjs8Mb8cuFmtPOT6-wD9FN9ING1</ref><ref>http://www.jpost.com/IranianThreat/News/Article.aspx?ID=175619 </ref>

==Violence, Bloodshed==

Their known spreading of violence & bloodshed includes:

===Regional: Lebanon, Israel===

====Kidnappings, torture====

Hezbollah's founding quickly resulted in a spate of kidnappings, torture.
<ref>http://article.nationalreview.com/300511/negotiate-with-iran/andrew-c-mccarthy</ref>
Westerners, including French, German and Americans were target of Hezbollah's kidnapping.<ref>Christopher C. Harmon, Andrew N. Pratt, Sebastian Gorka, ''Toward a Grand Strategy Against Terrorism,'' McGraw Hill Professional, (2010), [http://books.google.com/books?id=fYp2NlDbrb0C&pg=PA46 p. 46]</ref><ref>Tom Diaz, Barbara Newman, ''Lightning Out of Lebanon: Hezbollah Terrorists on American Soil,'' Random House Digital, Inc. (2006), [http://books.google.com/books?id=KXa6qOt86OwC&pg=PA64 p. 64]</ref><ref>"Does Human Rights Law Apply to Terrorists?" Middle East Quarterly by T Lapkin, 2004 http://www.meforum.org/651/does-human-rights-law-apply-to-terrorists</ref><ref>Mark Perry, ''Talking to terrorists: why America must engage with its enemies,'' Basic Books (2010), [http://books.google.com/books?id=HDRG-EYhyZ0C&pg=PA140 p. 140]</ref><ref>http://www.michaeltotten.com/archives/2009/03/hezbollah-scout.php</ref> including hijacking US personell.<ref>Newsweek: Volume 109, 1987, [http://books.google.com/books?id=1eQmAQAAIAAJ&q=The+fanatics+in+Beirut+can+kidnap+them,+torture+them,+hang+them+publicly+and+dump+their+bodies+on+the+streets p. 117]</ref><ref>http://books.google.com/books?id=b8k4rEPvq_8C&pg=PA130</ref><ref>http://books.google.com/books?id=vHrQGZ8lUgIC&pg=PA73</ref><ref>http://books.google.com/books?id=HNyv0N8cVE0C&pg=PA85</ref><ref>http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/162295/re-hezbollah-america/andy-mccarthy</ref><ref>http://books.google.com/books?id=m_ktBrZfuUYC&pg=PA118</ref><ref>http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article708342.ece</ref><ref>http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/myths/mf11.html</ref> An estimated kidnapping of 30 Westerners in that period are attributed to Hezbollah.<ref name="congress112">[http://books.google.com/books?id=W6gziQydtBwC&pg=RA2-PA112 Congressional Record - Page 112]</ref><ref>"Lebanon: Hezbollah's Kidnapping Plan," STRATFOR, Jan 22, 2008 http://www.stratfor.com/analysis/lebanon_hezbollahs_kidnapping_plan</ref><ref>Hizballah ("Party of God") http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Terrorism/hizbollah.html</ref><ref>Michael T. Kindt, Jerrold M. Post, Barry R. Schneider, ''The world's most threatening terrorist networks and criminal gangs,'' Macmillan, (2009) [http://books.google.com/books?id=WMZdR8XPzQoC&pg=PA129 p. 129]</ref>
Among the notorious victims were: William Francis Buckley, Terry Anderson, William Richard Higgins.

In March, 1984, Hezbollah operatives kidnapped William Francis Buckley, the CIA's station chief in [[Lebanon]]. He was whisked to [[Damascus]] and on to [[Tehran]], where, after 15 months of torture, he succumbed to a heart attack.
<ref>''Willful Blindness: A Memoir of the Jihad'' by Andrew C. McCarthy, Encounter Books, 2008, [http://books.google.com/books?&id=5dgoAQAAIAAJ&dq=buckley p. 97]</ref>

Feb. 17, 1988: The group kidnaps Col. William Higgins, a [[U.S.]] Marine serving with a [[United Nations]] truce monitoring group in Lebanon, and later murders him.

The [[United States]] asserts that top Hezbollah military commander who was one of America's most wanted men, accused of involvement in a string of bombings, hijackings and kidnappings during the 1980s and 1990s, [[Imad Mughniyeh]], was also behind the torture and murder of [[William Buckley]], the CIA station chief in Beirut, in 1984; the kidnapping, torture and murder of Lieutenant Colonel William Richard Higgins of the Marines, who was on peacekeeping duty in Lebanon in 1988; and, through the Islamic Jihad Organization, the seizure of Western hostages in Beirut during the 1980s.
<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/13/world/africa/13iht-syria.4.10025106.html?pagewanted=all</ref>
<ref>''Lightning out of Lebanon: Hezbollah terrorists on American soil'', Tom Diaz, Barbara Newman, [http://books.google.com/books?cd=4&id=waboAAAAIAAJ&dq=torture p. 64]</ref> <ref>http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2006/jul/20/20060720-081459-2509r/</ref>

From a legal claim against [[Iran]]:<blockquote> In the instant case the evidence once again discloses that Iran provided Hezbollah with funding, direction and training for its terrorist activities in Lebanon, including the kidnapping and torture of Terry Anderson hezbollah kidnapping torture and his imprisonment as a hostage for 2,454 days.
<ref>''Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act: Congressional Hearing'', Bill McCollum, DIANE Publishing, 2002, p. 24 [http://books.google.com/books?id=XB4lFqK_2SgC&pg=PA24]</ref></blockquote>

Dec. 31, 1986: Under the alias Organization of the Oppressed on Earth, Hezbollah announces it had kidnapped and murdered three Lebanese [[Jews]]. The organization previously had taken responsibility for killing four other Jews since 1984.
<ref>http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=2&x_outlet=118&x_article=1148</ref>

The 1985 Hezbollah torture-murder of Isaac Tarab, 63, and Chaim Halala Cohen, 39, the 1986 Hezbollah's torturing to death of Ibrahim Benesti, aged 54, of Beirut, and his elderly relatives, Yehudah and Yosef, Benesti's family – like many [[Lebanese]] [[Jews]] – had been in [[Lebanon]] since 2,000 B.C. (before the birth of [[Mohammed]]), [described as a charitable and kindly candy store owner who gave free candy to children of all religions]. All these crimes were motivated for no other reason than for the victims simply being Jewish.<ref>http://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=11798</ref> See: [[#Character, racism, fascism]].

7 Apr 2005 - Two [[Israeli-Arabs]] from the village of Rajar near the Israel-Lebanon border were kidnapped by Hezbollah operatives and held in captivity for four days. The men, identified as Muki Ben-Jamal and Nuef Maharj Ben-Ali, said they were interrogated by their captors who wanted information on [[Israel]].
<ref name=aijac-timeline>http://www.aijac.org.au/resources/hezb_00-06.html</ref>

The [[Time]] had a detailed piece by William Dowell in May 23, 1988 titled: "Three Years in the Belly of Beirut": <blockquote>"They weren't human or inhuman. They were nonhuman." That was how French Journalist Jean-Paul Kauffmann, quoting fellow hostage Michel Seurat, , described the pro-Iranian Islamic Jihad terrorists who held him hostage for three years. The wrenching account of his kidnaping, captivity and release appeared last week in L'Evenement du Jeudi, the French newsmagazine Kauffmann worked for when he and French Researcher Seurat were abducted in May 1985.
 
The two men became hostages by chance after missing a Beirut airport bus and deciding to take a taxi. When a Mercedes pulled alongside and ordered them to stop, they expected a robbery. Instead they were forced into the back of the gunmen's car. What followed was three years of intimidation and psychological torture.
 
For more than a year, the hostages never saw daylight. Their only diversion was reading the handful of books provided by their jailers; Kauffmann read War and Peace more than 20 times. At one point, he and Seurat listened while their Shi'ite captors spent eight days torturing an Arab suspected of being a spy. When it was over, Kauffmann's jailer joked, "I damaged him a little. He had two broken ribs. We broke both his legs. Finally he talked, and we set him free." Freedom, Kauffmann learned, was a euphemism for death.
 
In one of the most bizarre episodes, Seurat was allowed a brief visit in August 1985 with his wife and daughters in Beirut, and then returned to the cell loaded down with sociology books. It was the last time he saw his family. A month later, he was deathly ill with hepatitis. A Lebanese Jewish doctor, Elie Hallat, who was also a hostage, pleaded in vain for Seurat's release. As his condition worsened, a Shi'ite commander volunteered a transfusion. "You are becoming a Shi'ite," joked a captor after Seurat was given blood. In fact, the researcher was dying. By then French Hostages Marcel Carton and Marcel Fontaine had been added to the group. "So I am going to die," Seurat told his friends.
 
In March 1986, the Islamic Jihad announced that it had "executed" Seurat. It seems likely, however, that he succumbed, at 39, to his disease. But the jailers told the hostages he was alive and recovering in a hospital. Kauffmann later learned from a radio newscast that Hallat, doomed by his captors' rabid anti-Semitism, had been executed. Kauffmann, Carton and Fontaine were continually moved from apartment to apartment. At one point Kauffmann was wrapped in bandages like a mummy, sealed in a metal box and bolted under the chassis of a truck. When he banged on the side, he was told he would be shot. "Kill me," he snapped back. "It doesn't make any difference."
 
At another point Kauffmann and Fontaine were tied together and placed in a coffin. When they were let out for a moment, Fontaine peered under his blindfold and saw that they were near a cement factory. "They're going to kill us here, put our bodies in cement and dump us in the sea," said Fontaine. Later Kauffmann and Fontaine were put in a new cell and chained like animals to a spike in the floor.
<ref>Time, Volume 131, Issues 18-26 By Henry Robinson Luce, Time Inc., 1988, p. iv [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,967469,00.html]</ref></blockquote>

At a 2008 proisoner swap-deal, Israel was forced to make with Hezbollah, Bradley Burston wrote "The pleasure that Hezbollah takes in torture."<blockquote>

Few innocent people have been tortured like the loved ones of the people murdered by Samir Kuntar, the [[Palestine Liberation Front]] monster convicted of a crime so brutal that even the designation terrorist is too good for him.

This week, the loved ones will know that Kuntar will be feted to a hero's welcome staged by Hezbollah, whose claims to being a religious organization, stain the word religious with a level of sadism that is astonishing, reaching new levels with every gloat by the torture master who calls himself a spiritual leader, [[Hassan Nasrallah]].

But that will be only one aspect of the glee with which Hezbollah will likely take explicit pride and claim exultant victory.
 
Not satisfied with keeping the families of kidnapped IDF soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev in the dark for two years as to their fate, a Lebanese report which appears to have been leaked by Hezbollah two days before the prisoner swap, stated that one of the soldiers had survived the kidnapping attack, but that the other was surely dead.
 
Then, to torture the families further, the report refrained from revealing which of the two had been killed, or whether the other was still alive.

But for sheer gratuitous sadism, the case of [[Samir Kuntar]] has few rivals. Consider the survivors of Kuntar's acts of murder.

Consider Smadar Haran, a survivor of the 1979 attack led by Kuntar. Kuntar burst into Haran's apartment building in the dead of night, seizing Smadar Haran's husband Danny and their daughter Einat, 4 years old.

Desperate to save their two-year-old girl Yael, Smadar Haran huddled with her in a crawl space in the attic. "I will never forget the joy and the hatred in the voices [of Kuntar and his men] as they swaggered about hunting for us, firing their guns and throwing grenades," she later recalled in the Washington Post.

"I knew that if Yael cried out, the terrorists would toss a grenade into the crawl space and we would be killed," she wrote in 2003. "So I kept my hand over her mouth, hoping she could breathe. As I lay there, I remembered my mother telling me how she had hidden from the Nazis during the Holocaust. 'This is just like what happened to my mother,' I thought."

Smadar Haran's personal torture had only begun. She would later learn that Kuntar had dragged her husband Danny and older daughter to the beach nearby, where he shot Danny execution style, making sure that her father's death would be the last sight her little girl would ever see.

Kuntar then took the butt of his assault rifle and brought in down on Einat's head, crushing it against a rock.

Smadar Haran would later recall, "By the time we were rescued from the crawl space, hours later, Yael, too, was dead. In trying to save all our lives, I had smothered her."

Two weeks ago, in an act of heroism that is beyond imagination, Smadar Haran spoke publicly of coming to terms with the impending release of the monster who turned her life into a waking nightmare. "Samir Kuntar isn't, nor has he ever been, my private prisoner," she told a news conference. "His fate must be decided now according to Israel's needs and ethical interests." ...Kuntar... his elevation to the status of hero and martyr to the Palestinian struggle or the Lebanese resistance.
 
For Israelis, even after all these years, the release of Kuntar is a form of self-inflicted torture. So heinous, so unpardonable were his crimes, that American Jewish author and journalist Jeffrey Goldberg, himself a veteran of the [[IDF]], wrote on The [[Atlantic Monthly]]'s Website... "As unbelievable as this sounds, Israel is actually thinking of swapping Samir Kuntar in a prisoner exchange with Hezbollah. Kuntar is perhaps the most terrible person held in an Israeli prison, a man who crushed the skull of a Jewish child against a rock."
<ref>http://www.haaretz.com/news/bradley-burston-the-pleasure-that-hezbollah-takes-in-torture-1.249790</ref></blockquote>

====Terror attack on US embassy====

'''The attack on the [[U.S.]] Embassy in [[Beirut]], [[Lebanon]] on April 18, 1983 .'''
The bombing was carried out via a stolen van, carrying 2000 pounds of explosives, slamming into the embassy, killing 63 people.
<ref>http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/usmnf.htm</ref>
<ref>http://www.iranfocus.com/en/terrorism/victims-of-1983-bombing-of-u.s.-embassy-in-beirut-recalled.html</ref>
<ref>http://www.americanmemorialsite.com/beirutembassy.html</ref><ref>http://www.beirut-memorial.org/history/index.html</ref><ref>http://www.americans-working-together.com/american_veterans/id93.html</ref>

====Terror attack on peacekeeping US marine====

'''The attack on [[U.S.]] Marine Barracks in Oct. 1983.'''
<ref>http://blog.heritage.org/2009/10/23/the-1983-marine-barracks-bombing-connecting-the-dots/</ref>
Hezbollah conducted simultaneous suicide truck bombings against the two buildings housing U.S. Marines and French paratroopers in Beirut, killing 241 Marines and 58 French soldiers who were in Lebanon as part of a multinational peacekeeping mission.
<ref>http://www.stratfor.com/hezbollah_irans_ace_hole</ref>
<ref>http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/textual/topics/marinesleb.htm</ref>
<ref>http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/10/23/world/main579638.shtml</ref>
<ref>http://www.nydailynews.com/news/us_world/2008/02/14/2008-02-14_hezbollah_terror_thug_behind_83_lebanon_.html</ref>
A US federal judge found (in 2003) Iran liable for the 1983 bombing of a US marine barracks. <ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2951938.stm</ref> <ref>http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/05/30/iran.barracks.bombing/</ref>

The Beirut mission started out as an effort to stabilize a fragile peace in a war-torn country. Lebanon had been in turmoil since the Palestine Liberation Organization, having been expelled from Jordan, took refuge there in the 1970s. In 1975, a panoply of Christian and Muslim militias, turned what had been a Middle East oasis into a no-man's land of urban warfare.
The situation fell apart quickly. Islamic Militia leaders began to view the [[United States]] and its allies as favoring the Christian-led forces of the Lebanese government. <ref>http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/terror.htm</ref>

====Targeting Israeli civilians====

Hezbollah has been '''targeting Israeli civilians, for years.''' since the 1980s, (Which prompted Israel in 1996 to conduct a defensive operation "Grapes of Wrath." <ref>http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=2&x_outlet=118&x_article=1148</ref>) its main weapon - firing rockets, missiles into residential areas<ref>http://www.haaretz.com/news/barak-to-un-hezbollah-arms-target-israeli-civilians-1.266260</ref><ref>http://www.ynet.co.il/english/articles/0,7340,L-3275609,00.html</ref>
<ref>http://www.haaretz.com/news/eight-hurt-as-record-number-of-rockets-hits-northern-israel-1.194063</ref>
<ref>http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=37034</ref>
<ref>http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Terrorism/hizattacks1.html</ref>
<ref>http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2006/7/24/154609.shtml</ref>
<ref>http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/8956/hezbollah-rocket-attacks-hurt-19-israelis-in-kiryat-shmona/</ref>
<ref>http://www.mfa.gov.il/NR/exeres/9EE216D7-82EF-4274-B80D-6BBD1803E8A7,frameless.htm?NRMODE=Published</ref>.
For example, in 24 Jul 2006 - Hezbollah fired more than 70 Katyusha rockets into Israel, several of which landed in Nahariya, Safed, and Kiryat Shmona. Medics treated at least 49 people who were lightly to moderately wounded. More than 2200 rockets have been fired at Israeli cities since July 12, killing 17 Israelis, all of them civilians. 20 Israeli soldiers were killed in other incidents.
<ref name=aijac-timeline>http://www.aijac.org.au/resources/hezb_00-06.html</ref>. Though there were also other methods like in Apr 2001 – A 42 year-old Israeli woman was stabbed to death in Haifa. Her murder was the initiation rite of a terrorist cell, whose members were apprehended in July. Six members of a Hezbollah-linked Palestinian terrorist cell responsible for the murder, originally thought to be criminally motivated, were arrested in July. The murder was the initiation rite of one of the terrorists into the organization.
<ref>''Chronologies of modern terrorism'', Barry Rubin, Barry M. Rubin, Judith Colp Rubin, M.E. Sharpe, 2008, ISBN 0765620472, 9780765620477, p. 218</ref><ref>http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-+Obstacle+to+Peace/Palestinian+terror+since+2000/Victims+of+Palestinian+Violence+and+Terrorism+sinc.htm</ref>

====Use of its civilian population in war====

'''Use of Lebanese as human shields''' <ref>http://www.standwithus.com/pdfs/flyers/humanshield.pdf</ref> <ref>http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/issuesideas/story.html?id=439dbdcc-167c-423c-9d52-b14a90605440</ref>
<ref>http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/special-reports/photos-that-damn-hezbollah/story-e6frf7r6-1111112144002</ref>
<ref>http://abcnews.go.com/International/video?id=2702658</ref>
<ref>http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/12/05/D8LQVLHG2.html</ref>
<ref>http://washingtontimes.com/op-ed/20060730-093558-9976r.htm</ref>,
(copying the Arab-Palestinian tactics routine [http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-+Obstacle+to+Peace/Hamas+war+against+Israel/Hamas+exploitation+of+civilians+as+human+shields+-+Photographic+evidence.htm ]
[http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2006Nov22/0,4670,PalestiniansHumanShields,00.html ] [http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,227222,00.html ][http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0901/04/sm.03.html ][http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/6166998.stm ][http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/01/05/israel.gaza/index.html ][http://www.pmw.org.il/latestBulletins.htm ][http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jan/08/hamas-palestinian-victims/print/ ][http://article.wn.com/view/2010/03/15/Israeli_report_Hamas_used_civilians_as_human_shields_in_Gaza/][http://www.iris.org.il/blog/archives/2102-Palestinians-Brag-About-Using-Human-Shields-for-Terrorists.html ][http://www.peacewithrealism.org/headline/gaza02.htm ][http://www.peacewithrealism.org/headline/admit.htm ][http://www.palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=157&doc_id=1304 ][http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=23431&only&rss ]), especially was publicized, in their initiated war with Israel, Hezbollah's use of "Christian villages as shields in missile attacks." witnesses: "If Israel does nothing Hezbollah will continue to fire rockets from inside Lebanon shockingly using Christians as human shields actually." "Hezbollah is hiding among civilian populations and launching attacks behind human shields." <ref>http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/17528670.html</ref>
<ref>http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/hezbollah_uses_christian_villages_as_shields_in_missile_attacks/</ref>, this crime has been categorized as a "Hezbollah specialty" <ref>http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/krauthammer072806.php3</ref>, even using the [[U.N.]]<ref>http://www.drudge.com/archive/83811/hezbollah-used-un-human-shields</ref>, A.) to cause casualties among their own Arab population, especially among children, in order to generate sympathy and an outcry in the Arab world. B.) Hated Israelis' image get tarnished, an "important" goal in it of itself to make the Zionists look as "killers." C.) To cripple Israel's humane army to respond, thus enables them to come out as "heroes." <ref>http://www.telospress.com/main/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=112</ref> & saviours against the Zionist enemy."

====Subjugation, persecution====

Hezbollah has a long history of persecuting Christians, decries a Lebanese author.<ref>http://www.independentconservative.com/2006/08/02/hezbollah_kills_christians_part2/</ref>

The writer W. Phares explains on the suffering of civilians, especially since Hezbollah's take over in 2000: <blockquote>Such takeover by the Jihadist militia was expected to provoke an exodus by thousands of civilians who would have been subjected to Hezbollah’s persecution. However suddenly on May 23, the Israeli Government then under Prime Minister Ehud Barak ordered a quick pull out from the security zone without waiting for the local force, at the time known as ‘South Lebanon Army’ (SLA) to be transferred under the United Nations or to operate as a local force to stop Hezbollah until the UN would decide what to do.

The population of the "security zone" was about 150,000 counting the district of Jezzine; and its local forces were about 3,000 strong. the make up of the population was Christian, Shia and Druse with some Sunni villages to the East. To their north Hezbollah had massed its forces backed by Iranian Pasdaran advisors. Between 1984 and 2000 Hezbollah launched several offensives against the SLA positions but was unable to overrun them permanently.
<ref>http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/id.6309/pub_detail.asp</ref></blockquote>

====Civil war====

Some of '''civil war/clashes waged on the Lebanese''' by the Hezbollah:

In Jan. 2007, clash pits Hezbollah against rule in Lebanon. The police said at least three people died and 100 more were wounded throughout the country in the violence.
<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/24/world/middleeast/24lebanon.html</ref>
<ref>http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16806540/</ref>

"Rival factions return to arms as Lebanon stares into the abyss" in Nov 2007.<ref>http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article2926154.ece</ref>

In May 8, 2008 Clashes erupted as Hezbollah chief [[Hassan Nasrallah]] claims 'War' <ref>http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/middle_east/jan-june08/lebanon_0508.html</ref>, clashes between Hezbollah and Druze continued in Lebanon for the 5th day, it erupted in Lebanon's northern port city of Tripoli, as fighting between the Hezbollah militia and its rivals grew. <ref>http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/middleeast/news/article_1404713.php/17_dead_in_Lebanon_-_Druze-Hezbollah_clashes_break_out__2nd_Lead_</ref><ref>http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/05/12/lebanon.violence/index.html</ref> The Lebanese army said it will intervene, it will use force from to stop fighting, which brough the overall toll to 81 dead and about 250 wounded.
<ref>http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSL12505038200805</ref>
<ref>http://www.mg.co.za/article/2008-05-12-clashes-bring-lebanon-death-toll-to-81</ref>

In July 2008, fighting among Lebanese government and the Islamic Hezbollah terrrorists categorized as "Sectarian battles," the battles killed six, wounded 50.
<ref>http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iLbRHS1sn11z7Yw3qRkPMqnqF_xw</ref><ref>http://www.reuters.com/article/homepageCrisis/idUSL5690185._CH_.2400 </ref><ref>http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2008/07/26/sectarian_fighting_kills_6_in_lebanon/</ref>

In 28 Aug 2008, Hezbollah has "brazenly attacked the Lebanese Army" – in its shooting-attack on an army helicopter, killing 1st Lt. Samer Hanna and wounding several others – so say the leaders of Lebanon’s pro-democracy movement.
This is not the first time Hezbollah has attacked the Lebanese government. But it is one of the boldest attacks to date against the army. Hezbollah kills Lebanese Army Officer.
<ref>http://www.analyst-network.com/article.php?art_id=2389</ref>

===Global violence===
Hezbollah is another example (like Al Qaeda) of an Islamist insurgency that is both local and transnational.
<ref>''Heads we win: the cognitive side of counterinsurgency (COIN)'', David C. Gompert, RAND Corporation, 2007, p. 27 [http://books.google.com/books?id=xLDuAAAAMAAJ&q=hezbollah]</ref>

====Attack on US, French embassies in Kuwait====
Hezbollah's responsible for [[U.S.]] and [[French]] embassies attacks in [[Kuwait]] in 1983
<ref>http://books.google.com/books?id=yMnAlqo47sgC&pg=PA96</ref>.
The American embassy in Kuwait was bombed in a series of attacks whose targets also included the French embassy, the control tower at the airport, the country's main oil refinery, and a residential area for employees of the American corporation Raytheon. Six people were killed, including a suicide truck bomber, and more than 80 others were injured.
In Kuwait, 17 people were arrested and convicted for participating in the attacks. One of those convicted was Mustafa Youssef Badreddin, a cousin and brother-in-law of one of Hezbollah's senior officers, [[Imad Mughniyah]]. After a six-week trial in Kuwait, Badreddin was sentenced to death for his role in the bombings.<ref>http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/target/etc/cron.html</ref>

====Hijacking Kuwaiti planes====
A year after the 1983 attacks (on US, French targets), Kuwait Airways flight 221 was hijacked wherein the hijackers demanded the release of Islamic militant: 'Al-Dawa 17.' Two US passengers were killed and Iranian police freed the hijackers in [[Iran]] where the plane had been diverted. Imad Mugniyah and Hezbollah were accused by US authorities in the hijacking and killings.

In 1988, militants hijacked a second plane, Kuwait Airways Flight 422, with 110 passengers for 16 days. At one point during the hijacking, the plane was diverted to Iran where multiple survivors reportedly believed the original hijackers deplaned and were replaced by a fresh crew of hijackers who were armed with increased gun power.

During the ordeal, the hijackers met with reporters who quoted one as saying upon requesting the refueling of the plane in order to enable the plane to leave Algeria, "We will liquidate our account with Kuwait elsewhere. We don't want to have the massacre in a friendly country." A hijacker was quoted as saying, "Kuwait has to know that we do not fear death." The hijackers demands included the release of Al-Dawa 17.

The plane was diverted to Cyprus where two young [[Kuwait]]is aged 20 and 25 were tortured and then shot. Their dead bodies were dumped on the tarmac of the [[Cyprus]] airport.<ref>http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php?newsid=MTM4NTY5MTEwMA==</ref><ref>http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/html/ct_130208e.htm</ref><ref>http://www.esisc.org/documents/pdf/en/note-hezbollah-eng.pdf</ref>

====Iraq====
Already in November 24, 2003, The [[New York Times]] elaborated in an article: "A region inflamed, the hand of Tehran," Hezbollah, in Iraq, that Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Shiite group, has established a significant presence in Iraq.<ref>http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DEFDE113BF937A15752C1A9659C8B63</ref>

In 2006. U.S. Officials said: "Hezbollah Training Iraqi Shiite Militia Group." <ref>http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,232262,00.html</ref><ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/28/world/middleeast/28military.html</ref>

The [[Wall Street Journal]] wrote (2007) on Iran's Proxy War, The
involvement of Hezbollah in Iraq. <ref>http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118368904375158857.html?mod=googlenews_wsj</ref>

The [[BBC]] reported on additional proof, US officials had in 2007 of the link. <ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6260690.stm</ref>
In an article on Iran in Iraq, the [[Washington Post]] wrote on [[Iran]]'s Hezbollah soldiers and methods in the war in [[Iraq]].<ref>http://blog.washingtonpost.com/earlywarning/2007/07/iran_in_iraq.html?nav=rss_blog</ref>
the [[CNN]] reported on a Hezbollah agent played deaf before confessing, the
top special operations officer with Lebanon's Hezbollah militia pretended to be
deaf and mute when he was captured in Iraq.<ref>http://us.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/07/02/iraq.hezbollah/index.html</ref>

In 2008, there were reports on Hezbollah training Iraqis in Iran<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/05/world/middleeast/05iran.htm</ref>
Iraqi president [[Jalal Talabani]] charged (May, 2008) Hezbollah interference, in a Baghdad interview, he accused the leader of the Lebanon-based Hezbollah of meddling in Iraq's
affairs.<ref>http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/05/30/Talabani_charges_Hezbollah_interference/UPI-44791212150201/</ref>

In May, 2010, the [[US]] said that [[Syria]] must curb arm shipments to Hezbollah, top US diplomat has urged [[Syria]] to do more to prevent arms shipments to the militant [[Lebanese]] Hezbollah and stem the flow of militants into [[Iraq]].<ref>http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h9Pa9-v36WUhm6_Mqn4inXf_J8iAD9FQL82O0</ref>

In July 2011, U.S. official charged that militias are using Iranian weapons to target U.S. troops in Iraq.<ref>"Official: Militias Using Iranian Weapons to Target U.S. in Iraq." [[CNN]], July 3, 2011 http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/07/03/iraq.us.militia.attacks/</ref>

====Somalia====
The [[New York Times]] reported on Hezbollah in [[Somalia]]. <ref>"U.N. Says Somalis Helped Hezbollah Fighters," [[New York Times]] 15 Nov 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/15/world/middleeast/15nations.html</ref>
From [[NPR]] (November 15, 2006), the "[[U.N.]] Report ties [[Somali]] Islamists to Hezbollah," in an alarming report about the situation in Somalia.
<ref>"U.N. Report Ties Somali Islamists to Hezbollah," [[NPR]], November 15, 2006 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6493083</ref>
More than 700 Somali fighters are said to have gone to support and get training from Hezbollah..
<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6154690.stm</ref> The [[Time]] reported in 2010, on the Somali al-Shabab getting aid from Syria and Iran and is "believed to have formed direct alliances with militant groups elsewhere, including Lebanon's Hizballah."<ref>"Somalia's al-Shabab Wants to Join Terror's Big League," [[Time]],
14 Jul 2010 http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2003837,00.html</ref>

====Namibia====
There were reports by a human rights organisation in 2011, of jihadists-terrorists: Hezbollah and al-Shabab operating in Namibia.<ref>"Terrorists operate in Namibia: NamRights‎," Informante, Nov 2, 2011 http://www.informante.web.na/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9000&Itemid=1</ref>

====Gambia====
Freedom Newspaper (2011): "There is a Hezbollah cartel in Gambia."
Explaining: There is a Hezbollah cartel in Banjul [the Gambian capital], who are acting in concert with the country's President Yahya Jammeh to sell arms to the terrorist group's main base in Lebanon, a source reaching the Freedom Newspaper has alleged.
The arms deal goes like this: Gambia procures the arms from Iran, and in turn sells these deadly weapons to Hezbollah. Worst part is, that the "Gambian President has been accused of acting in concert with Lebanese alleged Hezbollah supporters."
<ref>Breaking News - Gambia "DID JAMMEH SELLS IRANIAN ARMS TO HEZBOLLA," Freedom Newspaper http://www.freedomnewspaper.com/Homepage/tabid/36/mid/367/newsid367/5960/Breaking-News-Gambia--DID-JAMMEH-SELLS-IRANIAN-ARMS-TO-HEZBOLLAH-/Default.aspx</ref><ref>http://www.hudson-ny.org/1989/iran-charm-offensive-in-africa-part-ii</ref><ref>"Hezbollah buying Iranian arms from Gambia, paper reports," NOW Lebanon, 28 Feb 2011
http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=245299</ref> This despite a [[BBC]] report in 2010 of Gambia cutting ties with the Islamic Republic.<ref>"Gambia cuts ties with Iran and orders diplomats to go." [[BBC]], November 23, 2010 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-11819143</ref>

====Senegal====
Senegal has long been a favorite 'fund0raising' hub for the terrorist organization Hezbollah.<ref>http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/ENGLISH/IRAN/PD=
F/JULY_03.PDF</ref><ref>http://www.justice.gov.il/NR/rdonlyres/E7CC31EF-A384-46A9-8E92-6B3416FA6299/0/feb05.htm</ref> Worth mentioning that Senegal accused Iran in Feb. 2011 for supplying weapons to separatist rebels that killed its soldiers.<ref>http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE71M01A20110223</ref>

====Afghanistan====
Hezbollah Link in the war in Afghanistan have been found in 2007, as NATO Finds Copy of Hizbullah's Explosives in Afghanistan. <ref>http://web.archive.org/web/20080126073425/http://yalibnan.com/site/archives/2007/07/copy_of_hezboll.php [http://www.lebanonews.net/mainra.asp?raid=2268] [http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=116544]</ref> And in 2011 the Wall Street Journal wrote: "Iran Funnels New Weapons to Iraq and Afghanistan."<ref>"Iran Funnels New Weapons to Iraq and Afghanistan," [[WSJ]]
Solomon, Jay, July 2, 2011 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303763404576420080640167182.html</ref>

====Sudan====
The Hezbollah, reportedly, is very supportive of Al-Bashir's genocide in the [[Sudan]].
<ref>http://www.istockanalyst.com/article/viewiStockNews+articleid_2432545&title=Lebanese_Hezbollah_Holds.html</ref> From a March 2009 report: "Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah leaders offer support for Sudan's chief."<ref>http://lubbockonline.com/stories/030709/wor_406280388.shtml</ref>

====Egypt====
In 2009, the [[BBC]] reported that [[Egypt]] was 'hunting Hezbollah suspects'<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7996665.stm</ref>, prosecutor accused Hezbollah of plotting attacks in Egypt, of sending operatives to [[Egypt]] to carry out attacks in the country and to smuggle weapons.<ref>http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/middleeast/news/article_1469836.php/Prosecutor_accuses_Hezbollah_of_plotting_attacks_in_Egypt__Roundup</ref>
<ref>http://uk.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUKL8213444</ref>
<ref>http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-04-08-voa48.cfm</ref>
On Apr 2010 An Egyptian court convicted 26 men of belonging to a Hezbollah cell.
<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/29/world/middleeast/29cairo.html</ref>
The Hezbollah Plot exposed Egypt's shared interests with Israel.<ref>http://www.forward.com/articles/104793/</ref>
Analysts said that the Egypt-Hezbollah standoff dents Egypt-Iran relations.<ref>http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-04/13/content_11180887.htm</ref>

====Azerbaijan====
Hezbollah plotted embassy attack' in Azerbaijan - was revealed in 2009. A trial under way in Azerbaijan of two Hezbollah members and four Azeris, where prosecutors drew a link between Iranian-backed Hezbollah terror missions.
<ref>http://www.ijn.com/ijn-news/international/1017-iran-hezbollah-plotted-embassy-attack-in-azerbaijan</ref><ref>http://jta.org/news/article/2009/05/31/1005514/hezbollah-plot-to-bomb-azerbaijan-embassy-foiled</ref>

====Syria====
In March, 2011, at the height of the so-called "Arab spring," Hizbullah and Iran were helping [[Bashar al-Assad]] kill protesters.<ref>INN, March 2011, http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/143155</ref>In May 2011, a report came out: "Hezbollah forces helping Syria in crackdown on protesters." A Lebanese parliament member said "Syrian forces have breached the border with Lebanon; notes fear that Syrian forces will kidnap refugees who fled the government crackdown in Syria."<ref>Report: Hezbollah forces helping Syria in crackdown on protesters," Haaretz, May 29, 2011 http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/report-hezbollah-forces-helping-syria-in-crackdown-on-protesters-1.36471</ref> In August 2011, Syria's youth coalition accused Hezbollah of role in Assad's brutal crackdown.<ref>"Syria's youth coalition accuses Hezbollah of role in Assad's brutal crackdown." AlArabiya, August 26, 2011
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/08/26/164222.html</ref> Indeed, The [[AP]] reported (Oct 24, 2011) "Since the uprising.. Syrians have unleashed their anger at Hezbollah over its blunt support for the regime. Some protesters have set fire to the yellow flag of Hezbollah and pictures of Nasrallah."<ref>"Hezbollah leader: Syria largely out of 'danger zone' " Star Tribune,
24 Oct 2011 http://www.startribune.com/world/132481743.html</ref><ref>"Hezbollah: Syria largely out of 'danger zone' ", CBS News, 24 Oct 2011
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501713_162-20124862.html</ref>

In November 2011, activists charged Hezbollah in abduction of Syrian activists in [[Lebanon]].<ref>"Activist says Hezbollah involved in abduction of Syrian opposition in Lebanon," The Daily Star, November 08, 2011, http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Politics/2011/Nov-08/153373-activist-says-hezbollah-involved-in-abduction-of-syrian-opposition-in-lebanon.ashx</ref> The persecution caused fear for those seeking exile in Lebanon.<ref>"Syrian Exiles Find Fear Rather Than Refuge in Lebanon‎," Jakarta Globe, November 15, 2011
http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/international/syrian-exiles-find-fear-rather-than-refuge-in-lebanon/478562</ref>

In March 2014, Hezbollah and Syrian Army drove out Islamist Syrian rebels from the ancient Christian town of Ma'aloula<ref>http://www.mintpressnews.com/christians-in-northern-lebanon-and-hezbollah-unite-over-shared-isis-threat/196663/</ref>

====Bahrain====
In June 1996, the Bahraini government said it has uncovered a coup plot by an Iranian-backed group, Hezbollah-Bahrain.<ref>BBC News - Timeline: Bahrain, Jun 4, 2011 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/817505.stm</ref>

In April 2011, Bahrain government accused Hezbollah of aiding opposition groups.<ref>''Bahrain government accuses Hezbollah of aiding opposition groups,'' [[CNN]], Apr 25, 2011 http://articles.cnn.com/2011-04-25/world/bahrain.hezbollah_1_wefaq-hezbollah-camps-hassan-nasrallah?_s=PM:WORLD</ref> Indeed, ''Tehran has been seeking to destabilize and annex Bahrain for decades.'' It ''established a military wing for Hezbollah in Bahrain,'' and in 2011, its thugs incited "protests" in that country.<ref>"Iran's Bahraini Ambitions‎," [[Wall Street Journal]], Mitchell A. Belfer, Oct 5, 2011
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204612504576608852457881450.html</ref>

In November 2011, Bahrain linked terror suspects to Iran.<ref>"Bahrain terrorist suspects had links with Iran," ABC Online, November 14, 2011
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-11-14/bahrain-terrorist-suspects-had-links-with-iran/3663812</ref><ref>"Bahrain says terror suspects linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guard,"‎ The Guardian, 14 November 14, 2011 http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/14/bahrain-terror-iran-revolutionary-guard?newsfeed=true</ref> Al Arabiya TV reported that Bahraini MP said "Hezbollah, Iran behind the terrorist cell" which planned to murder prominent Gulf figures.<ref>"Bahraini MP: Hezbollah, Iran behind the terrorist cell," November 14, 2011
http://www.yalibnan.com/2011/11/14/bahraini-mp-hezbollah-iran-behind-the-terrorist-cell/</ref>

====Europe====

=====Hijacking TWA flight=====
Among the highlighted terror crimes of the Hezbollah is the: [[TWA]] Hijacking, June 14, 1985: A Trans-World Airlines flight '847' was hijacked en route to [[Rome]] from [[Athens]] by two Lebanese Hizballah terrorists, and forced to fly to Beirut. The eight crew members and 145 passengers were held for seventeen days, during which one American hostage, a [[U.S.]] Navy sailor, was murdered. After being flown twice to [[Algiers]], the aircraft was returned to [[Beirut]] after Israel released 435 Lebanese and [[Palestinian]] prisoners.
<ref>http://www.fas.org/irp/threat/terror_chron.html</ref><ref>http://www.fbi.gov/page2/jan06/longarm010506.htm</ref><ref>http://army.mil/terrorism/1989-1980/index.html</ref><ref>http://terrorism.grady.uga.edu/history/analysistwa.html</ref> <ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/30/newsid_2527000/2527337.stm</ref><ref>http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/10/20011010-1.html</ref>

The plane was on a scheduled flight from Cairo to Athens. Hijackers --the two terrorists were brandishing grenades and pistols-- forced it to Beirut and twice went to Algiers before returning to Beirut releasing most of the (non-American) 152 passengers along the way, and murdering U.S. Navy diver Robert Stethem, one of the passengers—beating him, torturing, shooting him in the temple and dumping his body on the tarmac of Beirut International Airport (June 15).

On June 30, Hezbollah released 39 American passengers they held captive for 17 days.

German authorities arrested [[Mohammed Ali Hammadi]] and convicted him of Stethem’s murder in 1987. Hammadi was paroled in 2005 and returned to Beirut, where he is believed to be living today (2009). <ref>http://middleeast.about.com/b/2009/07/01/robert-stethems-murder-on-twa-flight-847.htm</ref><ref>http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1994-07-17/news/1994198059_1_stethem-lebanon-officer-2nd-class</ref>
<ref>http://michellemalkin.com/2008/02/13/justice-for-robert-dean-stethem-the-marines-in-beirut-and-other-american-victims-of-hezbollah/</ref>

From a letter, Robert's brother Kenneth has sent to president George W. Bush in 2006 as Robert's murderer was released by the German government (and fled to Lebanon) in an apparent exchange for a [[German]] hostage in [[Iraq]]:<blockquote>While Robert was being dragged to the door, he knew that all he had to do in order to live was to cry into that transmitter, but he wouldn't do it. He would not give in to the demands of the terrorists. He would not allow the honor and dignity of America to be intimidated by the fear and pain that Hammadi and terrorists everywhere represent. Robert sacrificed his life in order to protect our liberty and defend our way of life.<ref>http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/01/09/opinion/main1190219.shtml </ref></blockquote>

=====Dowining of a French airline=====
The [[Los Angeles Times]] wrote in November 1, 1989 that a Palestinian group allied with Hezbollah is linked to a plane crash.<blockquote>
Specialists have linked a terrorist bomb that destroyed a French airliner last month (Oct, 1989) in Africa to a Palestinian group allied with the pro-Iranian Hezbollah, the newspaper Figaro said... Working with fragments of a suitcase found in the wreckage of the airliner, specialists in Paris' central police laboratory found similarities to a terrorist bomb that exploded at a Paris department store almost five years ago. The February 1985 attack at the department store resulted in the arrest of Habib Maammar, a Tunisian member of a group directed by the Palestinian bomb maker Abu Ibrahim.
<ref>http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1989-11-01/news/8911013269_1_hezbollah-bomb-police-in-paris</ref></blockquote>

=====Terror attack on French department stores=====
Paris' Boulevard Haussmann was targeted in 1985 and 1986 during attacks on [[Paris]] department stores, many of them claimed by the Lebanese Hezbollah militants, which left 13 dead and 303 injured.
Terrorists from Hezbollah, set off bombs in both Printemps and Galeries Lafayette in December 1985, injuring 43 people.<ref>http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article5351735.ece</ref>
<ref>http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hVze0Fn4iyxmce-rEhgNsHQOLRiw</ref>

Workers at [[Printemps]] in December 1985 when Hezbollah bombs exploded on the ground floor there and in the Galeries Lafayette department store, recalled the attack which led to a bomb scare in Dec. 2008, when explosives were found there.
<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/17/world/europe/17paris.html</ref> <ref>http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601100&sid=aB8Ct9mWIdhw&refer=germany</ref>

=====Network=====
Although Europe has recently been exempt from Hezbollah attacks, numerous intelligence experts and officials assert that the group's operatives maintain cells across the continent. German authorities, in particular, have expressed concern about the presence of several hundred Hezbollah members in their country.

Reports of an increase in Hezbollah recruiting have emerged in eastern European countries, specifically Slovakia, Bosnia and Russia . And over the past few years, Hezbollah has sent operatives with European identification papers to Israel in order to collect intelligence for future attacks. Efforts by European authorities to curtail Hezbollah's influence have included France 's 2004 ban of Hezbollah's television station and chief propaganda machine, Al- Manar, from that nation's satellite television providers. Spain and the United States have made similar moves.
<ref name=emerson>http://www.steveemerson.com/4281/blood-money-hezbollahs-revenue-stream-flows </ref>

=====Attempts of attacks between 1988-1996=====
Other attacks researchers have attributed to Hezbollah include an unsuccessful attempt to carry out attacks in Cyprus in 1988; a plot, foiled by Spanish police, to carry out attacks against Jewish targets in Europe in 1989; an unsuccessful attempt to detonate a car bomb outside a Jewish community building in Romania in 1992; and a planned 1996 attack, also foiled by police, on an Israeli institution in Paris.
<ref>http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=40451</ref>

=====Attempts of 'massive-attacks' in 2009=====
In 2009, there was a report of a "Massive Hezbollah Terror Attack Against Israeli Target In Europe," that has been thwarted. <ref>http://www.nationalterroralert.com/updates/2009/01/28/report-massive-hezbollah-terror-attack-against-israeli-target-in-europe-thwarted/</ref>

====Latin America====
From a US statement in 1995 titled "Latin American Terrorism backed by Iran" <blockquote>"We believe that Hizballah activities, which include narcotics and smuggling as well as terrorism, are supported in the tri-border area of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. The organization is known to have cells in Colombia and Venezuela as well. Hizballah cells are concealed amidst the large Shia' Muslim population of Lebanese origin which has settled in the tri-border area."
<ref>http://www.globalsecurity.org/security/library/congress/1995_h/h950928w.htm</ref></blockquote>

=====Venezuela=====
US designated two Hezbollah operatives in [[Venezuela]] as terrorists- Hezbollah has used the tri-border region between Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay to recruit, train, raise and launder money, and plot attacks.
<ref>http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/hp1036.htm</ref>

[[Venezuela]]'s [[Hugo Chavez]] (Called a dictator <ref>http://www.securityaffairs.org/issues/2006/11/fleischman.php</ref>
<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/americas/3341771.stm</ref><ref>http://www.davidbruceallen.com/strategyoped/2007/05/hugo_chavezs_fi.html</ref> & his regime a dictatorship <ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/04/AR2006080401768.html</ref>, and has close ties with the Mullahcracy theocracy dictatorship of the Islamic Republic of [[Iran]] <ref>http://www.doublex.com/blog/xxfactor/adios-democracy</ref> <ref>http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2010/03/08/sean-penn-wants-reporters-jailed-calling-chavez-dictator/</ref>) has publicly supported a Hezbollah candidate for the Lebanese government, he was a supporter of Hezbollah during the 2006 war in Lebanon; afterward, the group placed signs in Lebanon proclaiming "Gracias, Chavez!" He openly invited Hezbollah members to live in Venezuela. Venezuela's embassies in the Middle East have been used to launder Hezbollah's dirty money, per investigation by the U.S. Treasury Dept
In January 2010, Israeli intelligence released information that Chavez shipped heavy arms to Hezbollah the year before; the ship originated in Venezuela, stopped in Iran and docked in Lebanon.
<ref>http://www.israeltoday.co.il/default.aspx?tabid=178&nid=20408</ref>

Chavez has a close relationship with Iran's President Ahmedinejad. The two leaders regularly visit each other. In 2007, they instituted weekly flights between Tehran and Caracas. Interestingly, the aircraft stops one place - Damascus, Syria. Journalists and others have tried to book a seat on the aircraft and have been denied. The passenger and cargo manifests are kept secret.

In an article (2009) in Forbes Magazine it was discussed how an attack by Israel against Gaza could be fought asymmetrically by Hezbollah - with help from Venezuela and Chavez.
<ref>http://www.forbes.com/2009/01/21/venezuela-iran-terror-oped-cx_mr_des_0121rowanschoen.html</ref>

(Worth mentioning [asides from Chavez's "personal" war with "imperialist" US] that Venezuela, has a large Lebanese-Arab community <ref>http://www.dawn.com/2005/05/14/int14.htm</ref>, many of them supported, financed Chavez's presidency.
There's also a significant concentration of this community in the area bordering with Colombia (Macau).
Jews have been attacked<ref>http://www.laht.com/article.asp?CategoryId=10717&

Syria

2015-08-31T06:04:23Z

Scatach: /* People */

{{Country
|name =''الجمهورية العربية السورية Al-Jumhūriyyah al-ʿArabiyyah as-Sūriyyah''
|map =Syria rel90.jpg
|map2 =S001.png
|flag =Flag of Syria.png
|arms =Arms of Syria.png
|capital =Damascus
|capital-raw =
|government =Presidential Republic (single party state)
|government-raw =
|language =Arabic
|king =
|queen =
|monarch-raw =
|president =Bashar al-Assad
|president-raw =
|chancellor =
|chancellor-raw =
|pm =Wael Nader Al-Halqi
|pm-raw =
|area =71,479 sq mi
|pop =19,405,000
|pop-basis =2007
|gdp =$71.3 billion
|gdp-year =2005
|gdp-pc =$5,348
|currency =Syrian pound
|idd =
|tld =
}}
The '''Syrian Arab Republic''' is a Middle Eastern country, bordered by [[Israel]], [[Lebanon]], [[Jordan]], [[Iraq]], and [[Turkey]].

The capital is [[Damascus]]. Other important cities include [[Aleppo]] and [[Hama]]. Most settlement is near the [[Mediterranean]] coast, with the interior consisting largely of [[steppe]].

Syria is currently a [[Ba'athist]] [[dictatorship]]. The government was accused by many of playing a role in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister [[Rafik Hariri]] in 2005. Syria is also responsible for allowing foreign terrorist fighters to enter Iraq through their border and attack American troops.{{fact}}

It is also a destination for victims of [[human trafficking]].<ref>[https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/sy.html CIA World Fact Book]</ref>

Damascus is an important city for Christians, as it is the city to which the Apostle [[Paul]] was travelling upon his conversion. However, it has been mostly Muslim for centuries, and was a part of the [[Ottoman Empire]]. When the Ottoman Empire dissolved after [[World War I]], [[France]] forcibly took over Syria, then left in 1946, granting it its independence.

==People==
[[File:Syrian 1961.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Syrians in 1961.]]
Ethnic Syrians are of Semitic stock. Syria's population is 90% Muslim--74% Sunni, and 16% other Muslim groups, including the Alawi, Shi'a, and Druze--and 10% Christian. There also is a tiny Syrian Jewish community.

Arabic is the official, and most widely spoken, language. Arabs, including some 500,000 Palestinian and up to 1.3 million Iraqi refugees, make up 90% of the population. Many educated Syrians also speak English or French, but English is the more widely understood. The Kurds, many of whom speak the banned Kurdish language, make up 9% of the population and live mostly in the northeast corner of Syria, though sizable Kurdish communities live in most major Syrian cities as well. Armenian and Turkic are spoken among the small Armenian and Turkoman populations. [[Syriac]], the modern form of Aramaic, is still spoken in scattered parts of the country and was the lingua franca in Syria before the Arab conquest.

Most people live in the Euphrates River valley and along the coastal plain, a fertile strip between the coastal mountains and the desert. Overall population density is about 140 per sq. mi. Education is free and compulsory from ages 6 to 11. Schooling consists of 6 years of primary education followed by a 3-year general or vocational training period and a 3-year academic or vocational program. The second 3-year period of academic training is required for university admission. Total enrollment at post-secondary schools is over 150,000. The literacy rate of Syrians aged 15 and older is 88% for males and 74%for females.

Ancient Syria's cultural and artistic achievements and contributions are many. Archaeologists have discovered extensive writings and evidence of a brilliant culture rivaling those of Mesopotamia and Egypt in and around the ancient city of Ebla. Later Syrian scholars and artists contributed to Hellenistic and Roman thought and culture. Zeno of Sidon founded the Epicurean school; Cicero was a pupil of Antiochus of Ascalon at Athens; and the writings of Posidonius of Apamea influenced Livy and Plutarch. Syrians have contributed to Arabic literature and music and have a proud tradition of oral and written poetry. Although declining, the world-famous handicraft industry still employs thousands.
*Population (2005 est.)*: 18.6 million.
*Growth rate (2005 est.): 2.45%.
*Major ethnic groups: Arabs (90%), Kurds (9%), Armenians, Circassians, Turkomans.
*Religions: Sunni Muslims (74%), Alawis (12%), Christians (10%), Druze (3%), and small numbers of other Muslim sects, Jews, and Yazidis.
*Languages: Arabic (official), English (widely understood in major cities only), Kurdish, Armenian, Aramaic, Circassian.
*Education (2005 est.): Years compulsory--primary, 6 yrs. Attendance--97.9%. Literacy--92.5%; 87.9% male, 73.9% female.
*Health (2004): Infant mortality rate--17.1/1,000. Life expectancy--68.47 yrs. male, 71.02 yrs. female.
*Work force (6.1 million, 2004 est.): Services (including government); agriculture; industry and commerce.

==Government==
[[File:President Syria Bashar al Assad.jpg|thumb|250px|President Bashar al-Assad.]]
The Syrian constitution vests the Arab Ba'ath Socialist Party with leadership functions in the state and society and provides broad powers to the president. The president, approved by referendum for a 7-year term, is also Secretary General of the Ba'ath Party and leader of the National Progressive Front, which is a coalition of 10 political parties authorized by the regime. The president has the right to appoint ministers, to declare war and states of emergency, to issue laws (which, except in the case of emergency, require ratification by the People's Council), to declare amnesty, to amend the constitution, and to appoint civil servants and military personnel. The Emergency Law, which effectively suspends most constitutional protections for Syrians, has been in effect since 1963.

The National Progressive Front also acts as a forum in which economic policies are debated and the country's political orientation is determined. However, because of Ba'ath Party dominance, the National Progressive Front has traditionally exercised little independent power.

The Syrian constitution of 1973 requires that the president be Muslim but does not make Islam the state religion. Islamic jurisprudence, however, is required to be a main source of legislation. The judicial system in Syria is an amalgam of Ottoman, French, and Islamic laws, with three levels of courts: courts of first instance, courts of appeals, and the constitutional court, the highest tribunal. In addition, religious courts handle questions of personal and family law.

The Ba'ath Party emphasizes socialism and secular Arabism. Although Ba'ath Party doctrine seeks to build pan-Arab rather than ethnic identity, ethnic, religious, and regional allegiances remain important in Syria.

Members of President Asad's own minority sect, the Alawis, hold most of the important military and security positions, while Sunnis (in 2006) controlled ten of 14 positions on the powerful Ba'ath Party Regional Command. In recent years there has been a gradual decline in the party's preeminence. The party also is heavily influenced by the security services and the military, the latter of which consumes a large share of Syria's economic resources.

Syria is divided administratively into 14 provinces, one of which is Damascus. A governor for each province is appointed by the President. The governor is assisted by an elected provincial council.

===Principal Government Officials===
*President--Bashar Al-Asad
*Vice President--Farouk al-Shar'a
*Vice President--Najah al-Attar
*Prime Minister--Wael Nader Al-Halqi
*Minister of Foreign Affairs--Walid al-Mouallem
*Ambassador to the United Nations--Ambassador Dr. Bashar al-Ja'fari

===Political Conditions===
Officially, Syria is a republic. In reality, however, it is an authoritarian regime that exhibits only the forms of a democratic system. Although citizens ostensibly vote for the President and members of Parliament, they do not have the right to change their government. The late President [[Hafiz Al-Assad]] was confirmed by unopposed referenda five times. His son, Bashar Al-Asad, also was confirmed by an unopposed referendum in July 2000. The President and his senior aides, particularly those in the military and security services, ultimately make most basic decisions in political and economic life, with a very limited degree of public accountability. Political opposition to the President is not tolerated. Syria has been under a state of emergency since 1963. Syrian governments have justified martial law by the state of war, which continues to exist with Israel and by continuing threats posed by terrorist groups.
[[File:Umayyad Mosque Syria.jpg|thumb|340px|Umayyad Mosque.]]
The Asad regime (little has changed since Bashar Al-Asad succeeded his father) has held power longer than any other Syrian government since independence; its survival is due partly to a strong desire for stability and the regime's success in giving groups such as religious minorities and peasant farmers a stake in society. The expansion of the government bureaucracy has also created a large class loyal to the regime. The President's continuing strength is due also to the army's continued loyalty and the effectiveness of Syria's large internal security apparatus. The leadership of both is comprised largely of members of Asad's own Alawi sect. The several main branches of the security services operate independently of each other and outside of the legal system. Each continues to be responsible for human rights violations.

All three branches of government are guided by the views of the Ba'ath Party, whose primacy in state institutions is assured by the constitution. The Ba'ath platform is proclaimed succinctly in the party's slogan: "Unity, freedom, and socialism." The party has traditionally been considered both socialist, advocating state ownership of the means of industrial production and the redistribution of agricultural land, and revolutionary, dedicated to carrying a socialist revolution to every part of the Arab world. Founded by Michel 'Aflaq, a Syrian Christian and Salah al-Din Al-Bitar, a Syrian Sunni, the Ba'ath Party embraces secularism and has attracted supporters of all faiths in many Arab countries, especially Iraq, Jordan, and Lebanon. Since August 1990, however, the party has tended to de-emphasize socialism and to stress both pan-Arab unity and the need for gradual reform of the Syrian economy.

Nine smaller political parties are permitted to exist and, along with the Ba'ath Party, make up the National Progressive Front (NPF), a grouping of parties that represents the sole framework of legal political party participation for citizens. While created ostensibly to give the appearance of a multi-party system, the NPF is dominated by the Ba'ath Party and does not change the essentially one-party character of the political system. Non-Ba'ath parties included in the NPF represent small political groupings of a few hundred members each and conform strictly to Ba'ath Party and government policies. There were reports in 2005, in the wake of the June Ba'ath Party Congress, that the government was considering legislation to permit the formation of new political parties and the legalization of parties previously banned. These changes have not taken place. In addition, some 15 small independent parties outside the NPF operate without government sanction.
[[File:Syrian protesters 2011.jpg|thumb|270px|left|Syrian protesters in front of the US Embassy in Damascus, May 2011.]]
The Ba'ath Party dominates the parliament, which is known as the People's Council. With members elected every 4 years, the Council has no independent authority. The executive branch retains ultimate control over the legislative process, although parliamentarians may criticize policies and modify draft laws; according to the constitution and its bylaws, a group of 10 parliamentarians can propose legislation. During 2001, two independent members of parliament, Ma'mun al-Humsy and Riad Seif, who had advocated political reforms, were stripped of their parliamentary immunity and tried and convicted of charges of "attempting to illegally change the constitution." Seif was released from prison in early 2006, but remains under strict surveillance by the security services. The government has allowed independent non-NPF candidates to run for a limited allotment of seats in the 250-member People's Council. Following the April 22-23, 2007 parliamentary elections, the NPF strengthened its hold on parliament, with the number of non-NPF deputies shrinking from 83 to 80, ensuring a permanent absolute majority for the Ba'ath Party-dominated NPF.

There was a surge of interest in political reform after Bashar al-Asad assumed power in 2000. Human rights activists and other civil society advocates, as well as some parliamentarians, became more outspoken during a period referred to as "Damascus Spring" (July 2000-February 2001). Asad also made a series of appointments of reform-minded advisors to formal and less formal positions, and included a number of similarly oriented individuals in his cabinet. The 2001 arrest and long-term detention of the two reformist parliamentarians and the apparent marginalizing of some of the reformist advisors in the past five years, indicate that the pace of any political reform in Syria is likely to be much slower than the short-lived Damascus Spring promised. A crackdown on civil society in 2005, in the wake of Syria's withdrawal from Lebanon, and again in the late winter and spring of 2006, reinforced the perception that any steps toward political form were likely to be halting and piecemeal at best.

===National Security===
[[File:Syrian army officer.JPEG|right|220px]]
President Bashar Al-Asad is commander in chief of the Syrian armed forces, comprised of some 400,000 troops upon mobilization. The military is a conscripted force; males serve 24 months in the military upon reaching the age of 18. Some 17,000 Syrian soldiers formerly deployed in Lebanon have been withdrawn to Syria in response to UNSCR 1559, which was passed in the fall of 2004. Demands that Syria comply with 1559 intensified after the February 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri.

Syria's military remains one of the largest in the region, although the breakup of the Soviet Union--long the principal source of training, material, and credit for the Syrian forces--slowed Syria's ability to acquire modern military equipment. Syria received significant financial aid from Gulf Arab states in the 1990s as a result of its participation in the first [[Gulf War]], with a sizable portion of these funds earmarked for military spending. Besides sustaining its conventional forces, Syria seeks to develop its weapons of mass destruction (WMD) capability.

===Foreign Relations===
Ensuring national security, increasing influence among its Arab neighbors, and achieving a comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace settlement, which includes the return of the Golan Heights, are the primary goals of President Asad's foreign policy.

====Relations with Other Arab Countries====
[[File:Saladins grave Damaskus.jpg|thumb|left|Saladin's grave, Damascus.]]
Syria reestablished full diplomatic relations with Egypt in 1989. In the 1990-91 Gulf War, Syria joined other Arab states in the U.S.-led multinational coalition against Iraq. In 1998, Syria began a slow rapprochement with Iraq, driven primarily by economic needs. Syria continues to play an active pan-Arab role, although in the wake of the Hariri assassination, Syria became more isolated diplomatically, both in the region and beyond.

Though it voted in favor of UNSCR 1441 in 2002, Syria was against coalition military action in Iraq in 2003. However, the Syrian Government accepted UNSCR 1483 (after being absent for the actual vote), which lifted sanctions on Iraq and established a framework to assist the Iraqi people in determining their political future and rebuilding their economy. Syria also voted for UNSCR 1511, which called for greater international involvement in Iraq and addressed the transfer of sovereignty from the U.S.-led coalition. Since the transfer of sovereignty in Iraq on June 28, 2004, Syria extended qualified support to the Iraqi Government and pledged to cooperate in the areas of border security, repatriation of Iraqi assets, and eventual restoration of formal diplomatic relations. While Syria has taken some steps to tighten controls along the Syria-Iraq border, Syria remains one of the primary transit points for foreign fighters entering Iraq. Consequently, relations between Syria and the Iraqi Government remained strained. However, following a series of visits between high-level officials from both governments--including Foreign Minister Mu'allim's November 2006 visit to Baghdad and Iraqi President Talabani's subsequent visit to Damascus--formal diplomatic relations were finally established in December 2006. That same month, the Ministers of Interior from both countries signed a Memorandum of Security Understanding aimed at improving border security and combating terrorism and crime. Iraq continues to call for more action on the part of Syria to control its border and to prevent Iraqi and Arab elements residing in--or transiting--Syria from contributing financially, politically, or militarily to the insurgency in Iraq.

====Involvement in Lebanon====
Syria has played an important role in Lebanon by virtue of its history, size, power, and economy. Lebanon was part of post-Ottoman Syria until 1926. The presence of Syrian troops in Lebanon dated to 1976, when President Hafiz al-Asad intervened in the Lebanese civil war on behalf of Maronite Christians. Following the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, Syrian and Israeli forces clashed in eastern Lebanon. However, Syrian opposition blocked implementation of the May 17, 1983, Lebanese-Israeli accord on the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon.
[[File:Syria Lebanon relations.jpg|left|thumb|Lebanon Prime Minister Saad Hariri and President Bashar Al-Assad, 2009.]]
In 1989, Syria endorsed the Charter of National Reconciliation, or "Taif Accord," a comprehensive plan for ending the Lebanese conflict negotiated under the auspices of Saudi Arabia, Algeria, and Morocco. In May 1991, Lebanon and Syria signed the treaty of brotherhood, cooperation, and coordination called for in the Taif Accord.

According to the U.S. interpretation of the Taif Accord, Syria and Lebanon were to have decided on the redeployment of Syrian forces from Beirut and other coastal areas of Lebanon by September 1992. Israeli occupation of Lebanon until May 2000, the breakdown of peace negotiations between Syria and Israel that same year, and intensifying Arab/Israeli tensions since the start of the second Palestinian uprising in September 2000 helped delay full implementation of the Taif Accords. The United Nations declared that Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon fulfilled the requirements of UN Security Council Resolution 425. However, Syria and Lebanon claimed that UNSCR 425 had not been fully implemented because Israel did not withdraw from an area of the Golan Heights called Sheba Farms, which had been occupied by Israel in 1967, and which Syria now claimed was part of Lebanon. The United Nations does not recognize this claim. However, Lebanese resistance groups such as Hezbollah use it to justify attacks against Israeli forces in that region. The danger of Hezbollah's tactics was highlighted when Hezbollah's attacks on and hostage-taking of Israeli soldiers on July 12, 2006 sparked a 34-day conflict in Lebanon. After the conflict, the passing of UNSCR 1701 authorized the enhancement of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). Before the conflict, UNIFIL authorized a presence of 2,000 troops in southern Lebanon; post-conflict, this ceiling is to be raised to 15,000. As of September 2006, 5,000 troops had deployed to southern Lebanon. UNIFIL is tasked with ensuring peace and security along the frontier and overseeing the eventual return of effective Lebanese government and military authority throughout the border region.

Until its withdrawal in April 2005, Syria maintained approximately 17,000 troops in Lebanon. A September 2004 vote by Lebanon's Chamber of Deputies to amend the constitution to extend Lebanese President Lahoud's term in office by three years amplified the question of Lebanese sovereignty and the continuing Syrian presence. The vote was clearly taken under Syrian pressure, exercised in part through Syria's military intelligence service, whose chief in Lebanon had acted as a virtual proconsul for many years. The UN Security Council expressed its concern over the situation by passing Resolution 1559, which called for the withdrawal of all remaining foreign forces from Lebanon, disbanding and disarmament of all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias, the deployment of the Lebanese Armed Forces throughout the country, and a free and fair electoral process in the presidential election.

Former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri and 19 others were assassinated in Beirut by a car bomb on February 14, 2005. The assassination spurred massive protests in Beirut and international pressure that led to the withdrawal of the remaining Syrian military troops from Lebanon on April 26, 2005. Rafiq Hariri's assassination was just one of a number of attacks that continue to target high-profile Lebanese critics of Syria. The UN International Independent Investigative Commission (UNIIIC) headed by Serge Brammertz is investigating Hariri's assassination and is expected to report its findings to the Security Council by June 2007.

The United States supports a sovereign, independent Lebanon, free of all foreign forces, and believes that the best interests of both Lebanon and Syria are served by a positive and constructive relationship based upon principles of mutual respect and non-intervention between two neighboring sovereign and independent states. The United States calls for Syrian non-interference in Lebanon, consistent with UNSCR 1559 and 1701.

====Relations with Israel====
[[File:Ruined Syrian Fortifications on Golan Heights from Six-Day War.jpg|thumb|280px|left|Ruined Syrian Fortifications on Golan Heights from Six-Day War.]]
Syria was an active belligerent in the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, which resulted in Israel's occupation of the Golan Heights and the city of Quneitra. Following the October 1973 Arab-Israeli War, which left Israel in occupation of additional Syrian territory, Syria accepted UN Security Council Resolution 338, which signaled an implicit acceptance of Resolution 242. Resolution 242, which became the basis for the peace process negotiations begun in Madrid in 1981, calls for a just and lasting Middle East peace to include withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from territories occupied in 1967; termination of the state of belligerency; and acknowledgment of the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and political independence of all regional states and of their right to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries.

As a result of the mediation efforts of then U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, Syria and Israel concluded a disengagement agreement in May 1974, enabling Syria to recover territory lost in the October war and part of the Golan Heights occupied by Israel since 1967, including Quneitra. The two sides have effectively implemented the agreement, which is monitored by UN forces.
[[File:The Golan, Syria.jpg|thumb|The Golan.]]
In December 1981, the Israeli Knesset voted to extend Israeli law to the part of the Golan Heights over which Israel retained control. The UN Security Council subsequently passed a resolution calling on Israel to rescind this measure. Syria participated in the Middle East Peace Conference in Madrid in October 1991. Negotiations were conducted intermittently through the 1990s, and came very close to succeeding. However, the parties were unable to come to an agreement over Syria's nonnegotiable demand that Israel withdraw to the positions it held on June 4, 1967. The peace process collapsed following the outbreak of the second Palestinian (Intifada) uprising in September 2000, though Syria continues to call for a comprehensive settlement based on UN Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338, and the land-for-peace formula adopted at the 1991 Madrid conference.

Tensions between Israel and Syria increased as the second Intifada dragged on, primarily as a result of Syria's unwillingness to stop giving sanctuary to Palestinian terrorist groups conducting operations against Israel. In October 2003, following a suicide bombing carried out by a member of Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Haifa that killed 20 Israeli citizens, Israeli Defense Forces attacked a suspected Palestinian terrorist training camp 15 kilometers north of Damascus. This was the first such Israeli attack deep inside Syrian territory since the 1973 war. During the summer of 2006 tensions again heightened due to Israeli fighter jets buzzing President Asad's summer castle in response to Syria's support for the Palestinian group Hamas, Syria's support of Hezbollah during the July-August 2006 conflict in Lebanon, and the possible rearming of Hezbollah in potential violation of UN Resolution 1701. Rumors of “back-channel” negotiations in 2006-2007 between the Israeli and Syrian Governments were discounted by both Israel and Syria, with spokespersons for both countries indicating that any such talks were not officially sanctioned.

====Membership in International Organizations====
[[File:Dance performance Armenian folklore Opera House of Damascus Syria.jpg|thumb|300px|Dance performance featuring works from Armenian and world folklore at the Opera House of Dar Al-Assad for Culture and Arts in Damascus.]]
Syria is a member of the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa, Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, Arab League, Arab Monetary Fund, Council of Arab Economic Unity, Customs Cooperation Council, Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, Food and Agricultural Organization, Group of 24, Group of 77, International Atomic Energy Agency, International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, International Civil Aviation Organization, International Chamber of Commerce, International Development Association, Islamic Development Bank, International Fund for Agricultural Development, International Finance Corporation, International Labor Organization, International Monetary Fund, International Maritime Organization, INTERPOL, International Olympic Committee, International Organization for Standardization, International Telecommunication Union, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Non-Aligned Movement, Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries, Organization of the Islamic Conference, United Nations, UN Conference on Trade and Development, UN Industrial Development Organization, UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, Universal Postal Union, World Federation of Trade Unions, World Health Organization, World Meteorological Organization, and World Tourism Organization.

Syria's 2-year term as a nonpermanent member of the UN Security Council ended in December 2003.

====Relations with the United States====
U.S.-Syrian relations, severed in 1967, were resumed in June 1974, following the achievement of the Syrian-Israeli disengagement agreement. In 1990-91, Syria cooperated with the United States as a member of the multinational coalition of forces in the Gulf War. The U.S. and Syria also consulted closely on the Taif Accord, ending the civil war in Lebanon. In 1991, President Asad made a historic decision to accept then President Bush's invitation to attend a Middle East peace conference and to engage in subsequent bilateral negotiations with Israel. Syria's efforts to secure the release of Western hostages held in Lebanon and its lifting of restrictions on travel by Syrian Jews helped to further improve relations between Syria and the United States. There were several presidential summits; the last one occurred when then-President Clinton met the late President Hafiz al-Asad in Geneva in March 2000. In the aftermath of September 11th the Syrian Government began limited cooperation with U.S. in the war against terror.

Syria has been on the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism since the list's inception in 1979. Because of its continuing support and safe haven for terrorist organizations, Syria is subject to legislatively mandated penalties, including export sanctions and ineligibility to receive most forms of U.S. aid or to purchase U.S. military equipment. In 1986, the U.S. withdrew its ambassador and imposed additional administrative sanctions on Syria in response to evidence of direct Syrian involvement in an attempt to blow up an Israeli airplane. A U.S. ambassador returned to Damascus in 1987, partially in response to positive Syrian actions against terrorism such as expelling the Abu Nidal Organization from Syria and helping free an American hostage earlier that year.
[[File:Dr.Bashar American Congress 2009.jpg|thumb|300px|Bashar Al-Assad received delegation from the U.S. Senate in 2009.]]
However, relations since the February 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Hariri have considerably deteriorated. Issues of U.S. concern include the Syrian Government's failure to prevent Syria from becoming a major transit point for foreign fighters entering Iraq, its refusal to deport from Syria former Saddam regime elements who are supporting the insurgency in Iraq, its ongoing interference in Lebanese affairs, its protection of the leadership of Palestinian rejectionist groups in Damascus, its deplorable human rights record, and its pursuit of weapons of mass destruction. In May 2004, the Bush administration, pursuant to the provisions of the Syrian Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act, imposed sanctions on Syria which banned nearly all exports to Syria except food and medicine. In February 2005, in the wake of the Hariri assassination, the U.S. recalled its Ambassador to Washington.

On September 12, 2006 the U.S. Embassy was attacked by four armed assailants with guns, grenades and a car bomb (which failed to detonate). Syrian Security Forces successfully countered the attack, killing all four attackers. Two other Syrians killed during the attack were a government security guard and a passerby. The Syrian Government publicly stated that terrorists had carried out the attack. The U.S. Government has not received an official Syrian Government assessment of the motives or organization behind the attack, but security was upgraded at U.S. facilities. Both the Syrian ambassador to the U.S., Imad Mushtapha, and President Bashar Asad, however, blamed U.S. foreign policy in the region as contributing to the incident.

==Economy==
Syria is a middle-income, developing country with an economy based on agriculture, oil, industry, and tourism. However, Syria's economy faces serious challenges and impediments to growth, including: a large and poorly performing public sector; declining rates of oil production; widening non-oil deficit; wide scale corruption; weak financial and capital markets; and high rates of unemployment tied to a high population growth rate. In addition, Syria currently is the subject of U.S. economic sanctions under the Syria Accountability Act, which prohibits the export and re-export of most U.S. products to Syria.
*GDP (2005 nominal)*: $27.3 billion.
*Real growth rate*: 2.9%.
*Per capita GDP*: $1464.
*Natural resources: Crude oil and natural gas, phosphates, asphalt, rock salt, marble, gypsum, iron ore, chrome, and manganese ores.
*Agriculture: Products--cotton, wheat, barley, sugar beets, fruits and vegetables. Arable land--32%.
*Industry: Types--mining, manufacturing (textiles, food processing), construction, petroleum.
*Trade: Exports--$10.2 billion: petroleum, textiles, phosphates, antiquities, fruits and vegetables, cotton. Major markets--EU, Arab countries, United States, New Independent States, Eastern Europe. Imports--$10.8 billion: foodstuffs, metal and metal products, machinery, textiles, petroleum. Major suppliers--Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, China, U.S., Japan.
[[File:Bashar al Assad 2010 Aleppo wc pd.jpg|thumb|Aleppo, 2010.]]
As a result of an inefficient and corrupt centrally planned economy, Syria has low rates of investment, and low levels of industrial and agricultural productivity. Its GDP growth rate was approximately 2.9% in 2005, according to IMF statistics. The two main pillars of the Syrian economy have been agriculture and oil. Agriculture, for instance, accounts for 25% of GDP and employs 42% of the total labor force. The government hopes to attract new investment in the tourism, natural gas, and service sectors to diversify its economy and reduce its dependence on oil and agriculture. The government has begun to institute economic reforms aimed at liberalizing most markets, but reform thus far has been slow and ad hoc. For ideological reasons, privatization of government enterprises is explicitly rejected. Therefore major sectors of the economy including refining, ports operation, air transportation, power generation, and water distribution, remain firmly controlled by the government.

The Bashar al-Asad government started its reform efforts by changing the regulatory environment in the financial sector. In 2001, Syria legalized private banking and the sector, while still nascent, has been growing quickly in the last four years. Controls on foreign exchange continue to be one of the biggest impediments to the growth of the banking sector, although Syria has taken gradual steps to loosen those controls. In 2003, the government canceled a law that criminalized private sector use of foreign currencies, and in 2005 it issued legislation that allows licensed private banks to sell specific amounts of foreign currency to Syrian citizens under certain circumstances and to the private sector to finance imports. Syria's exchange rate is fixed, and the government maintains two official rates -- one rate on which the budget and the value of imports, customs, and other official transactions are based, and a second set by the Central Bank on a daily basis that covers all other financial transactions. There is, however, still an active black market for foreign currency.

Given the policies adopted from the 1960s through the late 1980s, which included nationalization of companies and private assets, Syria failed to join an increasingly interconnected global economy. Syria withdrew from the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1951 because of Israel's accession. It is not a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), although it submitted a request to begin the accession process in 2001. Syria is developing regional free trade agreements. As of January 1, 2005, the Greater Arab Free Trade Agreement (GAFTA) came into effect and customs duties were eliminated between Syria and all other members of GAFTA. In addition, Syria has signed a free trade agreement with Turkey, which came into force in January 2007, and initialed an Association Agreement with the EU, which has yet to be signed. Although Syria claims a recent boom in non-oil exports, its trade numbers are notoriously inaccurate and out-of-date. Syria's main exports include crude oil, refined products, raw cotton, clothing, fruits, and grains. The bulk of Syrian imports are raw materials essential for industry, vehicles, agricultural equipment, and heavy machinery. Earnings from oil exports as well as remittances from Syrian workers are the government's most important sources of foreign exchange.

Syria has produced heavy-grade oil from fields located in the northeast since the late 1960s. In the early 1980s, light-grade, low-sulphur oil was discovered near Dayr al-Zur in eastern Syria. Syria's rate of oil production has been decreasing steadily, from a peak close to 600,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 1995 down to approximately 425,000 bpd in 2005. Experts generally agree that Syria will become a net importer of petroleum not later than 2012. Syria exported roughly 200,000 bpd in 2005, and oil still accounts for a majority of the country's export income. Syria also produces 22 million cubic meters of gas per day, with estimated reserves around 8.5 trillion cubic feet. While the government has begun to work with international energy companies in the hopes of eventually becoming a gas exporter, all gas currently produced is consumed domestically.

Some basic commodities, such as diesel, continue to be heavily subsidized, and social services are provided for nominal charges. The subsidies are becoming harder to sustain as the gap between consumption and production continues to increase. Syria has a population of approximately 19 million people, and Syrian Government figures place the population growth rate at 2.45%, with 75% of the population under the age of 35 and more than 40% under the age of 15. Approximately 200,000 people enter the labor market every year. According to Syrian Government statistics, the unemployment rate is 7.5%, however, more accurate independent sources place it closer to 20%. Government and public sector employees constitute over one quarter of the total labor force and are paid very low salaries and wages. Government officials acknowledge that the economy is not growing at a pace sufficient to create enough new jobs annually to match population growth. The UNDP announced in 2005 that 30% of the Syrian population lives in poverty and 11.4% live below the subsistence level.

Syria has made progress in easing its heavy foreign debt burden through bilateral rescheduling deals with its key creditors in Europe, most importantly Russia, Germany, and France. Syria has also settled its debt with Iran and the World Bank. In December 2004, Syria and Poland reached an agreement by which Syria would pay $27 million out of the total $261.7 million debt. In January 2005, Russia forgave 80% of Syria's $13 billion long-outstanding debt, and later that year Syria reached an agreement with Slovakia, and the Czech Republic to settle debt estimated at $1.6 billion. Again Syria was forgiven the bulk of its debt, in exchange for a one time payment of $150 million.

==History==
[[Image:Shrine of Sayidda Zeinab.jpg|thumb|300px|Shrine of Sayidda Zeinab.]]
Archaeologists have demonstrated that Syria was the center of one of the most ancient civilizations on earth. Around the excavated city of Ebla in northern Syria, discovered in 1975, a great Semitic empire spread from the Red Sea north to Turkey and east to Mesopotamia from 2500 to 2400 B.C. The city of Ebla alone during that time had a population estimated at 260,000. Scholars believe the language of Ebla to be the oldest Semitic language.

Syria was occupied successively by Canaanites, Phoenicians, Hebrews, Arameans, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Nabataeans, Byzantines, and, in part, Crusaders before finally coming under the control of the Ottoman Turks. Syria is significant in the history of Christianity; Paul was converted on the road to Damascus and established the first organized Christian Church at Antioch in ancient Syria, from which he left on many of his missionary journeys.
[[File:Great Mosque of Damascus.jpg|thumb|left|Great Mosque of Damascus.]]
Damascus, settled about 2500 B.C., is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. It came under Muslim rule in A.D. 636. Immediately thereafter, the city's power and prestige reached its peak, and it became the capital of the Omayyad Empire, which extended from Spain to India from A.D. 661 to A.D. 750, when the Abbasid caliphate was established at Baghdad, Iraq.

Damascus became a provincial capital of the Mameluke Empire around 1260. It was largely destroyed in 1400 by Tamerlane, the Mongol conqueror, who removed many of its craftsmen to Samarkand. Rebuilt, it continued to serve as a capital until 1516. In 1517, it fell under Ottoman rule. The Ottomans remained for the next 400 years, except for a brief occupation by Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt from 1832 to 1840.

====French Occupation====
In 1920, an independent Arab Kingdom of Syria was established under King Faysal of the Hashemite family, who later became King of Iraq. However, his rule over Syria ended after only a few months, following the clash between his Syrian Arab forces and regular French forces at the battle of Maysalun. French troops occupied Syria later that year after the League of Nations put Syria under French mandate. With the fall of France in 1940, Syria came under the control of the Vichy Government until the British and Free French occupied the country in July 1941. Continuing pressure from Syrian nationalist groups forced the French to evacuate their troops in April 1946, leaving the country in the hands of a republican government that had been formed during the mandate.

====Independence to 1970====
Although rapid economic development followed the declaration of independence of April 17, 1946, Syrian politics from independence through the late 1960s were marked by upheaval. A series of military coups, begun in 1949, undermined civilian rule and led to army colonel Adib Shishakli's seizure of power in 1951. After the overthrow of President Shishakli in a 1954 coup, continued political maneuvering supported by competing factions in the military eventually brought Arab nationalist and socialist elements to power.

Syria's political instability during the years after the 1954 coup, the parallelism of Syrian and Egyptian policies, and the appeal of Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser's leadership in the wake of the 1956 Suez crisis created support in Syria for union with Egypt. On February 1, 1958, the two countries merged to create the United Arab Republic, and all Syrian political parties ceased overt activities.

The union was not a success, however. Following a military coup on September 28, 1961, Syria seceded, reestablishing itself as the Syrian Arab Republic. Instability characterized the next 18 months, with various coups culminating on March 8, 1963, in the installation by leftist Syrian Army officers of the National Council of the Revolutionary Command (NCRC), a group of military and civilian officials who assumed control of all executive and legislative authority. The takeover was engineered by members of the Arab Socialist Resurrection Party (Ba'ath Party), which had been active in Syria and other Arab countries since the late 1940s. The new cabinet was dominated by Ba'ath members.

The Ba'ath takeover in Syria followed a Ba'ath coup in Iraq the previous month. The new Syrian Government explored the possibility of federation with Egypt and Ba'ath--controlled Iraq. An agreement was concluded in Cairo on April 17, 1963, for a referendum on unity to be held in September 1963. However, serious disagreements among the parties soon developed, and the tripartite federation failed to materialize. Thereafter, the Ba'ath regimes in Syria and Iraq began to work for bilateral unity. These plans foundered in November 1963, when the Ba'ath regime in Iraq was overthrown. In May 1964, President Amin Hafiz of the NCRC promulgated a provisional constitution providing for a National Council of the Revolution (NCR), an appointed legislature composed of representatives of mass organizations--labor, peasant, and professional unions--a presidential council, in which executive power was vested, and a cabinet. On February 23, 1966, a group of army officers carried out a successful, intra-party coup, imprisoned President Hafiz, dissolved the cabinet and the NCR, abrogated the provisional constitution, and designated a regionalist, civilian Ba'ath government. The coup leaders described it as a "rectification" of Ba'ath Party principles. The defeat of the Syrians and Egyptians in the June 1967 war with Israel weakened the radical socialist regime established by the 1966 coup. Conflict developed between a moderate military wing and a more extremist civilian wing of the Ba'ath Party. The 1970 retreat of Syrian forces sent to aid the PLO during the "Black September" hostilities with Jordan reflected this political disagreement within the ruling Ba'ath leadership. On November 13, 1970, Minister of Defense Hafiz al-Asad affected a bloodless military coup, ousting the civilian party leadership and assuming the role of prime minister.

====1970 to 2000====
Upon assuming power, Hafiz al-Asad moved quickly to create an organizational infrastructure for his government and to consolidate control. The Provisional Regional Command of Asad's Arab Ba'ath Socialist Party nominated a 173-member legislature, the People's Council, in which the Ba'ath Party took 87 seats. The remaining seats were divided among "popular organizations" and other minor parties. In March 1971, the party held its regional congress and elected a new 21-member Regional Command headed by Asad. In the same month, a national referendum was held to confirm Asad as President for a 7-year term. In March 1972, to broaden the base of his government, Asad formed the National Progressive Front, a coalition of parties led by the Ba'ath Party, and elections were held to establish local councils in each of Syria's 14 governorates. In March 1973, a new Syrian constitution went into effect followed shortly thereafter by parliamentary elections for the People's Council, the first such elections since 1962.

The authoritarian regime was not without its critics, though most were quickly dealt with. A serious challenge arose in the late 1970s, however, from fundamentalist Sunni Muslims, who reject the basic values of the secular Ba'ath program and object to rule by the Alawis, whom they consider heretical. From 1976 until its suppression in 1982, the archconservative Muslim Brotherhood led an armed insurgency against the regime. In response to an attempted uprising by the brotherhood in February 1982, the government crushed the fundamentalist opposition centered in the city of Hama, leveling parts of the city with artillery fire and causing many thousands of dead and wounded. Since then, public manifestations of anti-regime activity have been very limited.

Syria's 1990 participation in the U.S.-led multinational coalition aligned against Saddam Hussein marked a dramatic watershed in Syria's relations both with other Arab states and with the West. Syria participated in the multilateral Middle East Peace Conference in Madrid in October 1991, and during the 1990s engaged in direct, face-to-face negotiations with Israel. These negotiations failed, and there have been no further Syrian-Israeli talks since President Hafiz Al-Asad's meeting with then President Bill Clinton in Geneva in March 2000.

Hafiz Al-Asad died on June 10, 2000, after 30 years in power. Immediately following Al-Asad's death, the Parliament amended the constitution, reducing the mandatory minimum age of the President from 40 to 34 years old, which allowed his son, Bashar Al-Asad legally to be eligible for nomination by the ruling Ba'ath party. On July 10, 2000, Bashar Al-Asad was elected President by referendum in which he ran unopposed, garnering 97.29% of the vote, according to Syrian Government statistics. He was inaugurated into office on July 17, 2000 for a 7-year term.

====2000 to 2007====
[[File:Aleppo Syria.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Aleppo, 2006.]]
In the aftermath of September 11, 2001 the Syrian Government began limited cooperation with United States in the global war against terrorism. However, Syria opposed the Iraq war in March 2003, and bilateral relations with the United States swiftly deteriorated. In December 2003, President Bush signed into law the Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act of 2003, which provided for the imposition of a series of sanctions against Syria if Syria did not end its support for Palestinian terrorist groups, end its military and security interference in Lebanon, cease its pursuit of weapons of mass destruction, and meet its obligations under United Nations Security Council resolutions regarding the stabilization and reconstruction of Iraq. In May 2004, the President determined that Syria had not met these conditions and implemented sanctions that prohibit the export to Syria of U.S. products except for food and medicine, and the taking off from or landing in the United States of Syrian Government-owned aircraft. At the same time, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced its intention to order U.S. financial institutions to sever correspondent accounts with the Commercial Bank of Syria based on money-laundering concerns, pursuant to Section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act. Acting under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), the President also authorized the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, to freeze assets belonging to certain Syrian individuals and entities.

Tensions between Syria and the United States intensified from late 2004 to 2007, primarily over issues relating to Iraq and Lebanon. The U.S. Government recalled its Ambassador to Syria in February 2005, after the assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Hariri. Sensing its international isolation, the Syrians shored up their relations with Iran and radical Palestinians groups based in Damascus, and cracked down on any signs of internal dissent. There has been little movement on political reform, with more public focus on limited economic liberalizations. The Syrian Government has provided some cooperation to the UN Independent International Investigation Commission, headed by Serge Brammertz, which is investigating the killing of Hariri. Since the 34-day conflict in Lebanon in July and August 2006, evidence of Syrian compliance with its obligations under UN Security Council Resolution 1701 not to rearm the Lebanese group Hezbollah is unpersuasive. On April 17, 2007, the United Nations Security Council welcomed the Secretary General's intention to evaluate the situation along the entire Syria-Lebanon border and invited the Secretary General to dispatch an independent mission to fully assess the monitoring of the border, and to report back on its findings and recommendations.

== Protesters 2011 ==
{{Main|Syrian Civil War}}

Protests broke out across Syria, including Damascus, the southern town of Daraa, and the coastal city of Lattakia, defying the regime of President Bashar Assad as has become typical during months of protests in a number of Middle East countries. They called for Assad's ouster and political reforms.

The Syrian government maintains protests are being led by what it calls extremist terrorist gangs.

The Arabic website "Al-Rai Al-Arabi" has reported that some 600 Libyan "volunteers", who want to participate in the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad, came to Syria through [[Turkey]]. This is not too surprising; the current Transitional National Council (TNC) was the first to recognize the Syrian National Council as the "sole legitimate representative" of the Syrian people. The "Free Syrian Army" (FSA) in part of a group affiliated with the Libyan rebel movement, which have been linked in the past to Islamic extremist’s organizations and al-Qaida of the Islamic Mahgred (AQIM). Their agenda simply put is to establish an Islamic caliphate in Syria, much as they did in [[Libya]], with the help of [[NATO]].

==See Also==
* [[Terrorism]]
* [[Big government]] [[Welfare state]] leads to [[socialist]] [[Nanny state]], leads to [[communist]] [[Police state]] - Don't think [[Communism]] is incompatible with [[Islam]].
* [[Gun control]] - key element to create a police state

== External Links ==

*[http://rt.com/news/syria-lies-interview/ Western media lie about Syria – eyewitness reports.]
*[http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=25000 America's Next War Theater: Syria and Lebanon?]
*[http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/11011023-600-libyan-mercenaries-enter-syria-via-turkey-to-fight-in-syria-according-to-arabic-website 600 Libyan mercenaries enter Syria via Turkey to fight in Syria, according to Arabic website.]
*[http://www.sott.net/article/241383-Syrias-Bloody-CIA-Revolution-A-Distraction Syria's Bloody CIA Revolution - A Distraction?]

==Further reading==
*[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/12/AR2007091202430_pf.html N. Korea, Syria May Be at Work on Nuclear Facility], By Glenn Kessler, ''[[Washington Post]]'', September 13, 2007; A12.

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!colspan=2 style="width: 100%; text-align: center; background-color: #000088; color: white; "|'''Copyright Details'''
|-
!style="background-color: #000088; color:white;"|License:
|style=" background-color: none;"| Some content for this article is in the [[Public Domain]] in the United States because it is a work of the United States Federal Government under the terms of Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 105 of the U.S. Code
|-
!style=" background-color: #000088; color:white;"|Source:
|style="background-color: none;border-top: 2px solid black"| File available from the {{{1|[[United States Federal Government]] [http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3580.htm]}}}.
|}

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

{{Terrorism}}
{{Asian Countries}}

[[Category:Middle Eastern Countries]]
[[Category:Muslim-Majority Countries]]
[[Category:Islam]]
[[Category:Syria]]
[[Category:Welfare State]]
[[Category:Police State]]
[[Category:Gun control]]
[[Category:Oppression]]

Aramaic

2015-08-31T05:55:57Z

Scatach:

'''Aramaic'''(ܐܪܡܝܐ) was the [[language]] of [[Jesus]].It's modern form is most commonly known as "Syriac".<ref name="a">The New American Desk Encyclopedia, Penguin Group, 1989</ref> It is a Semitic language and was spoken by the [[Aramaeans]] and spread across the [[Mesopotamia]] and became the language of the [[Persian Empire]].<ref name="a"/> It was most closely related to [[Hebrew]] and [[Arabic]]. The post-biblical Rabbinic commentary on the Bible and application of the Biblical laws (as well as perpetuating of the Biblical lore) to contemporary Jewish life, is known as the [[Talmud]]. The first part of the Talmud is primarily in Mishnaic (2nd cent. B.C. to 2nd cent. A.D.) Hebrew and secondarily in Aramaic. The second part of the Talmud, known as the Gemara, is primarily in Aramaic and secondarily in Hebrew. The [[Babylon]]ian recension of the Talmud - representing Babylonian exilic [[Judaism]] - is authoritative for [[Jew]]s today rather than the [[Palestine|Palestinian]] Talmud - representing "Land of [[Israel]]" Hebrew-speaking Judaism from Palestine.

Parts of the [[New Testament]] were written in Aramaic.<ref name="a"/>

It is spoken today in parts of [[Lebanon]], northern [[Iraq]], [[Syria]] in addition to smaller communities in [[Turkey]] and [[Iran]].<ref>http://www.omniglot.com/writing/syriac.htm</ref>

==The "Aramaic" Church==

The [[Church of the East]], sometimes known as the [[Nestorian]] Church or sometimes as the [[Assyria]]n Church uses the Aramaic Language in their liturgy <ref>[http://www.cired.org/]</ref>. This is true also of the Church of the East in [[India]], also known as the Syro-Chaldean Church, though its people speak an Indian dialect and not Aramaic. The Aramaic translation of the Bible for this Church is the Peshitta, the earliest of the translations for both the Old and New Testament after the [[Greece|Greek]] [[Septuagint]] of the Hebrew original for the Old and after the Greek original for the New. Jesus spoke Aramaic as well as Mishnaic (1st century common) Hebrew and some of his utterances in the Greek New Testament are transliterations of the Aramaic. Examples of these are Talitha Kum(i)-"Get up ,Young girl!", Eloi, Eloi, lama Shvaktani- My God, My God, why have you left Me." In the book of Revelation of the New Testament, the word "Maranatha" appears, as it does in the liturgies of the early church. Maranatha means either (according to its accent), "The Lord has come" or "O Lord, come!"

Church of the East members from the "Assyrian" group still speaking Aramaic, are dispersed to several countries since their World War l persecution and flight from Turkey - along with the Armenians. They are settled today in various countries and in the United States are found in numbers in Flint Michigan, Modesto California, and Yonkers New York.

A few modern Churches such as the [[Syro-Chaldean Church of North America]], now known as the [[Evangelical Apostolic Church of North America (Syro-Chaldean)]] derive their Apostolicity and general theological outlook from the Aramaic Church of the East though their membership is not ethnically Assyrian <ref>[http://www.eacna.org/]</ref>.

The Chaldean Catholic Church represents a part of the Church of the East which has recognized the Pope and the jurisdiction of the Western Catholio Church. This Church also uses the Aramaic language in their liturgy. These are the churches, some under the Pope and some independent (autocephalous -
"self heading") that use Aramaic as part of their liturgy nowadays - the Syrian Catholic Church, the Assyrian Church of the East (Holy Apostolic and Catholic Church of the East), the Indian Orthodox Church, the Chaldean Catholic Church, the Maronite Church, the Malankara Syrian Orthodox Church, the Syro-Malabar Church and the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church.

==See Also==
*[[Semitic languages]]
*[[The Aramaic Church]]
*[[The Sign of the Cross: of Jewish Origin]]
*[[First Century Aramaic Jewish Christian Gospel and poetry]]
*[[Targum]]
*[[Aramaic Judaism, Jewish Aramaic Christianity, and John 1:1]]
*[[Hebrew]] for the structure of Aramaic language as a member of the Semitic language family.
*[[Had Gadya]]
*[[Kaddish]]
*[[The Lord's Prayer]] for the Aramaic Version
*[[Adiabene]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Semitic Languages]]
[[Category:Middle East]]

Hugo Chavez

2015-08-31T05:42:41Z

Scatach: He didn't traffic drugs, use illegal drugs and wasn't a Communist. As I have said

{{Dictator bio
| image =[[Image:chavez.jpg|200px]]
| name =Hugo Chavez
| birth =July 28, 1954 Sabaneta, Venezuela
| parents =Hugo de los Reyes Chávez Elena Frías de Chávez
| religion =Roman Catholic
| education =Daniel Florencio O'Leary High School, Barinas Venezuelan Academy of Military Sciences, Caracas
| spouse =Nancy Colmenares (div.) Marisabel Rodríguez (div.)
| children =Rosa Virginia María Gabriela Hugo Rafael Rosinés (with Marisabel)
| death = circa Dec. 11, 2012 (denied by the [[lamestream media]] until Mar. 5, 2013)
| deathmanner = illness in a Cuban hospital
| burial =The museum of the Bolivarian Revolution in Caracas
| country =[[Venezuela]]
| military =Venezuelan army
| rank =Lieutenant colonel
| polbeliefs =[[Socialism]]
| party =Fifth Republic Movement United Socialist Party
| dictatordate =November 2000
| war =n/a
| deathnumber =n/a
}}
'''Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías''' (b. July 28, 1954 - d. circa Dec. 11, 2012) <ref>http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-21476917 (obviously staged photo)</ref> was the [[leftist]] President of the Bolivarian Republic of [[Venezuela]] from 1999 to 2012. Chavez was not seen in public since he entered a Cuban hospital near death on December 11, 2012. Venezuela's [[socialist]] regime engaged in [[liberal denial]] about his death for nearly three months, even releasing a photo of an ostensibly fit and smiling Chavez. But on March 5, 2013, likely due to pressure from other nations that knew Chavez had died, Venezuelan [[communist]]s finally admitted Chavez was dead. <ref>[http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/03/05/hugo-chavez-dead-at-58-good-riddance.html "Hugo Chavez dead at 58] "How little we know about the manner in which - or when - he died"]</ref> <ref>[http://apnews.myway.com/article/20130311/DA4UKU7G0.html Venezuela candidate: Govt exploits Chavez death]</ref>

A self-proclaimed [[socialist]] and [[collectivist]], his disastrous economic policies led to food shortages, quotas, and rationing in his oil-rich country, causing thousands to flee.<ref>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/venezuela/4938993/Venezuelas-Hugo-Chavez-tightens-state-control-of-food-amid-rocketing-inflation-and-food-shortages.html</ref>
Chávez assumed power as President in 1999 and pledged to aid Venezuela's poor majority.
Fraudulent elections were held in 2000 and in 2006, allowing Chavez to retain his [[Authoritarianism|authoritarian]] power. As such it would be accurate to describe him as a [[dictator]].

*{{Venezuela blunder}}

Due to an illness, in early April 2012 "Hugo Chavez weeps and calls on [[God]] to spare his life."<ref>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/venezuela/9189962/Hugo-Chavez-weeps-and-calls-on-God-to-spare-his-life.html</ref> That contrasts with Jesus's request in his time of crisis, when [[Jesus]] prayed, "O Father, if You can, let this cup pass from Me. But ''don't do what I want, but rather what You want''."<ref>[[Matthew 20-28 (Translated)#26:39|Matthew 26:39]].</ref>

==Election fraud==
Steven F. Hayward wrote:
* While exit polls conducted by the very reliable American firm of Penn, Schoen, and Berland showed Chavez losing by a large margin (41 to 59), the official results put Chavez free and clear by a vote of 58 to 41 percent.<ref>[http://frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=5A8D0094-4590-4DFB-A7F0-C2E06A6820FB]</ref>

A 26 February 2003 report by Robert Tracinski obliterates the left-wing mythology around Chavez:
<blockquote>
: '''Step one''': Chavez has initiated formal proceedings to revoke the licenses of independent, privately owned television and radio stations. Meanwhile, his political militias, the Bolivarian Circles, have staged violent attacks on independent media outlets. After all, elections don't mean much if all people watch is propaganda on state-run television.

: '''Step two''': Chavez has used a moratorium on currency conversion--needed to pay for imported goods--to punish his opponents. Vowing "no dollars for coup-mongers," he has used this power, for example, to prevent opposition newspapers from importing ink. After all, elections don't mean much if your opponents are too busy worrying where their next meal is coming from.

: '''Step three''': Venezuelan police acting on Chavez's orders have arrested Carlos Fernandez, the head of Venezuela's largest business federation and a leader of the recent anti-Chavez strike, charging him with rebellion and sabotage. Another strike leader, Carlos Ortega, head of Venezuela's largest labor union, has gone into hiding. In one move, Chavez has neutralized two potential rivals for the presidency. After all, elections don't mean much if all of the other candidates are in jail.

: '''Step four''': Last week, four protesters were kidnapped while returning from an anti-Chavez rally. They were blindfolded, tortured, and shot execution-style. Some of the victims were witnesses to a previous pro-Chavez political killing, and they had planned to testify against the shooter. Consider the message sent to the opposition when the mutilated bodies of their friends start showing up in the city streets. After all, elections don't mean much if your opponents are afraid to leave their houses and walk to the polls.

: '''Step five''': A few days ago, Chavez delivered a speech denouncing Spain, Colombia, and the US for interfering in Venezuela. This morning in Caracas, the diplomatic missions of Spain and Colombia were bombed. Credit was claimed by a splinter pro-Chavez group--but this was not a bunch of kids cooking up homemade bombs in their basement. The bombs were powerful plastic explosives, the kind of weapons that are difficult to obtain without government complicity.<ref>http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/americas/2514-dictatorship-by-the-numbers-in-venezuela.html {{dead link}}</ref>
</blockquote>

$4 billion dollars were spent paying paramilitary groups to attack unarmed protestors and other dissidents during and after the elections.<ref>http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/americas/2968-venezuela-a-new-junket-for-a-dictator-s-best-friend-jimmy-carter.html</ref>

The [[European Union]] condemned the conditions placed on election monitors as unacceptable and declined to attend. The Carter Center was shut out for three days. Experts from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University have identified signs of fraud based on statistical analysis.<ref>http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/americas/3924-the-carter-stamp-of-approval-on-the-venueuzlan-election-less-than-worthless.html</ref>

==Human rights concerns==
Hugo Chávez was a great friend of the tyrannical [[Cuban]] despot [[Fidel Castro]] and is said to have drawn his political style through influences such as [[Che Guevara]], [[Karl Marx]] and [[Simon Bolivar]]. The U.S. State Department ''Report on Global Anti-Semitism'' cited Chavez in August 2004 warning citizens against following the lead of Jewish citizens in the effort to overturn his referendum victory.<ref>[http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/40258.htm Report on Global Anti-Semitism] U. S. Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, [[Human Rights]], and Labor, January 5, 2005. </ref> Chavez also embraced a number of world leaders that have hostile relations with the United States, including Holocaust-denier [[Mahmoud Ahmadinejad]], the President of [[Iran]], who Chavez has referred to as "my brother".<ref>[http://english.eluniversal.com/2006/07/31/en_pol_art_31A756133.shtml Chávez decorated in Iran; initials cooperation pacts]</ref> U.S. Speaker of the House of Representatives [[Nancy Pelosi]] said of Chavez, "Hugo Chavez fancies himself a modern-day [[Simon Bolivar]], but all he is is an everyday thug."<ref>[http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/pruden092206.php3 Back to the old days, if only for a minute], Wesley Pruden, ''Jewish World Review'', Sept. 22, 2006.</ref> He was also considered to be an ally of [[leftist]] [[Ecuador|Ecuadorian]] president [[Rafael Correa]], [[Bolivia|Bolivian]] president [[Evo Morales]] and the president of [[Nicaragua]], [[Daniel Ortega]] ... all radical leftists.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6187364.stm Correa]</ref>

In May 2007, Chavez silenced the only remaining opposition television station critical of his repression by revoking its licence.<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/venezuela/story/0,,2085952,00.html Chávez silences critical TV station], Rory Carroll, ''The Guardian'', May 23, 2007.</ref> Crowds of students demonstrated saying they feared for the future of human rights in Venezuala. National Guard troops were ordered to fire [[tear gas]] and [[rubber bullets]]. Two students were injured, a third was hit with a tear gas canister, and about 20 people needed emergency medical attention for inhaling tear gas. <ref>[http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/05/28/ap3763178.html Troops Fire Upon Protesters in Venezuela], Fabiola Sanchez, Associated Press, 05.28.07. Retrieved from Forbes.com 05/31/07. </ref> Chavez employs discrimination against [[migrant workers]] in the country.<ref>http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/americas/3924-the-carter-stamp-of-approval-on-the-venueuzlan-election-less-than-worthless.html</ref>

Chavez said, “I am going to go after those who resist the revolution and eliminate them one by one.”<ref>[http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2007/jul/07/guest_commentary_we_must_help_venezuela_because_fr/ Because Freedom Matters], By U.S. Rep. Connie Mack IV and Blanquita Cullm, ''Naples Daily News'', July 7, 2007.</ref>

===Trafficking in Persons===
Venezuela under Chavez was on the U.S. State Department’s Tier 3 list for [[trafficking in persons]] since 2004, which means that the government was categorized as one that has failed to make significant efforts to bring itself into compliance with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking in persons. The State Department’s June 2007 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report maintains that Venezuela is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children trafficked for [[sexual exploitation]] and [[forced labor]].<ref>U.S. Department of State, [http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2007/ Trafficking in Persons Report], June 12, 2007, p. 207.</ref>

==Relations with US==
[[File:Chavez Obama.jpg|thumb|At the Fifth Summit of the Americas.]]
Foreign relations between the [[United States of America]] and [[Venezuela]] are presently unstable. Chavez often criticized the United States for its 'imperialism' on his radio segment 'Alo Presidente', and alleged the United States's supported a 2002 coup in Venezuela which toppled Chávez momentarily and later removed by Chávez supporters, also known as 'Chávistas'. Venezuela is heavily dependent upon trade revenue from oil sales to the United States. Chavez has founded [[Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas|ALBA]] an international organization of leftist countries on the [[Caribic]]s and Southern America. Chavez said that the ALCA is a "instrument of imperialism".

===Terrorism===
In May 2006, the State Department determined that, pursuant to Section 40A of the [[Arms Export Control Act]], Venezuela was not fully cooperating with U.S. [[antiterrorism]] efforts. This triggered a prohibition on the sale or license of defense articles and services to Venezuela. Other countries on the Section 40A list include [[Cuba]], [[Iran]], [[North Korea]], and [[Syria]], not to be confused with the "state sponsors of
terrorism" list under Section 6(j) of the Export Administration Act of 1979, which currently includes Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, and Syria. The State Department asserted that the Section 40A determination was based on Venezuela’s near lack of antiterrorism cooperation over the last year, citing its support for Iraqi insurgents and Iran’s development of nuclear capabilities, the country’s status as a safe haven for Colombian and Basque terrorist groups, and its effort to derail hemispheric efforts to advance counter-terrorism policies in the OAS. In May 2007, the State Department again included Venezuela in its annual Section 40A determination that it was not cooperating fully with U.S. antiterrorism efforts.

In late April 2007, the State Department issued its annual Country Reports on Terrorism, which asserted that President Chávez "persisted in public criticism of U.S. counterterrorism efforts, deepened Venezuelan relationships with Iran and Cuba, and was unwilling to prevent Venezuelan territory from being used as a safe haven" by Colombian terrorist groups.

There have been long-held suspicions that Chávez has supported leftist Colombian guerrillas, although Chávez denies such support. The State Department’s terrorism report maintains that units of Colombia’s two leftist terrorist groups — the [[Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia]] (FARC) and the [[National Liberation Army]] (ELN) — often crossed into Venezuela "to rest and regroup with relative impunity."

In addition, according to the report, splinter groups of the FARC and a rightist terrorist group, the [[AUC|United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia]] (AUC) reportedly operate in various parts of the country and are involved in drug trafficking. The report maintained, however, that "it remained unclear to what extent the Venezuelan
Government provided material support to Colombian terrorists."

In addition, according to the report, Venezuelan citizenship, identity, and travel documents remained easy to obtain, making the country a potentially attractive waystation for terrorists. In July 13, 2006, congressional testimony, the State Department’s Principal Deputy Coordinator for Counterterrorism, Frank Urbancic, asserted that the United States was detaining increasing numbers of third-country aliens at its borders carrying falsified or fraudulently issued Venezuelan documents. U.S. officials also have expressed concerns about President Chávez’s close relationship with Cuba’s Fidel Castro, but Chávez defends his relationship with Cuba. Overall Venezuelan support to Cuba is estimated to be more than $2 billion a year.<ref>Frances Robles and Phil Gunson, ''Cuba Spotlights Chávez Friendship,'' Miami Herald, January 26, 2007.</ref> Venezuela supplies some 90,000 barrels of oil per day to Cuba on a concessionary basis under PetroCaribe. In return, Venezuela has received support from thousands of Cuban health care workers and sports instructors in the country.

During an April 2005 trip to Cuba, Presidents Chávez and Castro announced commercial deals worth over $400 million, including a joint shipyard to build small navy ships and a joint housing construction company. In January 2007, a delegation of Cuban officials visited Caracas and signed a number of agreements to increase economic linkages, including an agreement for joint oil exploration in both countries.

PdVSA is also involved in refurbishing an unfinished oil refinery in Cienfuegos, Cuba. Beyond Latin America, the Bush Administration has expressed concerns with Venezuela’s growing relations with Iran. In February 2006, Secretary of State Rice referred to Venezuela, along with Cuba, as “sidekicks” of Iran in reference to those countries’ votes in the International Atomic Energy Agency against reporting Iran to the U.N. Security Council over its uranium enrichment program.<ref>Pablo Bachelet, “Rice Bashes Venezuelan Leader, Politics,” Miami Herald, February 17, 2006; House International Relations Committee, Hearing on the Fiscal Year 2007
International Affairs Budget, Testimony of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, February
16, 2006.</ref> In testimony before the Senate Select Intelligence Committee in February 2006, Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte expressed concern that President Chávez "is seeking closer economic, military, and diplomatic ties with Iran and North Korea."<ref>Senate Select Intelligence Committee, Hearing on World Wide Threats, Testimony of Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte, February 2, 2006.</ref> ran and Venezuela signed an agreement for a $200 million fund to finance joint investment and social projects, and commercial agreements in the early stages include plans for a cement factory, oil exploration in the Orinoco River belt, and a joint operation to build oil and liquid natural gas tankers.<ref>Steven Dudley, "Chávez’s Wooing of Iran Called Troubling," Miami Herald, March 2, 2006.</ref> During a visit by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Venezuela in mid-January 2007, the two countries announced they would use a $2 billion investment fund to finance projects in both countries and other countries as well.<ref>Simon Romero, ''Iranian President Visits Venezuela to Strengthen Ties,'' New York Times, January 14, 2007.</ref>

Some Members of Congress have expressed concerns about relations between Venezuela and Iran. In the 110th Congress, H.Res. 435 (Klein) would, among its provisions, express concern over national security implications of the relationship between the leaders of Iran and Venezuela.

According to the ''Washington Post'' Chavez was accused of supplying weapons to Colombian rebels, of financing Bolivian and Ecuadorian groups seeking to establish "Marxist" states, and of being, with Cuban leader Fidel Castro's guidance, a "[[subversion (political)|subversive]]" everywhere else in the region.<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/25/AR2005082501420.html?nav=rss_world/centralamerica ''Dealing With the Good and Bad Hugo Chavez''], Marcela Sanchez The Washington Post 25 August 2005.</ref>

==Expropriation==
[[Image:Hugo-chavez8.jpg|left|175px|thumb|Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez with Fidel Castro.]]

In typical socialist rhetoric, Chavez made wild claims to fund the government by nationalizing foreign assets. Typical reasons included accusing companies of environmental damage and exploiting its workers. In 2010 alone, Chavez seized 195 companies. <ref>[http://english.eluniversal.com/2010/10/20/en_eco_art_a-total-of-195-busin_20A4631291.shtml A total of 195 businesses has been seized in 2010, El Universal, October 20, 2010]</ref> Spanish-owned farm supply and U.S.-based Ohio bottle company were recently taken over. Other recognized multi-national companies such ExxonMobil, steel maker Sidor, cement company CEMEX fell to the same fate. <ref>[http://wellsy.wordpress.com/2010/10/26/chavez-takes-over-venezuelan-plants-of-oh-company/ Chavez takes over Venezuelan plants of OH company, Wellsy's World, October 26, 2010]</ref> Venezuala is supposed to compensate the companies but nobody expects Chavez to provide other than peanuts for assets he steals.

Through Venezuela's state owned petroleum industry and membership in [[OPEC]], Chávez used powers granted to him by Parliament to increase oil prices, adding revenue for the Bolivarianist projects. Countries such as the United States have criticized Chávez for the increase in cost for crude oil. Chavez was at the forefront of wanting to set crude oil prices at $60 a barrel minimum, according to the ''Asia Times''<ref>[http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/HL07Dj01.html ''Bush, OPEC and Chavez of Arabia''], Pepe Escobar, Asia Times, 7 December 2006.</ref> The state owned oil company PDVSA is estimated to have spent in excess of $120 million dollars sponsoring the [[Formula 1]] team, Willaims F1, so that they would give the Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado a seat.

==Anti-semitism==
[[File:Chavez ahmad.jpg|thumb|Hugo Chavez and Holocaust denier [[Mahmoud Ahmadinejad]]]]
Chavez was known to be fiercely [[Anti-semitism|anti-semitic]]<ref>http://www.commentarymagazine.com/viewarticle.cfm/hugo-ch-vez-s-jewish-problem-11455
</ref>, which was the likely reason for his friendship and political alliance with Iranian dictator and [[Holocaust denial|holocaust denier]] [[Mahmoud Ahmadinejad]]<ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/04/AR2008020402428.html
</ref>. As a result of the anti-semitic policies of the Chavez regime and the wave of violent attacks on Venezuelan Jews that it caused, the [[Jewish]] population of Venezuela decreased by more than 50 percent within a decade of Chavez coming to power.<ref>http://www.worldjewishdaily.com/venezuela.php</ref>

==Drug problem in Venezuela==
The ''Associated Press'' reported in July 2007 that since Chavez's ascension to power, illegal narcotics passing through Venezuela from [[Colombia]] has risen by as much as 30 tons a year and now accounts for roughly a third of the world's supply of [[cocaine]]. Mildred Camero who was in charge of Venezuela's anti-drug efforts stated, "[[Caracas]] is replacing [[Bogota]] as a center of everything related to drug operations." Camero was fired in 2005 after reporting high-level corruption. <ref>[http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/07/01/ap3875048.html Venezuela Becomes Cocaine Conduit], By Ian James and Frank Bajak, ''Associated Press'', 1 July 2007. Retrieved from Forbes.com 8 July 2007.</ref>

In 2008 Chavez revealed that he himself regularly chews coca leafs, the leafs from which cocaine is made.This is a common custom in that area of South America.<ref>[http://uk.reuters.com/article/2008/01/26/uk-venezuela-chavez-coca-idUKN2638848320080126 Venezuela's Chavez swaps coffee for coca in speech - Reuters]</ref>

==Religious views==
Though Chavez claimed to be a devout Catholic, he has had public disputes with the Church before.Chavez demanded that [[Pope Benedict]] apologize for saying the Roman Catholic Church purified Indians in Latin America. Chavez called the treatment of Indians after [[Christopher Columbus]] landed in 1492 a "holocaust".<ref>[http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSN1819661120070519 Chavez demands Pope apologize for Indian comments], Reuters, May 19, 2007</ref>
In addition, he denoucned Catholic leaders, claiming they cared more about the rich than the poor. and Christ would have whipped some of them for lying. After his condition continued to deteriorate due to cancer, Chavez became more overtly religious,calling on God to help him.<ref>http://www.christianpost.com/news/the-significance-of-hugo-chavezs-death-and-faith-91410/</ref>

==2011-2012 Health Crisis and subsequent cover-up and Constitutional Crisis==

On June 30th, 2011, the 56 year-old President admitted, in a televised speech, of having cancer.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-13991906]</ref>.He sought treatment, to no avail, in Brazil.<ref>http://latindispatch.com/2011/07/14/hugo-chavez-to-receive-cancer-treatment-in-brazil/</ref>

Despite being aware of his condition, Chavez chose to run again for President. On 7 October 2012, a terminally ill Chávez won election as president for a fourth time, defeating Henrique Capriles.<ref>http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/08/venezuela-election-idUSL1E8L70WK20121008</ref>

Chavez was not seen since 11 December 2012, the last time he appeared in public. He must have died shortly afterwards. However, the Cuban and Venezuelan communists attempted to keep his death secret, and pretended he was alive for another two and a half months, going as far as using his [[Twitter]] account to post fake messages from a supposedly recovering Chavez.

Chavez should have taken the oath of office on January the 10th, the necessary step to assume the presidency for his new period. However, Venezuela's Supreme Court ignored the provisions of the Venezuelan Constitution (reformed by Chavez himself in 1999) and allowed Chavez to become president without taking the oath of office, thus doing away with any remaining semblance of constitutional government.

On February, the 18th it was announced that Chavez had returned to Venezuela to finish his recovery.<ref>http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/02/18/president-chavez-returns-to-venezuela-from-cuba-after-months-medical-treatment/</ref> The then Venezuelan vice-president [[Nicolás Maduro]] said that Chavez had been flown in secrecy from [[Havana]] to [[Caracas]] in the early hours of the morning to avoid possible attacks from his enemies. The two top floors of Caracas' Military Hospital were sealed from the public, with Chavez supposedly recovering in the 8th floor and the 7th floor closed to guarantee his security. On March the 5th the Venezuelan ''de facto'' government finally ended the charade and announced that Chavez had died, suggesting also that his cancer and death had been the result of an assessination plot by "the historical enemies of the Fatherland" (referring to the United States and the Venezuelan democratic opposition). On March 7th, Venezuelan vice-president announced that Chavez's body should be embalmed and put on permanent display inside a glass tomb, thus imitating the treatment given to the corpses of other Communist dictators like [[Vladimir Lenin|Lenin]], [[Joseph Stalin|Stalin]], [[Klement Gottwald]], [[Georgi Dimitrov]], [[Mao Zedong]], [[Ho Chi Minh]], [[Kim Il-Sung]] and [[Kim Jong-Il]].<ref>FOX News: [http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/03/07/chavez-body-embalmed-to-be-permanently-on-display/ Chavez's body embalmed, to be permanently on display] (March 7, 2013)</ref> But this was canceled because Chavez`s body would otherwise should be brought for a time in Russia.

==Quotes from Hugo Chavez==
* On closure of RCTV, claiming the network's broadcasts amounted to a "permanent attack on public morals" with cartoons that were "poisoned with hatred, violence and even sex."

* "Private banks have to give priority to financing the industrial sectors of Venezuela at low cost...If banks don't agree with this, it's better that they go, that they turn over the banks to me."

==See Also==
* [[Previous Breaking News/Hugo Chavez|Articles about '''Hugo Chavez''' from previous "Breaking News"]]
* [[Dictatorship]]
** [[Dictator]]
** [[List of dictators]]
** [[Friendly dictator]]
** [[Adolf Hitler]], [[Joseph Stalin]], [[Chairman Mao]], [[Kim Jong-Il]], [[Pol Pot]]
** [[Dictatorship of the proletariat]]
** [[List of Communist States]]
** [[List of Socialist States]]
** [[Death toll of communism]]
** [[Coup d'etat]]
* [[Cult of personality]]
* [[Single-party state]]
* [[Mobocracy]], [[Social Effects of the Theory of Evolution]], [[Anti-Semitism]], [[Communist Racism]], [[Genocide]], [[Holocaust]]
* [[National Socialist German Workers Party]] ([[Nazi]])
* [[National Socialism]] - the Nazis were elitist [[Police state]] [[liberals]] not [[conservative]]s
* [[Big government]] [[Welfare state]] leads to [[Nanny state]], leads to [[Police state]]: [[Globalist]]-[[Statist]]-[[Socialist]]-[[Communist]]
* [[Liberal totalitarianism]]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==Further reading==
*[http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/] An in depth view on Venezuela under Hugo Chávez.
*[http://www.latinbusinesschronicle.com/app/article.aspx?id=706] An overview of articles on Venezuela's business under Hugo Chávez.
*[http://www.realclearpolitics.com/Commentary/com-2_24_06_AVL.html ''Why The Left Should Cringe at The Mention of Hugo Chavez''], Alvaro Vargas Llosa, Independent Institute, February 24, 2006.
*[http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_kmnew/is_200108/ai_kepm313968 ''Bolivar, Dictator or Paladin?''] Interview: Hugo Chavez talks about Venezuela, Maria Amparo Lasso, Newsweek, Aug 20, 2001.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chavez, Hugo}}
[[Category:Venezuela]]
[[Category:Dictators]]
[[Category:Anti-Semitism]]
[[Category:Socialists]]

Benjamin Netanyahu

2015-08-19T03:13:06Z

Scatach: /* Quotes */

[[Image:Netanyahu.jpg|right|Prime Minister Netanyahu|thumb]]
'''Benjamin Netanyahu''' (born October 21, 1949) is the [[conservative]] Prime Minister of [[Israel]], who in 1997 negotiated a partial withdrawal by Israeli settlers from [[Hebron]], which is on the [[West Bank]].

His brother, Yonatan, was killed in 1976. Yonatan was the field commander of the raid on [[Entebbe]], an operation to free hostages of an Air France flight highjacked by Islamists. He was the only Israeli commando casualty of the operation.

==Early Life and Education==

Raised in [[Jerusalem]], Benjamin Netanyahu received his high school education in the United States when he moved with his parents to Cheltenham, [[Pennsylvania]], a suburb of [[Philadelphia]]. To this day Prime Minister Netanyahu speaks fluent English with an American accent. Even as an adult, he is often referred to as his boyhood nickname "Bibi".<ref>[http://www.reuters.com/article/2009/02/20/idUSL8592809 FACTBOX-Five facts about Benjamin Netanyahu] Reuters, February 20, 2009</ref> Additionally, Netanyahu's father was a professor of Jewish history at [[Cornell University]]. He returned to Israel in 1967 and enlisted in the Israeli Defense Forces and participated in the Yom Kippur War, where he reached the rank of captain. Netanyahu would go on to continue to live in the United States when he received a Bachelor's degree in architecture from the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] in 1975, a Master's degree in business management from MIT, and would go on to study political science at MIT and [[Harvard University]]. Netanyahu joined Boston Consulting Group, an international business consulting firm and later senior management of Rim Industries in Jerusalem.

==Political Career==

In 1979 and 1984 Mr. Netanyahu initiated two international conferences that emphasized the need to fight against terrorist organizations and regimes that provide them support. Members included Vice President [[George H.W. Bush]] and Secretary of State [[George Shultz]]. <ref>http://www.zionism-israel.com/bio/Benjamin_Nethanyahu.htm</ref> After serving as deputy chief of mission at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, DC., he was appointed Israel's ambassador to the [[United Nations]]. During his tenure he fought for the declassification of the United Nations archives on crimes committed by [[Nazi]] [[Germany]].

==Prime Minister of Israel==

In 1988, Netanyahu returned to Israel and was elected as a member of the [[Knesset]], the legislator of Israel. During the 1991 [[Persian Gulf War]] Netanyahu was a member of Israeli delegation to the Madrid Peace Conference, which was the first direct negotiations between Israel and [[Syria]], [[Lebanon]], and a joint [[Jordanian]]-[[Palestinian]] delegation. In 1993, Netanyahu became chairman of the right-of-center Likud party. He was elected Israel's 9th Prime Minister in 1996 and sworn in after the approval of the Knesset. During his three year term the number of terror attacks in Israel drastically decreased. On economics he governed as a free-market conservative, accelerated privatization of government-owned companies and reduced the budget deficit. By the time of Netanyahu's reelection he had alienated the political left, while also the political right for his negotiations with [[Yasser Arafat]] and the Palestinians. He was defeated in May 1999 by Ehud Barak.
[[Image:BenjaminNetanyahu452.jpg|right|Benjamin Netanyahu press conference, 02/20/09.|thumb]]
From 2003 through 2005 Netanyahu served as Finance Minister in the [[Ariel Sharon]] administration. He advocated policies that reduced government, strengthened the private sector, cut taxes, and privatized pensions. During his tenure [[unemployment]] dropped and the Israeli economy went from shrinking 1% to growing 4.2% in 2004. <ref>http://www.netanyahu.org/biography.html</ref> On February 10, 2009 legislative elections, the right-wing parties won a majority of seats in the Knesset, and they selected Netanyahu to serve a second term as Prime Minister. He was sworn in on March 13, 2009.

==2009 Speech at the United Nations==

On September 24, 2009 Prime Minister Netanyahu blasted Iranian President [[Mahmoud Ahmadinejad]], a supporter of [[Islamic]] fundamentalism and is developing [[nuclear]] technology, possibly for nuclear weapons. The following is an excerpt from his speech.

"Nearly 62 years ago, the United Nations recognized the right of the Jews, an ancient people 3,500 years-old, to a state of their own in their ancestral homeland.

I stand here today as the Prime Minister of Israel, the Jewish state, and I speak to you on behalf of my country and my people.

The United Nations was founded after the carnage of World War II and the horrors of the Holocaust. It was charged with preventing the recurrence of such horrendous events.
[[File:Netanyahu and wife with Obamas.jpg|thumb|left|Netanyahu and wife with Obama and Michelle at the Metropolitan Museum in New York, 2009.]]
Nothing has undermined that central mission more than the systematic assault on the truth. Yesterday the President of Iran stood at this very podium, spewing his latest anti-Semitic rants. Just a few days earlier, he again claimed that the Holocaust is a lie.

Yesterday, the man who calls the Holocaust a lie spoke from this podium. To those who refused to come here and to those who left this room in protest, I commend you. You stood up for moral clarity and you brought honor to your countries.

But to those who gave this Holocaust-denier a hearing, I say on behalf of my people, the Jewish people, and decent people everywhere: Have you no shame? Have you no decency?

A mere six decades after the Holocaust, you give legitimacy to a man who denies that the murder of six million Jews took place and pledges to wipe out the Jewish state.

What a disgrace! What a mockery of the charter of the United Nations! Perhaps some of you think that this man and his odious regime threaten only the Jews. You’re wrong.

History has shown us time and again that what starts with attacks on the Jews eventually ends up engulfing many others.

This Iranian regime is fueled by an extreme fundamentalism that burst onto the world scene three decades ago after lying dormant for centuries. In the past thirty years, this fanaticism has swept the globe with a murderous violence and cold-blooded impartiality in its choice of victims. It has callously slaughtered Moslems and Christians, Jews and Hindus, and many others. Though it is comprised of different offshoots, the adherents of this unforgiving creed seek to return humanity to medieval times.

The most urgent challenge facing this body is to prevent the tyrants of Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Are the member states of the United Nations up to that challenge? Will the international community confront a despotism that terrorizes its own people as they bravely stand up for freedom?

Will it take action against the dictators who stole an election in broad daylight and gunned down Iranian protesters who died in the streets choking in their own blood? Will the international community thwart the world’s most pernicious sponsors and practitioners of terrorism?

Above all, will the international community stop the terrorist regime of Iran from developing atomic weapons, thereby endangering the peace of the entire world?

The people of Iran are courageously standing up to this regime. People of goodwill around the world stand with them, as do the thousands who have been protesting outside this hall. Will the United Nations stand by their side?" <ref>http://ironicsurrealism.blogivists.com/2009/09/24/transcript-israel-pm-benjamin-netanyahu-un-general-assembly-speech-9-24-09/</ref>

==Books by Netanyahu==
*''Fighting Terrorism: How Democracies Can Defeat Domestic And International Terrorism'' (Diane Pub Co, 1995). ISBN 0-7881-5514-8

*''A Durable Peace: Israel and Its Place Among the Nations'' (Warner Books, 1993 and 2000). ISBN 0-446-52306-2

== Quotes ==

*‎"If the Arabs put down their weapons today, there would be no more violence. If the Jews put down their weapons today, there would be no more Israel." <ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=Px8YAQAAIAAJ&q=%E2%80%8E%22+If+the+Arabs+put+down+their+weapons+today,+there+would+be+no+more+violence.+If+the+Jews+put+down+their+weapons+today,+there+would+be+no+more+Israel+.%22&dq=%E2%80%8E%22+If+the+Arabs+put+down+their+weapons+today,+there+would+be+no+more+violence.+If+the+Jews+put+down+their+weapons+today,+there+would+be+no+more+Israel+.%22&hl=en&ei=O-4gTYeXI4a0lQew0tzXDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCMQ6AEwAA The Bulletin, J. Haynes and J.F. Archibald, 2006]</ref>

*"My opinion of Christian Zionists? They’re scum. But don’t tell them that. We need all the useful idiots we can get right now."<ref>http://www.youngagain.org/economic92012.html</ref>

==External links==
*[http://www.netanyahu.org.il/ Benjamin Netanyahu's blog]

==References==
{{reflist|}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Netanyahu, Benjamin}}

[[Category:Prime Ministers of Israel]]
[[Category:Current Heads of government]]

[[Category:Jewish People]]

Hugo Chavez

2015-08-19T03:00:24Z

Scatach: /* Religious */ content

Hugo Chavez

2015-08-19T02:46:15Z

Scatach: /* Drug trafficking */ falsely accuses him of drug trafficking and drug use

{{Dictator bio
| image =[[Image:chavez.jpg|200px]]
| name =Hugo Chavez
| birth =July 28, 1954 Sabaneta, Venezuela
| parents =Hugo de los Reyes Chávez Elena Frías de Chávez
| religion =Roman Catholic
| education =Daniel Florencio O'Leary High School, Barinas Venezuelan Academy of Military Sciences, Caracas
| spouse =Nancy Colmenares (div.) Marisabel Rodríguez (div.)
| children =Rosa Virginia María Gabriela Hugo Rafael Rosinés (with Marisabel)
| death = circa Dec. 11, 2012 (denied by the [[lamestream media]] until Mar. 5, 2013)
| deathmanner = illness in a Cuban hospital
| burial =The museum of the Bolivarian Revolution in Caracas
| country =[[Venezuela]]
| military =Venezuelan army
| rank =Lieutenant colonel
| polbeliefs =[[Socialism]]
| party =Fifth Republic Movement United Socialist Party
| dictatordate =November 2000
| war =n/a
| deathnumber =n/a
}}
'''Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías''' (b. July 28, 1954 - d. circa Dec. 11, 2012) <ref>http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-21476917 (obviously staged photo)</ref> was the [[leftist]] President of the Bolivarian Republic of [[Venezuela]] from 1999 to 2012. Chavez was not seen in public since he entered a Cuban hospital near death on December 11, 2012. Venezuela's [[socialist]] regime engaged in [[liberal denial]] about his death for nearly three months, even releasing a photo of an ostensibly fit and smiling Chavez. But on March 5, 2013, likely due to pressure from other nations that knew Chavez had died, Venezuelan [[communist]]s finally admitted Chavez was dead. <ref>[http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/03/05/hugo-chavez-dead-at-58-good-riddance.html "Hugo Chavez dead at 58] "How little we know about the manner in which - or when - he died"]</ref> <ref>[http://apnews.myway.com/article/20130311/DA4UKU7G0.html Venezuela candidate: Govt exploits Chavez death]</ref>

A self-proclaimed [[socialist]] and [[collectivist]], his disastrous economic policies led to food shortages, quotas, and rationing in his oil-rich country, causing thousands to flee.<ref>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/venezuela/4938993/Venezuelas-Hugo-Chavez-tightens-state-control-of-food-amid-rocketing-inflation-and-food-shortages.html</ref>
Chávez assumed power as President in 1999 and pledged to aid Venezuela's poor majority.
Fraudulent elections were held in 2000 and in 2006, allowing Chavez to retain his [[Authoritarianism|authoritarian]] power. As such it would be accurate to describe him as a [[dictator]].

*{{Venezuela blunder}}

Due to an illness, in early April 2012 "Hugo Chavez weeps and calls on [[God]] to spare his life."<ref>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/venezuela/9189962/Hugo-Chavez-weeps-and-calls-on-God-to-spare-his-life.html</ref> That contrasts with Jesus's request in his time of crisis, when [[Jesus]] prayed, "O Father, if You can, let this cup pass from Me. But ''don't do what I want, but rather what You want''."<ref>[[Matthew 20-28 (Translated)#26:39|Matthew 26:39]].</ref>

==Election fraud==
Steven F. Hayward wrote:
* While exit polls conducted by the very reliable American firm of Penn, Schoen, and Berland showed Chavez losing by a large margin (41 to 59), the official results put Chavez free and clear by a vote of 58 to 41 percent.<ref>[http://frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=5A8D0094-4590-4DFB-A7F0-C2E06A6820FB]</ref>

A 26 February 2003 report by Robert Tracinski obliterates the left-wing mythology around Chavez:
<blockquote>
: '''Step one''': Chavez has initiated formal proceedings to revoke the licenses of independent, privately owned television and radio stations. Meanwhile, his political militias, the Bolivarian Circles, have staged violent attacks on independent media outlets. After all, elections don't mean much if all people watch is propaganda on state-run television.

: '''Step two''': Chavez has used a moratorium on currency conversion--needed to pay for imported goods--to punish his opponents. Vowing "no dollars for coup-mongers," he has used this power, for example, to prevent opposition newspapers from importing ink. After all, elections don't mean much if your opponents are too busy worrying where their next meal is coming from.

: '''Step three''': Venezuelan police acting on Chavez's orders have arrested Carlos Fernandez, the head of Venezuela's largest business federation and a leader of the recent anti-Chavez strike, charging him with rebellion and sabotage. Another strike leader, Carlos Ortega, head of Venezuela's largest labor union, has gone into hiding. In one move, Chavez has neutralized two potential rivals for the presidency. After all, elections don't mean much if all of the other candidates are in jail.

: '''Step four''': Last week, four protesters were kidnapped while returning from an anti-Chavez rally. They were blindfolded, tortured, and shot execution-style. Some of the victims were witnesses to a previous pro-Chavez political killing, and they had planned to testify against the shooter. Consider the message sent to the opposition when the mutilated bodies of their friends start showing up in the city streets. After all, elections don't mean much if your opponents are afraid to leave their houses and walk to the polls.

: '''Step five''': A few days ago, Chavez delivered a speech denouncing Spain, Colombia, and the US for interfering in Venezuela. This morning in Caracas, the diplomatic missions of Spain and Colombia were bombed. Credit was claimed by a splinter pro-Chavez group--but this was not a bunch of kids cooking up homemade bombs in their basement. The bombs were powerful plastic explosives, the kind of weapons that are difficult to obtain without government complicity.<ref>http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/americas/2514-dictatorship-by-the-numbers-in-venezuela.html {{dead link}}</ref>
</blockquote>

$4 billion dollars were spent paying paramilitary groups to attack unarmed protestors and other dissidents during and after the elections.<ref>http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/americas/2968-venezuela-a-new-junket-for-a-dictator-s-best-friend-jimmy-carter.html</ref>

The [[European Union]] condemned the conditions placed on election monitors as unacceptable and declined to attend. The Carter Center was shut out for three days. Experts from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University have identified signs of fraud based on statistical analysis.<ref>http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/americas/3924-the-carter-stamp-of-approval-on-the-venueuzlan-election-less-than-worthless.html</ref>

==Human rights concerns==
Hugo Chávez was a great friend of the tyrannical [[Cuban]] despot [[Fidel Castro]] and is said to have drawn his political style through influences such as [[Che Guevara]], [[Karl Marx]] and [[Simon Bolivar]]. The U.S. State Department ''Report on Global Anti-Semitism'' cited Chavez in August 2004 warning citizens against following the lead of Jewish citizens in the effort to overturn his referendum victory.<ref>[http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/40258.htm Report on Global Anti-Semitism] U. S. Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, [[Human Rights]], and Labor, January 5, 2005. </ref> Chavez also embraced a number of world leaders that have hostile relations with the United States, including Holocaust-denier [[Mahmoud Ahmadinejad]], the President of [[Iran]], who Chavez has referred to as "my brother".<ref>[http://english.eluniversal.com/2006/07/31/en_pol_art_31A756133.shtml Chávez decorated in Iran; initials cooperation pacts]</ref> U.S. Speaker of the House of Representatives [[Nancy Pelosi]] said of Chavez, "Hugo Chavez fancies himself a modern-day [[Simon Bolivar]], but all he is is an everyday thug."<ref>[http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/pruden092206.php3 Back to the old days, if only for a minute], Wesley Pruden, ''Jewish World Review'', Sept. 22, 2006.</ref> He was also considered to be an ally of [[leftist]] [[Ecuador|Ecuadorian]] president [[Rafael Correa]], [[Bolivia|Bolivian]] president [[Evo Morales]] and the president of [[Nicaragua]], [[Daniel Ortega]] ... all radical leftists.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6187364.stm Correa]</ref>

In May 2007, Chavez silenced the only remaining opposition television station critical of his repression by revoking its licence.<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/venezuela/story/0,,2085952,00.html Chávez silences critical TV station], Rory Carroll, ''The Guardian'', May 23, 2007.</ref> Crowds of students demonstrated saying they feared for the future of human rights in Venezuala. National Guard troops were ordered to fire [[tear gas]] and [[rubber bullets]]. Two students were injured, a third was hit with a tear gas canister, and about 20 people needed emergency medical attention for inhaling tear gas. <ref>[http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/05/28/ap3763178.html Troops Fire Upon Protesters in Venezuela], Fabiola Sanchez, Associated Press, 05.28.07. Retrieved from Forbes.com 05/31/07. </ref> Chavez employs discrimination against [[migrant workers]] in the country.<ref>http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/americas/3924-the-carter-stamp-of-approval-on-the-venueuzlan-election-less-than-worthless.html</ref>

Chavez said, “I am going to go after those who resist the revolution and eliminate them one by one.”<ref>[http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2007/jul/07/guest_commentary_we_must_help_venezuela_because_fr/ Because Freedom Matters], By U.S. Rep. Connie Mack IV and Blanquita Cullm, ''Naples Daily News'', July 7, 2007.</ref>

===Trafficking in Persons===
Venezuela under Chavez was on the U.S. State Department’s Tier 3 list for [[trafficking in persons]] since 2004, which means that the government was categorized as one that has failed to make significant efforts to bring itself into compliance with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking in persons. The State Department’s June 2007 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report maintains that Venezuela is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children trafficked for [[sexual exploitation]] and [[forced labor]].<ref>U.S. Department of State, [http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2007/ Trafficking in Persons Report], June 12, 2007, p. 207.</ref>

==Relations with US==
[[File:Chavez Obama.jpg|thumb|At the Fifth Summit of the Americas.]]
Foreign relations between the [[United States of America]] and [[Venezuela]] are presently unstable. Chavez often criticized the United States for its 'imperialism' on his radio segment 'Alo Presidente', and alleged the United States's supported a 2002 coup in Venezuela which toppled Chávez momentarily and later removed by Chávez supporters, also known as 'Chávistas'. Venezuela is heavily dependent upon trade revenue from oil sales to the United States. Chavez has founded [[Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas|ALBA]] an international organization of leftist countries on the [[Caribic]]s and Southern America. Chavez said that the ALCA is a "instrument of imperialism".

===Terrorism===
In May 2006, the State Department determined that, pursuant to Section 40A of the [[Arms Export Control Act]], Venezuela was not fully cooperating with U.S. [[antiterrorism]] efforts. This triggered a prohibition on the sale or license of defense articles and services to Venezuela. Other countries on the Section 40A list include [[Cuba]], [[Iran]], [[North Korea]], and [[Syria]], not to be confused with the "state sponsors of
terrorism" list under Section 6(j) of the Export Administration Act of 1979, which currently includes Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, and Syria. The State Department asserted that the Section 40A determination was based on Venezuela’s near lack of antiterrorism cooperation over the last year, citing its support for Iraqi insurgents and Iran’s development of nuclear capabilities, the country’s status as a safe haven for Colombian and Basque terrorist groups, and its effort to derail hemispheric efforts to advance counter-terrorism policies in the OAS. In May 2007, the State Department again included Venezuela in its annual Section 40A determination that it was not cooperating fully with U.S. antiterrorism efforts.

In late April 2007, the State Department issued its annual Country Reports on Terrorism, which asserted that President Chávez "persisted in public criticism of U.S. counterterrorism efforts, deepened Venezuelan relationships with Iran and Cuba, and was unwilling to prevent Venezuelan territory from being used as a safe haven" by Colombian terrorist groups.

There have been long-held suspicions that Chávez has supported leftist Colombian guerrillas, although Chávez denies such support. The State Department’s terrorism report maintains that units of Colombia’s two leftist terrorist groups — the [[Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia]] (FARC) and the [[National Liberation Army]] (ELN) — often crossed into Venezuela "to rest and regroup with relative impunity."

In addition, according to the report, splinter groups of the FARC and a rightist terrorist group, the [[AUC|United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia]] (AUC) reportedly operate in various parts of the country and are involved in drug trafficking. The report maintained, however, that "it remained unclear to what extent the Venezuelan
Government provided material support to Colombian terrorists."

In addition, according to the report, Venezuelan citizenship, identity, and travel documents remained easy to obtain, making the country a potentially attractive waystation for terrorists. In July 13, 2006, congressional testimony, the State Department’s Principal Deputy Coordinator for Counterterrorism, Frank Urbancic, asserted that the United States was detaining increasing numbers of third-country aliens at its borders carrying falsified or fraudulently issued Venezuelan documents. U.S. officials also have expressed concerns about President Chávez’s close relationship with Cuba’s Fidel Castro, but Chávez defends his relationship with Cuba. Overall Venezuelan support to Cuba is estimated to be more than $2 billion a year.<ref>Frances Robles and Phil Gunson, ''Cuba Spotlights Chávez Friendship,'' Miami Herald, January 26, 2007.</ref> Venezuela supplies some 90,000 barrels of oil per day to Cuba on a concessionary basis under PetroCaribe. In return, Venezuela has received support from thousands of Cuban health care workers and sports instructors in the country.

During an April 2005 trip to Cuba, Presidents Chávez and Castro announced commercial deals worth over $400 million, including a joint shipyard to build small navy ships and a joint housing construction company. In January 2007, a delegation of Cuban officials visited Caracas and signed a number of agreements to increase economic linkages, including an agreement for joint oil exploration in both countries.

PdVSA is also involved in refurbishing an unfinished oil refinery in Cienfuegos, Cuba. Beyond Latin America, the Bush Administration has expressed concerns with Venezuela’s growing relations with Iran. In February 2006, Secretary of State Rice referred to Venezuela, along with Cuba, as “sidekicks” of Iran in reference to those countries’ votes in the International Atomic Energy Agency against reporting Iran to the U.N. Security Council over its uranium enrichment program.<ref>Pablo Bachelet, “Rice Bashes Venezuelan Leader, Politics,” Miami Herald, February 17, 2006; House International Relations Committee, Hearing on the Fiscal Year 2007
International Affairs Budget, Testimony of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, February
16, 2006.</ref> In testimony before the Senate Select Intelligence Committee in February 2006, Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte expressed concern that President Chávez "is seeking closer economic, military, and diplomatic ties with Iran and North Korea."<ref>Senate Select Intelligence Committee, Hearing on World Wide Threats, Testimony of Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte, February 2, 2006.</ref> ran and Venezuela signed an agreement for a $200 million fund to finance joint investment and social projects, and commercial agreements in the early stages include plans for a cement factory, oil exploration in the Orinoco River belt, and a joint operation to build oil and liquid natural gas tankers.<ref>Steven Dudley, "Chávez’s Wooing of Iran Called Troubling," Miami Herald, March 2, 2006.</ref> During a visit by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Venezuela in mid-January 2007, the two countries announced they would use a $2 billion investment fund to finance projects in both countries and other countries as well.<ref>Simon Romero, ''Iranian President Visits Venezuela to Strengthen Ties,'' New York Times, January 14, 2007.</ref>

Some Members of Congress have expressed concerns about relations between Venezuela and Iran. In the 110th Congress, H.Res. 435 (Klein) would, among its provisions, express concern over national security implications of the relationship between the leaders of Iran and Venezuela.

According to the ''Washington Post'' Chavez was accused of supplying weapons to Colombian rebels, of financing Bolivian and Ecuadorian groups seeking to establish "Marxist" states, and of being, with Cuban leader Fidel Castro's guidance, a "[[subversion (political)|subversive]]" everywhere else in the region.<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/25/AR2005082501420.html?nav=rss_world/centralamerica ''Dealing With the Good and Bad Hugo Chavez''], Marcela Sanchez The Washington Post 25 August 2005.</ref>

==Expropriation==
[[Image:Hugo-chavez8.jpg|left|175px|thumb|Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez with Fidel Castro.]]

In typical socialist rhetoric, Chavez made wild claims to fund the government by nationalizing foreign assets. Typical reasons included accusing companies of environmental damage and exploiting its workers. In 2010 alone, Chavez seized 195 companies. <ref>[http://english.eluniversal.com/2010/10/20/en_eco_art_a-total-of-195-busin_20A4631291.shtml A total of 195 businesses has been seized in 2010, El Universal, October 20, 2010]</ref> Spanish-owned farm supply and U.S.-based Ohio bottle company were recently taken over. Other recognized multi-national companies such ExxonMobil, steel maker Sidor, cement company CEMEX fell to the same fate. <ref>[http://wellsy.wordpress.com/2010/10/26/chavez-takes-over-venezuelan-plants-of-oh-company/ Chavez takes over Venezuelan plants of OH company, Wellsy's World, October 26, 2010]</ref> Venezuala is supposed to compensate the companies but nobody expects Chavez to provide other than peanuts for assets he steals.

Through Venezuela's state owned petroleum industry and membership in [[OPEC]], Chávez used powers granted to him by Parliament to increase oil prices, adding revenue for the Bolivarianist projects. Countries such as the United States have criticized Chávez for the increase in cost for crude oil. Chavez was at the forefront of wanting to set crude oil prices at $60 a barrel minimum, according to the ''Asia Times''<ref>[http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/HL07Dj01.html ''Bush, OPEC and Chavez of Arabia''], Pepe Escobar, Asia Times, 7 December 2006.</ref> The state owned oil company PDVSA is estimated to have spent in excess of $120 million dollars sponsoring the [[Formula 1]] team, Willaims F1, so that they would give the Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado a seat.

==Anti-semitism==
[[File:Chavez ahmad.jpg|thumb|Hugo Chavez and Holocaust denier [[Mahmoud Ahmadinejad]]]]
Chavez was known to be fiercely [[Anti-semitism|anti-semitic]]<ref>http://www.commentarymagazine.com/viewarticle.cfm/hugo-ch-vez-s-jewish-problem-11455
</ref>, which was the likely reason for his friendship and political alliance with Iranian dictator and [[Holocaust denial|holocaust denier]] [[Mahmoud Ahmadinejad]]<ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/04/AR2008020402428.html
</ref>. As a result of the anti-semitic policies of the Chavez regime and the wave of violent attacks on Venezuelan Jews that it caused, the [[Jewish]] population of Venezuela decreased by more than 50 percent within a decade of Chavez coming to power.<ref>http://www.worldjewishdaily.com/venezuela.php</ref>

==Drug problem in Venezuela==
The ''Associated Press'' reported in July 2007 that since Chavez's ascension to power, illegal narcotics passing through Venezuela from [[Colombia]] has risen by as much as 30 tons a year and now accounts for roughly a third of the world's supply of [[cocaine]]. Mildred Camero who was in charge of Venezuela's anti-drug efforts stated, "[[Caracas]] is replacing [[Bogota]] as a center of everything related to drug operations." Camero was fired in 2005 after reporting high-level corruption. <ref>[http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/07/01/ap3875048.html Venezuela Becomes Cocaine Conduit], By Ian James and Frank Bajak, ''Associated Press'', 1 July 2007. Retrieved from Forbes.com 8 July 2007.</ref>

In 2008 Chavez revealed that he himself regularly chews coca leafs, the leafs from which cocaine is made.This is a common custom in that area of South America.<ref>[http://uk.reuters.com/article/2008/01/26/uk-venezuela-chavez-coca-idUKN2638848320080126 Venezuela's Chavez swaps coffee for coca in speech - Reuters]</ref>

==Religious==
Chavez demanded that [[Pope Benedict]] apologize for saying the Roman Catholic Church purified Indians in Latin America. Chavez called the treatment of Indians after [[Christopher Columbus]] landed in 1492 a "holocaust".<ref>[http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSN1819661120070519 Chavez demands Pope apologize for Indian comments], Reuters, May 19, 2007</ref>

==2011-2012 Health Crisis and subsequent cover-up and Constitutional Crisis==

On June 30th, 2011, the 56 year-old President admitted, in a televised speech, of having cancer.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-13991906]</ref>.He sought treatment, to no avail, in Brazil.<ref>http://latindispatch.com/2011/07/14/hugo-chavez-to-receive-cancer-treatment-in-brazil/</ref>

Despite being aware of his condition, Chavez chose to run again for President. On 7 October 2012, a terminally ill Chávez won election as president for a fourth time, defeating Henrique Capriles.<ref>http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/08/venezuela-election-idUSL1E8L70WK20121008</ref>

Chavez was not seen since 11 December 2012, the last time he appeared in public. He must have died shortly afterwards. However, the Cuban and Venezuelan communists attempted to keep his death secret, and pretended he was alive for another two and a half months, going as far as using his [[Twitter]] account to post fake messages from a supposedly recovering Chavez.

Chavez should have taken the oath of office on January the 10th, the necessary step to assume the presidency for his new period. However, Venezuela's Supreme Court ignored the provisions of the Venezuelan Constitution (reformed by Chavez himself in 1999) and allowed Chavez to become president without taking the oath of office, thus doing away with any remaining semblance of constitutional government.

On February, the 18th it was announced that Chavez had returned to Venezuela to finish his recovery.<ref>http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/02/18/president-chavez-returns-to-venezuela-from-cuba-after-months-medical-treatment/</ref> The then Venezuelan vice-president [[Nicolás Maduro]] said that Chavez had been flown in secrecy from [[Havana]] to [[Caracas]] in the early hours of the morning to avoid possible attacks from his enemies. The two top floors of Caracas' Military Hospital were sealed from the public, with Chavez supposedly recovering in the 8th floor and the 7th floor closed to guarantee his security. On March the 5th the Venezuelan ''de facto'' government finally ended the charade and announced that Chavez had died, suggesting also that his cancer and death had been the result of an assessination plot by "the historical enemies of the Fatherland" (referring to the United States and the Venezuelan democratic opposition). On March 7th, Venezuelan vice-president announced that Chavez's body should be embalmed and put on permanent display inside a glass tomb, thus imitating the treatment given to the corpses of other Communist dictators like [[Vladimir Lenin|Lenin]], [[Joseph Stalin|Stalin]], [[Klement Gottwald]], [[Georgi Dimitrov]], [[Mao Zedong]], [[Ho Chi Minh]], [[Kim Il-Sung]] and [[Kim Jong-Il]].<ref>FOX News: [http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/03/07/chavez-body-embalmed-to-be-permanently-on-display/ Chavez's body embalmed, to be permanently on display] (March 7, 2013)</ref> But this was canceled because Chavez`s body would otherwise should be brought for a time in Russia.

==Quotes from Hugo Chavez==
* On closure of RCTV, claiming the network's broadcasts amounted to a "permanent attack on public morals" with cartoons that were "poisoned with hatred, violence and even sex."

* "Private banks have to give priority to financing the industrial sectors of Venezuela at low cost...If banks don't agree with this, it's better that they go, that they turn over the banks to me."

==See Also==
* [[Previous Breaking News/Hugo Chavez|Articles about '''Hugo Chavez''' from previous "Breaking News"]]
* [[Dictatorship]]
** [[Dictator]]
** [[List of dictators]]
** [[Friendly dictator]]
** [[Adolf Hitler]], [[Joseph Stalin]], [[Chairman Mao]], [[Kim Jong-Il]], [[Pol Pot]]
** [[Dictatorship of the proletariat]]
** [[List of Communist States]]
** [[List of Socialist States]]
** [[Death toll of communism]]
** [[Coup d'etat]]
* [[Cult of personality]]
* [[Single-party state]]
* [[Mobocracy]], [[Social Effects of the Theory of Evolution]], [[Anti-Semitism]], [[Communist Racism]], [[Genocide]], [[Holocaust]]
* [[National Socialist German Workers Party]] ([[Nazi]])
* [[National Socialism]] - the Nazis were elitist [[Police state]] [[liberals]] not [[conservative]]s
* [[Big government]] [[Welfare state]] leads to [[Nanny state]], leads to [[Police state]]: [[Globalist]]-[[Statist]]-[[Socialist]]-[[Communist]]
* [[Liberal totalitarianism]]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==Further reading==
*[http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/] An in depth view on Venezuela under Hugo Chávez.
*[http://www.latinbusinesschronicle.com/app/article.aspx?id=706] An overview of articles on Venezuela's business under Hugo Chávez.
*[http://www.realclearpolitics.com/Commentary/com-2_24_06_AVL.html ''Why The Left Should Cringe at The Mention of Hugo Chavez''], Alvaro Vargas Llosa, Independent Institute, February 24, 2006.
*[http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_kmnew/is_200108/ai_kepm313968 ''Bolivar, Dictator or Paladin?''] Interview: Hugo Chavez talks about Venezuela, Maria Amparo Lasso, Newsweek, Aug 20, 2001.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chavez, Hugo}}
[[Category:Venezuela]]
[[Category:Dictators]]
[[Category:Anti-Semitism]]
[[Category:Socialists]]

Hugo Chavez

2015-08-19T02:36:33Z

Scatach: covered in illness section

{{Dictator bio
| image =[[Image:chavez.jpg|200px]]
| name =Hugo Chavez
| birth =July 28, 1954 Sabaneta, Venezuela
| parents =Hugo de los Reyes Chávez Elena Frías de Chávez
| religion =Roman Catholic
| education =Daniel Florencio O'Leary High School, Barinas Venezuelan Academy of Military Sciences, Caracas
| spouse =Nancy Colmenares (div.) Marisabel Rodríguez (div.)
| children =Rosa Virginia María Gabriela Hugo Rafael Rosinés (with Marisabel)
| death = circa Dec. 11, 2012 (denied by the [[lamestream media]] until Mar. 5, 2013)
| deathmanner = illness in a Cuban hospital
| burial =The museum of the Bolivarian Revolution in Caracas
| country =[[Venezuela]]
| military =Venezuelan army
| rank =Lieutenant colonel
| polbeliefs =[[Socialism]]
| party =Fifth Republic Movement United Socialist Party
| dictatordate =November 2000
| war =n/a
| deathnumber =n/a
}}
'''Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías''' (b. July 28, 1954 - d. circa Dec. 11, 2012) <ref>http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-21476917 (obviously staged photo)</ref> was the [[leftist]] President of the Bolivarian Republic of [[Venezuela]] from 1999 to 2012. Chavez was not seen in public since he entered a Cuban hospital near death on December 11, 2012. Venezuela's [[socialist]] regime engaged in [[liberal denial]] about his death for nearly three months, even releasing a photo of an ostensibly fit and smiling Chavez. But on March 5, 2013, likely due to pressure from other nations that knew Chavez had died, Venezuelan [[communist]]s finally admitted Chavez was dead. <ref>[http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/03/05/hugo-chavez-dead-at-58-good-riddance.html "Hugo Chavez dead at 58] "How little we know about the manner in which - or when - he died"]</ref> <ref>[http://apnews.myway.com/article/20130311/DA4UKU7G0.html Venezuela candidate: Govt exploits Chavez death]</ref>

A self-proclaimed [[socialist]] and [[collectivist]], his disastrous economic policies led to food shortages, quotas, and rationing in his oil-rich country, causing thousands to flee.<ref>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/venezuela/4938993/Venezuelas-Hugo-Chavez-tightens-state-control-of-food-amid-rocketing-inflation-and-food-shortages.html</ref>
Chávez assumed power as President in 1999 and pledged to aid Venezuela's poor majority.
Fraudulent elections were held in 2000 and in 2006, allowing Chavez to retain his [[Authoritarianism|authoritarian]] power. As such it would be accurate to describe him as a [[dictator]].

*{{Venezuela blunder}}

Due to an illness, in early April 2012 "Hugo Chavez weeps and calls on [[God]] to spare his life."<ref>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/venezuela/9189962/Hugo-Chavez-weeps-and-calls-on-God-to-spare-his-life.html</ref> That contrasts with Jesus's request in his time of crisis, when [[Jesus]] prayed, "O Father, if You can, let this cup pass from Me. But ''don't do what I want, but rather what You want''."<ref>[[Matthew 20-28 (Translated)#26:39|Matthew 26:39]].</ref>

==Election fraud==
Steven F. Hayward wrote:
* While exit polls conducted by the very reliable American firm of Penn, Schoen, and Berland showed Chavez losing by a large margin (41 to 59), the official results put Chavez free and clear by a vote of 58 to 41 percent.<ref>[http://frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=5A8D0094-4590-4DFB-A7F0-C2E06A6820FB]</ref>

A 26 February 2003 report by Robert Tracinski obliterates the left-wing mythology around Chavez:
<blockquote>
: '''Step one''': Chavez has initiated formal proceedings to revoke the licenses of independent, privately owned television and radio stations. Meanwhile, his political militias, the Bolivarian Circles, have staged violent attacks on independent media outlets. After all, elections don't mean much if all people watch is propaganda on state-run television.

: '''Step two''': Chavez has used a moratorium on currency conversion--needed to pay for imported goods--to punish his opponents. Vowing "no dollars for coup-mongers," he has used this power, for example, to prevent opposition newspapers from importing ink. After all, elections don't mean much if your opponents are too busy worrying where their next meal is coming from.

: '''Step three''': Venezuelan police acting on Chavez's orders have arrested Carlos Fernandez, the head of Venezuela's largest business federation and a leader of the recent anti-Chavez strike, charging him with rebellion and sabotage. Another strike leader, Carlos Ortega, head of Venezuela's largest labor union, has gone into hiding. In one move, Chavez has neutralized two potential rivals for the presidency. After all, elections don't mean much if all of the other candidates are in jail.

: '''Step four''': Last week, four protesters were kidnapped while returning from an anti-Chavez rally. They were blindfolded, tortured, and shot execution-style. Some of the victims were witnesses to a previous pro-Chavez political killing, and they had planned to testify against the shooter. Consider the message sent to the opposition when the mutilated bodies of their friends start showing up in the city streets. After all, elections don't mean much if your opponents are afraid to leave their houses and walk to the polls.

: '''Step five''': A few days ago, Chavez delivered a speech denouncing Spain, Colombia, and the US for interfering in Venezuela. This morning in Caracas, the diplomatic missions of Spain and Colombia were bombed. Credit was claimed by a splinter pro-Chavez group--but this was not a bunch of kids cooking up homemade bombs in their basement. The bombs were powerful plastic explosives, the kind of weapons that are difficult to obtain without government complicity.<ref>http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/americas/2514-dictatorship-by-the-numbers-in-venezuela.html {{dead link}}</ref>
</blockquote>

$4 billion dollars were spent paying paramilitary groups to attack unarmed protestors and other dissidents during and after the elections.<ref>http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/americas/2968-venezuela-a-new-junket-for-a-dictator-s-best-friend-jimmy-carter.html</ref>

The [[European Union]] condemned the conditions placed on election monitors as unacceptable and declined to attend. The Carter Center was shut out for three days. Experts from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University have identified signs of fraud based on statistical analysis.<ref>http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/americas/3924-the-carter-stamp-of-approval-on-the-venueuzlan-election-less-than-worthless.html</ref>

==Human rights concerns==
Hugo Chávez was a great friend of the tyrannical [[Cuban]] despot [[Fidel Castro]] and is said to have drawn his political style through influences such as [[Che Guevara]], [[Karl Marx]] and [[Simon Bolivar]]. The U.S. State Department ''Report on Global Anti-Semitism'' cited Chavez in August 2004 warning citizens against following the lead of Jewish citizens in the effort to overturn his referendum victory.<ref>[http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/40258.htm Report on Global Anti-Semitism] U. S. Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, [[Human Rights]], and Labor, January 5, 2005. </ref> Chavez also embraced a number of world leaders that have hostile relations with the United States, including Holocaust-denier [[Mahmoud Ahmadinejad]], the President of [[Iran]], who Chavez has referred to as "my brother".<ref>[http://english.eluniversal.com/2006/07/31/en_pol_art_31A756133.shtml Chávez decorated in Iran; initials cooperation pacts]</ref> U.S. Speaker of the House of Representatives [[Nancy Pelosi]] said of Chavez, "Hugo Chavez fancies himself a modern-day [[Simon Bolivar]], but all he is is an everyday thug."<ref>[http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/pruden092206.php3 Back to the old days, if only for a minute], Wesley Pruden, ''Jewish World Review'', Sept. 22, 2006.</ref> He was also considered to be an ally of [[leftist]] [[Ecuador|Ecuadorian]] president [[Rafael Correa]], [[Bolivia|Bolivian]] president [[Evo Morales]] and the president of [[Nicaragua]], [[Daniel Ortega]] ... all radical leftists.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6187364.stm Correa]</ref>

In May 2007, Chavez silenced the only remaining opposition television station critical of his repression by revoking its licence.<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/venezuela/story/0,,2085952,00.html Chávez silences critical TV station], Rory Carroll, ''The Guardian'', May 23, 2007.</ref> Crowds of students demonstrated saying they feared for the future of human rights in Venezuala. National Guard troops were ordered to fire [[tear gas]] and [[rubber bullets]]. Two students were injured, a third was hit with a tear gas canister, and about 20 people needed emergency medical attention for inhaling tear gas. <ref>[http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/05/28/ap3763178.html Troops Fire Upon Protesters in Venezuela], Fabiola Sanchez, Associated Press, 05.28.07. Retrieved from Forbes.com 05/31/07. </ref> Chavez employs discrimination against [[migrant workers]] in the country.<ref>http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/americas/3924-the-carter-stamp-of-approval-on-the-venueuzlan-election-less-than-worthless.html</ref>

Chavez said, “I am going to go after those who resist the revolution and eliminate them one by one.”<ref>[http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2007/jul/07/guest_commentary_we_must_help_venezuela_because_fr/ Because Freedom Matters], By U.S. Rep. Connie Mack IV and Blanquita Cullm, ''Naples Daily News'', July 7, 2007.</ref>

===Trafficking in Persons===
Venezuela under Chavez was on the U.S. State Department’s Tier 3 list for [[trafficking in persons]] since 2004, which means that the government was categorized as one that has failed to make significant efforts to bring itself into compliance with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking in persons. The State Department’s June 2007 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report maintains that Venezuela is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children trafficked for [[sexual exploitation]] and [[forced labor]].<ref>U.S. Department of State, [http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2007/ Trafficking in Persons Report], June 12, 2007, p. 207.</ref>

==Relations with US==
[[File:Chavez Obama.jpg|thumb|At the Fifth Summit of the Americas.]]
Foreign relations between the [[United States of America]] and [[Venezuela]] are presently unstable. Chavez often criticized the United States for its 'imperialism' on his radio segment 'Alo Presidente', and alleged the United States's supported a 2002 coup in Venezuela which toppled Chávez momentarily and later removed by Chávez supporters, also known as 'Chávistas'. Venezuela is heavily dependent upon trade revenue from oil sales to the United States. Chavez has founded [[Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas|ALBA]] an international organization of leftist countries on the [[Caribic]]s and Southern America. Chavez said that the ALCA is a "instrument of imperialism".

===Terrorism===
In May 2006, the State Department determined that, pursuant to Section 40A of the [[Arms Export Control Act]], Venezuela was not fully cooperating with U.S. [[antiterrorism]] efforts. This triggered a prohibition on the sale or license of defense articles and services to Venezuela. Other countries on the Section 40A list include [[Cuba]], [[Iran]], [[North Korea]], and [[Syria]], not to be confused with the "state sponsors of
terrorism" list under Section 6(j) of the Export Administration Act of 1979, which currently includes Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, and Syria. The State Department asserted that the Section 40A determination was based on Venezuela’s near lack of antiterrorism cooperation over the last year, citing its support for Iraqi insurgents and Iran’s development of nuclear capabilities, the country’s status as a safe haven for Colombian and Basque terrorist groups, and its effort to derail hemispheric efforts to advance counter-terrorism policies in the OAS. In May 2007, the State Department again included Venezuela in its annual Section 40A determination that it was not cooperating fully with U.S. antiterrorism efforts.

In late April 2007, the State Department issued its annual Country Reports on Terrorism, which asserted that President Chávez "persisted in public criticism of U.S. counterterrorism efforts, deepened Venezuelan relationships with Iran and Cuba, and was unwilling to prevent Venezuelan territory from being used as a safe haven" by Colombian terrorist groups.

There have been long-held suspicions that Chávez has supported leftist Colombian guerrillas, although Chávez denies such support. The State Department’s terrorism report maintains that units of Colombia’s two leftist terrorist groups — the [[Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia]] (FARC) and the [[National Liberation Army]] (ELN) — often crossed into Venezuela "to rest and regroup with relative impunity."

In addition, according to the report, splinter groups of the FARC and a rightist terrorist group, the [[AUC|United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia]] (AUC) reportedly operate in various parts of the country and are involved in drug trafficking. The report maintained, however, that "it remained unclear to what extent the Venezuelan
Government provided material support to Colombian terrorists."

In addition, according to the report, Venezuelan citizenship, identity, and travel documents remained easy to obtain, making the country a potentially attractive waystation for terrorists. In July 13, 2006, congressional testimony, the State Department’s Principal Deputy Coordinator for Counterterrorism, Frank Urbancic, asserted that the United States was detaining increasing numbers of third-country aliens at its borders carrying falsified or fraudulently issued Venezuelan documents. U.S. officials also have expressed concerns about President Chávez’s close relationship with Cuba’s Fidel Castro, but Chávez defends his relationship with Cuba. Overall Venezuelan support to Cuba is estimated to be more than $2 billion a year.<ref>Frances Robles and Phil Gunson, ''Cuba Spotlights Chávez Friendship,'' Miami Herald, January 26, 2007.</ref> Venezuela supplies some 90,000 barrels of oil per day to Cuba on a concessionary basis under PetroCaribe. In return, Venezuela has received support from thousands of Cuban health care workers and sports instructors in the country.

During an April 2005 trip to Cuba, Presidents Chávez and Castro announced commercial deals worth over $400 million, including a joint shipyard to build small navy ships and a joint housing construction company. In January 2007, a delegation of Cuban officials visited Caracas and signed a number of agreements to increase economic linkages, including an agreement for joint oil exploration in both countries.

PdVSA is also involved in refurbishing an unfinished oil refinery in Cienfuegos, Cuba. Beyond Latin America, the Bush Administration has expressed concerns with Venezuela’s growing relations with Iran. In February 2006, Secretary of State Rice referred to Venezuela, along with Cuba, as “sidekicks” of Iran in reference to those countries’ votes in the International Atomic Energy Agency against reporting Iran to the U.N. Security Council over its uranium enrichment program.<ref>Pablo Bachelet, “Rice Bashes Venezuelan Leader, Politics,” Miami Herald, February 17, 2006; House International Relations Committee, Hearing on the Fiscal Year 2007
International Affairs Budget, Testimony of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, February
16, 2006.</ref> In testimony before the Senate Select Intelligence Committee in February 2006, Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte expressed concern that President Chávez "is seeking closer economic, military, and diplomatic ties with Iran and North Korea."<ref>Senate Select Intelligence Committee, Hearing on World Wide Threats, Testimony of Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte, February 2, 2006.</ref> ran and Venezuela signed an agreement for a $200 million fund to finance joint investment and social projects, and commercial agreements in the early stages include plans for a cement factory, oil exploration in the Orinoco River belt, and a joint operation to build oil and liquid natural gas tankers.<ref>Steven Dudley, "Chávez’s Wooing of Iran Called Troubling," Miami Herald, March 2, 2006.</ref> During a visit by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Venezuela in mid-January 2007, the two countries announced they would use a $2 billion investment fund to finance projects in both countries and other countries as well.<ref>Simon Romero, ''Iranian President Visits Venezuela to Strengthen Ties,'' New York Times, January 14, 2007.</ref>

Some Members of Congress have expressed concerns about relations between Venezuela and Iran. In the 110th Congress, H.Res. 435 (Klein) would, among its provisions, express concern over national security implications of the relationship between the leaders of Iran and Venezuela.

According to the ''Washington Post'' Chavez was accused of supplying weapons to Colombian rebels, of financing Bolivian and Ecuadorian groups seeking to establish "Marxist" states, and of being, with Cuban leader Fidel Castro's guidance, a "[[subversion (political)|subversive]]" everywhere else in the region.<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/25/AR2005082501420.html?nav=rss_world/centralamerica ''Dealing With the Good and Bad Hugo Chavez''], Marcela Sanchez The Washington Post 25 August 2005.</ref>

==Expropriation==
[[Image:Hugo-chavez8.jpg|left|175px|thumb|Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez with Fidel Castro.]]

In typical socialist rhetoric, Chavez made wild claims to fund the government by nationalizing foreign assets. Typical reasons included accusing companies of environmental damage and exploiting its workers. In 2010 alone, Chavez seized 195 companies. <ref>[http://english.eluniversal.com/2010/10/20/en_eco_art_a-total-of-195-busin_20A4631291.shtml A total of 195 businesses has been seized in 2010, El Universal, October 20, 2010]</ref> Spanish-owned farm supply and U.S.-based Ohio bottle company were recently taken over. Other recognized multi-national companies such ExxonMobil, steel maker Sidor, cement company CEMEX fell to the same fate. <ref>[http://wellsy.wordpress.com/2010/10/26/chavez-takes-over-venezuelan-plants-of-oh-company/ Chavez takes over Venezuelan plants of OH company, Wellsy's World, October 26, 2010]</ref> Venezuala is supposed to compensate the companies but nobody expects Chavez to provide other than peanuts for assets he steals.

Through Venezuela's state owned petroleum industry and membership in [[OPEC]], Chávez used powers granted to him by Parliament to increase oil prices, adding revenue for the Bolivarianist projects. Countries such as the United States have criticized Chávez for the increase in cost for crude oil. Chavez was at the forefront of wanting to set crude oil prices at $60 a barrel minimum, according to the ''Asia Times''<ref>[http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/HL07Dj01.html ''Bush, OPEC and Chavez of Arabia''], Pepe Escobar, Asia Times, 7 December 2006.</ref> The state owned oil company PDVSA is estimated to have spent in excess of $120 million dollars sponsoring the [[Formula 1]] team, Willaims F1, so that they would give the Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado a seat.

==Anti-semitism==
[[File:Chavez ahmad.jpg|thumb|Hugo Chavez and Holocaust denier [[Mahmoud Ahmadinejad]]]]
Chavez was known to be fiercely [[Anti-semitism|anti-semitic]]<ref>http://www.commentarymagazine.com/viewarticle.cfm/hugo-ch-vez-s-jewish-problem-11455
</ref>, which was the likely reason for his friendship and political alliance with Iranian dictator and [[Holocaust denial|holocaust denier]] [[Mahmoud Ahmadinejad]]<ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/04/AR2008020402428.html
</ref>. As a result of the anti-semitic policies of the Chavez regime and the wave of violent attacks on Venezuelan Jews that it caused, the [[Jewish]] population of Venezuela decreased by more than 50 percent within a decade of Chavez coming to power.<ref>http://www.worldjewishdaily.com/venezuela.php</ref>

==Drug trafficking==
The ''Associated Press'' reported in July 2007 that since Chavez's ascension to power, illegal narcotics passing through Venezuela from [[Colombia]] has risen by as much as 30 tons a year and now accounts for roughly a third of the world's supply of [[cocaine]]. Mildred Camero who was in charge of Venezuela's anti-drug efforts stated, "[[Caracas]] is replacing [[Bogota]] as a center of everything related to drug operations." Camero was fired in 2005 after reporting high-level corruption. <ref>[http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/07/01/ap3875048.html Venezuela Becomes Cocaine Conduit], By Ian James and Frank Bajak, ''Associated Press'', 1 July 2007. Retrieved from Forbes.com 8 July 2007.</ref>

In 2008 Chavez revealed that he himself regularly chews coca leafs, the leafs from which cocaine is made.<ref>[http://uk.reuters.com/article/2008/01/26/uk-venezuela-chavez-coca-idUKN2638848320080126 Venezuela's Chavez swaps coffee for coca in speech - Reuters]</ref> This revelation casts serious doubts about his ability to function properly as a head of state and reach sound judgements.

==Religious==
Chavez demanded that [[Pope Benedict]] apologize for saying the Roman Catholic Church purified Indians in Latin America. Chavez called the treatment of Indians after [[Christopher Columbus]] landed in 1492 a "holocaust".<ref>[http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSN1819661120070519 Chavez demands Pope apologize for Indian comments], Reuters, May 19, 2007</ref>

==2011-2012 Health Crisis and subsequent cover-up and Constitutional Crisis==

On June 30th, 2011, the 56 year-old President admitted, in a televised speech, of having cancer.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-13991906]</ref>.He sought treatment, to no avail, in Brazil.<ref>http://latindispatch.com/2011/07/14/hugo-chavez-to-receive-cancer-treatment-in-brazil/</ref>

Despite being aware of his condition, Chavez chose to run again for President. On 7 October 2012, a terminally ill Chávez won election as president for a fourth time, defeating Henrique Capriles.<ref>http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/08/venezuela-election-idUSL1E8L70WK20121008</ref>

Chavez was not seen since 11 December 2012, the last time he appeared in public. He must have died shortly afterwards. However, the Cuban and Venezuelan communists attempted to keep his death secret, and pretended he was alive for another two and a half months, going as far as using his [[Twitter]] account to post fake messages from a supposedly recovering Chavez.

Chavez should have taken the oath of office on January the 10th, the necessary step to assume the presidency for his new period. However, Venezuela's Supreme Court ignored the provisions of the Venezuelan Constitution (reformed by Chavez himself in 1999) and allowed Chavez to become president without taking the oath of office, thus doing away with any remaining semblance of constitutional government.

On February, the 18th it was announced that Chavez had returned to Venezuela to finish his recovery.<ref>http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/02/18/president-chavez-returns-to-venezuela-from-cuba-after-months-medical-treatment/</ref> The then Venezuelan vice-president [[Nicolás Maduro]] said that Chavez had been flown in secrecy from [[Havana]] to [[Caracas]] in the early hours of the morning to avoid possible attacks from his enemies. The two top floors of Caracas' Military Hospital were sealed from the public, with Chavez supposedly recovering in the 8th floor and the 7th floor closed to guarantee his security. On March the 5th the Venezuelan ''de facto'' government finally ended the charade and announced that Chavez had died, suggesting also that his cancer and death had been the result of an assessination plot by "the historical enemies of the Fatherland" (referring to the United States and the Venezuelan democratic opposition). On March 7th, Venezuelan vice-president announced that Chavez's body should be embalmed and put on permanent display inside a glass tomb, thus imitating the treatment given to the corpses of other Communist dictators like [[Vladimir Lenin|Lenin]], [[Joseph Stalin|Stalin]], [[Klement Gottwald]], [[Georgi Dimitrov]], [[Mao Zedong]], [[Ho Chi Minh]], [[Kim Il-Sung]] and [[Kim Jong-Il]].<ref>FOX News: [http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/03/07/chavez-body-embalmed-to-be-permanently-on-display/ Chavez's body embalmed, to be permanently on display] (March 7, 2013)</ref> But this was canceled because Chavez`s body would otherwise should be brought for a time in Russia.

==Quotes from Hugo Chavez==
* On closure of RCTV, claiming the network's broadcasts amounted to a "permanent attack on public morals" with cartoons that were "poisoned with hatred, violence and even sex."

* "Private banks have to give priority to financing the industrial sectors of Venezuela at low cost...If banks don't agree with this, it's better that they go, that they turn over the banks to me."

==See Also==
* [[Previous Breaking News/Hugo Chavez|Articles about '''Hugo Chavez''' from previous "Breaking News"]]
* [[Dictatorship]]
** [[Dictator]]
** [[List of dictators]]
** [[Friendly dictator]]
** [[Adolf Hitler]], [[Joseph Stalin]], [[Chairman Mao]], [[Kim Jong-Il]], [[Pol Pot]]
** [[Dictatorship of the proletariat]]
** [[List of Communist States]]
** [[List of Socialist States]]
** [[Death toll of communism]]
** [[Coup d'etat]]
* [[Cult of personality]]
* [[Single-party state]]
* [[Mobocracy]], [[Social Effects of the Theory of Evolution]], [[Anti-Semitism]], [[Communist Racism]], [[Genocide]], [[Holocaust]]
* [[National Socialist German Workers Party]] ([[Nazi]])
* [[National Socialism]] - the Nazis were elitist [[Police state]] [[liberals]] not [[conservative]]s
* [[Big government]] [[Welfare state]] leads to [[Nanny state]], leads to [[Police state]]: [[Globalist]]-[[Statist]]-[[Socialist]]-[[Communist]]
* [[Liberal totalitarianism]]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==Further reading==
*[http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/] An in depth view on Venezuela under Hugo Chávez.
*[http://www.latinbusinesschronicle.com/app/article.aspx?id=706] An overview of articles on Venezuela's business under Hugo Chávez.
*[http://www.realclearpolitics.com/Commentary/com-2_24_06_AVL.html ''Why The Left Should Cringe at The Mention of Hugo Chavez''], Alvaro Vargas Llosa, Independent Institute, February 24, 2006.
*[http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_kmnew/is_200108/ai_kepm313968 ''Bolivar, Dictator or Paladin?''] Interview: Hugo Chavez talks about Venezuela, Maria Amparo Lasso, Newsweek, Aug 20, 2001.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chavez, Hugo}}
[[Category:Venezuela]]
[[Category:Dictators]]
[[Category:Anti-Semitism]]
[[Category:Socialists]]

Hugo Chavez

2015-08-19T02:35:01Z

Scatach: /* 2011-2012 Health Crisis and Constitutional Crisis */ This reads like the person who wrote it had a personal grudge against Chavez

{{Dictator bio
| image =[[Image:chavez.jpg|200px]]
| name =Hugo Chavez
| birth =July 28, 1954 Sabaneta, Venezuela
| parents =Hugo de los Reyes Chávez Elena Frías de Chávez
| religion =Roman Catholic
| education =Daniel Florencio O'Leary High School, Barinas Venezuelan Academy of Military Sciences, Caracas
| spouse =Nancy Colmenares (div.) Marisabel Rodríguez (div.)
| children =Rosa Virginia María Gabriela Hugo Rafael Rosinés (with Marisabel)
| death = circa Dec. 11, 2012 (denied by the [[lamestream media]] until Mar. 5, 2013)
| deathmanner = illness in a Cuban hospital
| burial =The museum of the Bolivarian Revolution in Caracas
| country =[[Venezuela]]
| military =Venezuelan army
| rank =Lieutenant colonel
| polbeliefs =[[Socialism]]
| party =Fifth Republic Movement United Socialist Party
| dictatordate =November 2000
| war =n/a
| deathnumber =n/a
}}
'''Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías''' (b. July 28, 1954 - d. circa Dec. 11, 2012) <ref>http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-21476917 (obviously staged photo)</ref> was the [[leftist]] President of the Bolivarian Republic of [[Venezuela]] from 1999 to 2012. Chavez was not seen in public since he entered a Cuban hospital near death on December 11, 2012. Venezuela's [[socialist]] regime engaged in [[liberal denial]] about his death for nearly three months, even releasing a photo of an ostensibly fit and smiling Chavez. But on March 5, 2013, likely due to pressure from other nations that knew Chavez had died, Venezuelan [[communist]]s finally admitted Chavez was dead. <ref>[http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/03/05/hugo-chavez-dead-at-58-good-riddance.html "Hugo Chavez dead at 58] "How little we know about the manner in which - or when - he died"]</ref> <ref>[http://apnews.myway.com/article/20130311/DA4UKU7G0.html Venezuela candidate: Govt exploits Chavez death]</ref>

A self-proclaimed [[socialist]] and [[collectivist]], his disastrous economic policies led to food shortages, quotas, and rationing in his oil-rich country, causing thousands to flee.<ref>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/venezuela/4938993/Venezuelas-Hugo-Chavez-tightens-state-control-of-food-amid-rocketing-inflation-and-food-shortages.html</ref>
Chávez assumed power as President in 1999 and pledged to aid Venezuela's poor majority.
Fraudulent elections were held in 2000 and in 2006, allowing Chavez to retain his [[Authoritarianism|authoritarian]] power. As such it would be accurate to describe him as a [[dictator]].

*{{Venezuela blunder}}

Due to an illness, in early April 2012 "Hugo Chavez weeps and calls on [[God]] to spare his life."<ref>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/venezuela/9189962/Hugo-Chavez-weeps-and-calls-on-God-to-spare-his-life.html</ref> That contrasts with Jesus's request in his time of crisis, when [[Jesus]] prayed, "O Father, if You can, let this cup pass from Me. But ''don't do what I want, but rather what You want''."<ref>[[Matthew 20-28 (Translated)#26:39|Matthew 26:39]].</ref>

Despite knowing full well that he was dying of cancer and had only a few months to live, Chavez selfishly chose to run for reelection and plunge his country into chaos and turmoil instead of organizing a more orderly transfer of power to one of his Communist cronies. On 7 October 2012, a terminally ill Chávez won election as president for a fourth time, defeating Henrique Capriles, and would have served another six years until 2019 if he had remained alive.<ref>http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/08/venezuela-election-idUSL1E8L70WK20121008</ref>

==Election fraud==
Steven F. Hayward wrote:
* While exit polls conducted by the very reliable American firm of Penn, Schoen, and Berland showed Chavez losing by a large margin (41 to 59), the official results put Chavez free and clear by a vote of 58 to 41 percent.<ref>[http://frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=5A8D0094-4590-4DFB-A7F0-C2E06A6820FB]</ref>

A 26 February 2003 report by Robert Tracinski obliterates the left-wing mythology around Chavez:
<blockquote>
: '''Step one''': Chavez has initiated formal proceedings to revoke the licenses of independent, privately owned television and radio stations. Meanwhile, his political militias, the Bolivarian Circles, have staged violent attacks on independent media outlets. After all, elections don't mean much if all people watch is propaganda on state-run television.

: '''Step two''': Chavez has used a moratorium on currency conversion--needed to pay for imported goods--to punish his opponents. Vowing "no dollars for coup-mongers," he has used this power, for example, to prevent opposition newspapers from importing ink. After all, elections don't mean much if your opponents are too busy worrying where their next meal is coming from.

: '''Step three''': Venezuelan police acting on Chavez's orders have arrested Carlos Fernandez, the head of Venezuela's largest business federation and a leader of the recent anti-Chavez strike, charging him with rebellion and sabotage. Another strike leader, Carlos Ortega, head of Venezuela's largest labor union, has gone into hiding. In one move, Chavez has neutralized two potential rivals for the presidency. After all, elections don't mean much if all of the other candidates are in jail.

: '''Step four''': Last week, four protesters were kidnapped while returning from an anti-Chavez rally. They were blindfolded, tortured, and shot execution-style. Some of the victims were witnesses to a previous pro-Chavez political killing, and they had planned to testify against the shooter. Consider the message sent to the opposition when the mutilated bodies of their friends start showing up in the city streets. After all, elections don't mean much if your opponents are afraid to leave their houses and walk to the polls.

: '''Step five''': A few days ago, Chavez delivered a speech denouncing Spain, Colombia, and the US for interfering in Venezuela. This morning in Caracas, the diplomatic missions of Spain and Colombia were bombed. Credit was claimed by a splinter pro-Chavez group--but this was not a bunch of kids cooking up homemade bombs in their basement. The bombs were powerful plastic explosives, the kind of weapons that are difficult to obtain without government complicity.<ref>http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/americas/2514-dictatorship-by-the-numbers-in-venezuela.html {{dead link}}</ref>
</blockquote>

$4 billion dollars were spent paying paramilitary groups to attack unarmed protestors and other dissidents during and after the elections.<ref>http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/americas/2968-venezuela-a-new-junket-for-a-dictator-s-best-friend-jimmy-carter.html</ref>

The [[European Union]] condemned the conditions placed on election monitors as unacceptable and declined to attend. The Carter Center was shut out for three days. Experts from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University have identified signs of fraud based on statistical analysis.<ref>http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/americas/3924-the-carter-stamp-of-approval-on-the-venueuzlan-election-less-than-worthless.html</ref>

==Human rights concerns==
Hugo Chávez was a great friend of the tyrannical [[Cuban]] despot [[Fidel Castro]] and is said to have drawn his political style through influences such as [[Che Guevara]], [[Karl Marx]] and [[Simon Bolivar]]. The U.S. State Department ''Report on Global Anti-Semitism'' cited Chavez in August 2004 warning citizens against following the lead of Jewish citizens in the effort to overturn his referendum victory.<ref>[http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/40258.htm Report on Global Anti-Semitism] U. S. Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, [[Human Rights]], and Labor, January 5, 2005. </ref> Chavez also embraced a number of world leaders that have hostile relations with the United States, including Holocaust-denier [[Mahmoud Ahmadinejad]], the President of [[Iran]], who Chavez has referred to as "my brother".<ref>[http://english.eluniversal.com/2006/07/31/en_pol_art_31A756133.shtml Chávez decorated in Iran; initials cooperation pacts]</ref> U.S. Speaker of the House of Representatives [[Nancy Pelosi]] said of Chavez, "Hugo Chavez fancies himself a modern-day [[Simon Bolivar]], but all he is is an everyday thug."<ref>[http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/pruden092206.php3 Back to the old days, if only for a minute], Wesley Pruden, ''Jewish World Review'', Sept. 22, 2006.</ref> He was also considered to be an ally of [[leftist]] [[Ecuador|Ecuadorian]] president [[Rafael Correa]], [[Bolivia|Bolivian]] president [[Evo Morales]] and the president of [[Nicaragua]], [[Daniel Ortega]] ... all radical leftists.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6187364.stm Correa]</ref>

In May 2007, Chavez silenced the only remaining opposition television station critical of his repression by revoking its licence.<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/venezuela/story/0,,2085952,00.html Chávez silences critical TV station], Rory Carroll, ''The Guardian'', May 23, 2007.</ref> Crowds of students demonstrated saying they feared for the future of human rights in Venezuala. National Guard troops were ordered to fire [[tear gas]] and [[rubber bullets]]. Two students were injured, a third was hit with a tear gas canister, and about 20 people needed emergency medical attention for inhaling tear gas. <ref>[http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/05/28/ap3763178.html Troops Fire Upon Protesters in Venezuela], Fabiola Sanchez, Associated Press, 05.28.07. Retrieved from Forbes.com 05/31/07. </ref> Chavez employs discrimination against [[migrant workers]] in the country.<ref>http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/americas/3924-the-carter-stamp-of-approval-on-the-venueuzlan-election-less-than-worthless.html</ref>

Chavez said, “I am going to go after those who resist the revolution and eliminate them one by one.”<ref>[http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2007/jul/07/guest_commentary_we_must_help_venezuela_because_fr/ Because Freedom Matters], By U.S. Rep. Connie Mack IV and Blanquita Cullm, ''Naples Daily News'', July 7, 2007.</ref>

===Trafficking in Persons===
Venezuela under Chavez was on the U.S. State Department’s Tier 3 list for [[trafficking in persons]] since 2004, which means that the government was categorized as one that has failed to make significant efforts to bring itself into compliance with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking in persons. The State Department’s June 2007 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report maintains that Venezuela is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children trafficked for [[sexual exploitation]] and [[forced labor]].<ref>U.S. Department of State, [http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2007/ Trafficking in Persons Report], June 12, 2007, p. 207.</ref>

==Relations with US==
[[File:Chavez Obama.jpg|thumb|At the Fifth Summit of the Americas.]]
Foreign relations between the [[United States of America]] and [[Venezuela]] are presently unstable. Chavez often criticized the United States for its 'imperialism' on his radio segment 'Alo Presidente', and alleged the United States's supported a 2002 coup in Venezuela which toppled Chávez momentarily and later removed by Chávez supporters, also known as 'Chávistas'. Venezuela is heavily dependent upon trade revenue from oil sales to the United States. Chavez has founded [[Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas|ALBA]] an international organization of leftist countries on the [[Caribic]]s and Southern America. Chavez said that the ALCA is a "instrument of imperialism".

===Terrorism===
In May 2006, the State Department determined that, pursuant to Section 40A of the [[Arms Export Control Act]], Venezuela was not fully cooperating with U.S. [[antiterrorism]] efforts. This triggered a prohibition on the sale or license of defense articles and services to Venezuela. Other countries on the Section 40A list include [[Cuba]], [[Iran]], [[North Korea]], and [[Syria]], not to be confused with the "state sponsors of
terrorism" list under Section 6(j) of the Export Administration Act of 1979, which currently includes Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, and Syria. The State Department asserted that the Section 40A determination was based on Venezuela’s near lack of antiterrorism cooperation over the last year, citing its support for Iraqi insurgents and Iran’s development of nuclear capabilities, the country’s status as a safe haven for Colombian and Basque terrorist groups, and its effort to derail hemispheric efforts to advance counter-terrorism policies in the OAS. In May 2007, the State Department again included Venezuela in its annual Section 40A determination that it was not cooperating fully with U.S. antiterrorism efforts.

In late April 2007, the State Department issued its annual Country Reports on Terrorism, which asserted that President Chávez "persisted in public criticism of U.S. counterterrorism efforts, deepened Venezuelan relationships with Iran and Cuba, and was unwilling to prevent Venezuelan territory from being used as a safe haven" by Colombian terrorist groups.

There have been long-held suspicions that Chávez has supported leftist Colombian guerrillas, although Chávez denies such support. The State Department’s terrorism report maintains that units of Colombia’s two leftist terrorist groups — the [[Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia]] (FARC) and the [[National Liberation Army]] (ELN) — often crossed into Venezuela "to rest and regroup with relative impunity."

In addition, according to the report, splinter groups of the FARC and a rightist terrorist group, the [[AUC|United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia]] (AUC) reportedly operate in various parts of the country and are involved in drug trafficking. The report maintained, however, that "it remained unclear to what extent the Venezuelan
Government provided material support to Colombian terrorists."

In addition, according to the report, Venezuelan citizenship, identity, and travel documents remained easy to obtain, making the country a potentially attractive waystation for terrorists. In July 13, 2006, congressional testimony, the State Department’s Principal Deputy Coordinator for Counterterrorism, Frank Urbancic, asserted that the United States was detaining increasing numbers of third-country aliens at its borders carrying falsified or fraudulently issued Venezuelan documents. U.S. officials also have expressed concerns about President Chávez’s close relationship with Cuba’s Fidel Castro, but Chávez defends his relationship with Cuba. Overall Venezuelan support to Cuba is estimated to be more than $2 billion a year.<ref>Frances Robles and Phil Gunson, ''Cuba Spotlights Chávez Friendship,'' Miami Herald, January 26, 2007.</ref> Venezuela supplies some 90,000 barrels of oil per day to Cuba on a concessionary basis under PetroCaribe. In return, Venezuela has received support from thousands of Cuban health care workers and sports instructors in the country.

During an April 2005 trip to Cuba, Presidents Chávez and Castro announced commercial deals worth over $400 million, including a joint shipyard to build small navy ships and a joint housing construction company. In January 2007, a delegation of Cuban officials visited Caracas and signed a number of agreements to increase economic linkages, including an agreement for joint oil exploration in both countries.

PdVSA is also involved in refurbishing an unfinished oil refinery in Cienfuegos, Cuba. Beyond Latin America, the Bush Administration has expressed concerns with Venezuela’s growing relations with Iran. In February 2006, Secretary of State Rice referred to Venezuela, along with Cuba, as “sidekicks” of Iran in reference to those countries’ votes in the International Atomic Energy Agency against reporting Iran to the U.N. Security Council over its uranium enrichment program.<ref>Pablo Bachelet, “Rice Bashes Venezuelan Leader, Politics,” Miami Herald, February 17, 2006; House International Relations Committee, Hearing on the Fiscal Year 2007
International Affairs Budget, Testimony of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, February
16, 2006.</ref> In testimony before the Senate Select Intelligence Committee in February 2006, Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte expressed concern that President Chávez "is seeking closer economic, military, and diplomatic ties with Iran and North Korea."<ref>Senate Select Intelligence Committee, Hearing on World Wide Threats, Testimony of Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte, February 2, 2006.</ref> ran and Venezuela signed an agreement for a $200 million fund to finance joint investment and social projects, and commercial agreements in the early stages include plans for a cement factory, oil exploration in the Orinoco River belt, and a joint operation to build oil and liquid natural gas tankers.<ref>Steven Dudley, "Chávez’s Wooing of Iran Called Troubling," Miami Herald, March 2, 2006.</ref> During a visit by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Venezuela in mid-January 2007, the two countries announced they would use a $2 billion investment fund to finance projects in both countries and other countries as well.<ref>Simon Romero, ''Iranian President Visits Venezuela to Strengthen Ties,'' New York Times, January 14, 2007.</ref>

Some Members of Congress have expressed concerns about relations between Venezuela and Iran. In the 110th Congress, H.Res. 435 (Klein) would, among its provisions, express concern over national security implications of the relationship between the leaders of Iran and Venezuela.

According to the ''Washington Post'' Chavez was accused of supplying weapons to Colombian rebels, of financing Bolivian and Ecuadorian groups seeking to establish "Marxist" states, and of being, with Cuban leader Fidel Castro's guidance, a "[[subversion (political)|subversive]]" everywhere else in the region.<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/25/AR2005082501420.html?nav=rss_world/centralamerica ''Dealing With the Good and Bad Hugo Chavez''], Marcela Sanchez The Washington Post 25 August 2005.</ref>

==Expropriation==
[[Image:Hugo-chavez8.jpg|left|175px|thumb|Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez with Fidel Castro.]]

In typical socialist rhetoric, Chavez made wild claims to fund the government by nationalizing foreign assets. Typical reasons included accusing companies of environmental damage and exploiting its workers. In 2010 alone, Chavez seized 195 companies. <ref>[http://english.eluniversal.com/2010/10/20/en_eco_art_a-total-of-195-busin_20A4631291.shtml A total of 195 businesses has been seized in 2010, El Universal, October 20, 2010]</ref> Spanish-owned farm supply and U.S.-based Ohio bottle company were recently taken over. Other recognized multi-national companies such ExxonMobil, steel maker Sidor, cement company CEMEX fell to the same fate. <ref>[http://wellsy.wordpress.com/2010/10/26/chavez-takes-over-venezuelan-plants-of-oh-company/ Chavez takes over Venezuelan plants of OH company, Wellsy's World, October 26, 2010]</ref> Venezuala is supposed to compensate the companies but nobody expects Chavez to provide other than peanuts for assets he steals.

Through Venezuela's state owned petroleum industry and membership in [[OPEC]], Chávez used powers granted to him by Parliament to increase oil prices, adding revenue for the Bolivarianist projects. Countries such as the United States have criticized Chávez for the increase in cost for crude oil. Chavez was at the forefront of wanting to set crude oil prices at $60 a barrel minimum, according to the ''Asia Times''<ref>[http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/HL07Dj01.html ''Bush, OPEC and Chavez of Arabia''], Pepe Escobar, Asia Times, 7 December 2006.</ref> The state owned oil company PDVSA is estimated to have spent in excess of $120 million dollars sponsoring the [[Formula 1]] team, Willaims F1, so that they would give the Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado a seat.

==Anti-semitism==
[[File:Chavez ahmad.jpg|thumb|Hugo Chavez and Holocaust denier [[Mahmoud Ahmadinejad]]]]
Chavez was known to be fiercely [[Anti-semitism|anti-semitic]]<ref>http://www.commentarymagazine.com/viewarticle.cfm/hugo-ch-vez-s-jewish-problem-11455
</ref>, which was the likely reason for his friendship and political alliance with Iranian dictator and [[Holocaust denial|holocaust denier]] [[Mahmoud Ahmadinejad]]<ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/04/AR2008020402428.html
</ref>. As a result of the anti-semitic policies of the Chavez regime and the wave of violent attacks on Venezuelan Jews that it caused, the [[Jewish]] population of Venezuela decreased by more than 50 percent within a decade of Chavez coming to power.<ref>http://www.worldjewishdaily.com/venezuela.php</ref>

==Drug trafficking==
The ''Associated Press'' reported in July 2007 that since Chavez's ascension to power, illegal narcotics passing through Venezuela from [[Colombia]] has risen by as much as 30 tons a year and now accounts for roughly a third of the world's supply of [[cocaine]]. Mildred Camero who was in charge of Venezuela's anti-drug efforts stated, "[[Caracas]] is replacing [[Bogota]] as a center of everything related to drug operations." Camero was fired in 2005 after reporting high-level corruption. <ref>[http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/07/01/ap3875048.html Venezuela Becomes Cocaine Conduit], By Ian James and Frank Bajak, ''Associated Press'', 1 July 2007. Retrieved from Forbes.com 8 July 2007.</ref>

In 2008 Chavez revealed that he himself regularly chews coca leafs, the leafs from which cocaine is made.<ref>[http://uk.reuters.com/article/2008/01/26/uk-venezuela-chavez-coca-idUKN2638848320080126 Venezuela's Chavez swaps coffee for coca in speech - Reuters]</ref> This revelation casts serious doubts about his ability to function properly as a head of state and reach sound judgements.

==Religious==
Chavez demanded that [[Pope Benedict]] apologize for saying the Roman Catholic Church purified Indians in Latin America. Chavez called the treatment of Indians after [[Christopher Columbus]] landed in 1492 a "holocaust".<ref>[http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSN1819661120070519 Chavez demands Pope apologize for Indian comments], Reuters, May 19, 2007</ref>

==2011-2012 Health Crisis and subsequent cover-up and Constitutional Crisis==

On June 30th, 2011, the 56 year-old President admitted, in a televised speech, of having cancer.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-13991906]</ref>.He sought treatment, to no avail, in Brazil.<ref>http://latindispatch.com/2011/07/14/hugo-chavez-to-receive-cancer-treatment-in-brazil/</ref>

Despite being aware of his condition, Chavez chose to run again for President. On 7 October 2012, a terminally ill Chávez won election as president for a fourth time, defeating Henrique Capriles.<ref>http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/08/venezuela-election-idUSL1E8L70WK20121008</ref>

Chavez was not seen since 11 December 2012, the last time he appeared in public. He must have died shortly afterwards. However, the Cuban and Venezuelan communists attempted to keep his death secret, and pretended he was alive for another two and a half months, going as far as using his [[Twitter]] account to post fake messages from a supposedly recovering Chavez.

Chavez should have taken the oath of office on January the 10th, the necessary step to assume the presidency for his new period. However, Venezuela's Supreme Court ignored the provisions of the Venezuelan Constitution (reformed by Chavez himself in 1999) and allowed Chavez to become president without taking the oath of office, thus doing away with any remaining semblance of constitutional government.

On February, the 18th it was announced that Chavez had returned to Venezuela to finish his recovery.<ref>http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/02/18/president-chavez-returns-to-venezuela-from-cuba-after-months-medical-treatment/</ref> The then Venezuelan vice-president [[Nicolás Maduro]] said that Chavez had been flown in secrecy from [[Havana]] to [[Caracas]] in the early hours of the morning to avoid possible attacks from his enemies. The two top floors of Caracas' Military Hospital were sealed from the public, with Chavez supposedly recovering in the 8th floor and the 7th floor closed to guarantee his security. On March the 5th the Venezuelan ''de facto'' government finally ended the charade and announced that Chavez had died, suggesting also that his cancer and death had been the result of an assessination plot by "the historical enemies of the Fatherland" (referring to the United States and the Venezuelan democratic opposition). On March 7th, Venezuelan vice-president announced that Chavez's body should be embalmed and put on permanent display inside a glass tomb, thus imitating the treatment given to the corpses of other Communist dictators like [[Vladimir Lenin|Lenin]], [[Joseph Stalin|Stalin]], [[Klement Gottwald]], [[Georgi Dimitrov]], [[Mao Zedong]], [[Ho Chi Minh]], [[Kim Il-Sung]] and [[Kim Jong-Il]].<ref>FOX News: [http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/03/07/chavez-body-embalmed-to-be-permanently-on-display/ Chavez's body embalmed, to be permanently on display] (March 7, 2013)</ref> But this was canceled because Chavez`s body would otherwise should be brought for a time in Russia.

==Quotes from Hugo Chavez==
* On closure of RCTV, claiming the network's broadcasts amounted to a "permanent attack on public morals" with cartoons that were "poisoned with hatred, violence and even sex."

* "Private banks have to give priority to financing the industrial sectors of Venezuela at low cost...If banks don't agree with this, it's better that they go, that they turn over the banks to me."

==See Also==
* [[Previous Breaking News/Hugo Chavez|Articles about '''Hugo Chavez''' from previous "Breaking News"]]
* [[Dictatorship]]
** [[Dictator]]
** [[List of dictators]]
** [[Friendly dictator]]
** [[Adolf Hitler]], [[Joseph Stalin]], [[Chairman Mao]], [[Kim Jong-Il]], [[Pol Pot]]
** [[Dictatorship of the proletariat]]
** [[List of Communist States]]
** [[List of Socialist States]]
** [[Death toll of communism]]
** [[Coup d'etat]]
* [[Cult of personality]]
* [[Single-party state]]
* [[Mobocracy]], [[Social Effects of the Theory of Evolution]], [[Anti-Semitism]], [[Communist Racism]], [[Genocide]], [[Holocaust]]
* [[National Socialist German Workers Party]] ([[Nazi]])
* [[National Socialism]] - the Nazis were elitist [[Police state]] [[liberals]] not [[conservative]]s
* [[Big government]] [[Welfare state]] leads to [[Nanny state]], leads to [[Police state]]: [[Globalist]]-[[Statist]]-[[Socialist]]-[[Communist]]
* [[Liberal totalitarianism]]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==Further reading==
*[http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/] An in depth view on Venezuela under Hugo Chávez.
*[http://www.latinbusinesschronicle.com/app/article.aspx?id=706] An overview of articles on Venezuela's business under Hugo Chávez.
*[http://www.realclearpolitics.com/Commentary/com-2_24_06_AVL.html ''Why The Left Should Cringe at The Mention of Hugo Chavez''], Alvaro Vargas Llosa, Independent Institute, February 24, 2006.
*[http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_kmnew/is_200108/ai_kepm313968 ''Bolivar, Dictator or Paladin?''] Interview: Hugo Chavez talks about Venezuela, Maria Amparo Lasso, Newsweek, Aug 20, 2001.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chavez, Hugo}}
[[Category:Venezuela]]
[[Category:Dictators]]
[[Category:Anti-Semitism]]
[[Category:Socialists]]

Hugo Chavez

2015-08-19T02:31:49Z

Scatach: /* 2011-2012 Health Crisis and subsequent cover-up and Constitutional Crisis */ actually did seek help from Brazil

{{Dictator bio
| image =[[Image:chavez.jpg|200px]]
| name =Hugo Chavez
| birth =July 28, 1954 Sabaneta, Venezuela
| parents =Hugo de los Reyes Chávez Elena Frías de Chávez
| religion =Roman Catholic
| education =Daniel Florencio O'Leary High School, Barinas Venezuelan Academy of Military Sciences, Caracas
| spouse =Nancy Colmenares (div.) Marisabel Rodríguez (div.)
| children =Rosa Virginia María Gabriela Hugo Rafael Rosinés (with Marisabel)
| death = circa Dec. 11, 2012 (denied by the [[lamestream media]] until Mar. 5, 2013)
| deathmanner = illness in a Cuban hospital
| burial =The museum of the Bolivarian Revolution in Caracas
| country =[[Venezuela]]
| military =Venezuelan army
| rank =Lieutenant colonel
| polbeliefs =[[Socialism]]
| party =Fifth Republic Movement United Socialist Party
| dictatordate =November 2000
| war =n/a
| deathnumber =n/a
}}
'''Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías''' (b. July 28, 1954 - d. circa Dec. 11, 2012) <ref>http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-21476917 (obviously staged photo)</ref> was the [[leftist]] President of the Bolivarian Republic of [[Venezuela]] from 1999 to 2012. Chavez was not seen in public since he entered a Cuban hospital near death on December 11, 2012. Venezuela's [[socialist]] regime engaged in [[liberal denial]] about his death for nearly three months, even releasing a photo of an ostensibly fit and smiling Chavez. But on March 5, 2013, likely due to pressure from other nations that knew Chavez had died, Venezuelan [[communist]]s finally admitted Chavez was dead. <ref>[http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/03/05/hugo-chavez-dead-at-58-good-riddance.html "Hugo Chavez dead at 58] "How little we know about the manner in which - or when - he died"]</ref> <ref>[http://apnews.myway.com/article/20130311/DA4UKU7G0.html Venezuela candidate: Govt exploits Chavez death]</ref>

A self-proclaimed [[socialist]] and [[collectivist]], his disastrous economic policies led to food shortages, quotas, and rationing in his oil-rich country, causing thousands to flee.<ref>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/venezuela/4938993/Venezuelas-Hugo-Chavez-tightens-state-control-of-food-amid-rocketing-inflation-and-food-shortages.html</ref>
Chávez assumed power as President in 1999 and pledged to aid Venezuela's poor majority.
Fraudulent elections were held in 2000 and in 2006, allowing Chavez to retain his [[Authoritarianism|authoritarian]] power. As such it would be accurate to describe him as a [[dictator]].

*{{Venezuela blunder}}

Due to an illness, in early April 2012 "Hugo Chavez weeps and calls on [[God]] to spare his life."<ref>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/venezuela/9189962/Hugo-Chavez-weeps-and-calls-on-God-to-spare-his-life.html</ref> That contrasts with Jesus's request in his time of crisis, when [[Jesus]] prayed, "O Father, if You can, let this cup pass from Me. But ''don't do what I want, but rather what You want''."<ref>[[Matthew 20-28 (Translated)#26:39|Matthew 26:39]].</ref>

Despite knowing full well that he was dying of cancer and had only a few months to live, Chavez selfishly chose to run for reelection and plunge his country into chaos and turmoil instead of organizing a more orderly transfer of power to one of his Communist cronies. On 7 October 2012, a terminally ill Chávez won election as president for a fourth time, defeating Henrique Capriles, and would have served another six years until 2019 if he had remained alive.<ref>http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/08/venezuela-election-idUSL1E8L70WK20121008</ref>

==Election fraud==
Steven F. Hayward wrote:
* While exit polls conducted by the very reliable American firm of Penn, Schoen, and Berland showed Chavez losing by a large margin (41 to 59), the official results put Chavez free and clear by a vote of 58 to 41 percent.<ref>[http://frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=5A8D0094-4590-4DFB-A7F0-C2E06A6820FB]</ref>

A 26 February 2003 report by Robert Tracinski obliterates the left-wing mythology around Chavez:
<blockquote>
: '''Step one''': Chavez has initiated formal proceedings to revoke the licenses of independent, privately owned television and radio stations. Meanwhile, his political militias, the Bolivarian Circles, have staged violent attacks on independent media outlets. After all, elections don't mean much if all people watch is propaganda on state-run television.

: '''Step two''': Chavez has used a moratorium on currency conversion--needed to pay for imported goods--to punish his opponents. Vowing "no dollars for coup-mongers," he has used this power, for example, to prevent opposition newspapers from importing ink. After all, elections don't mean much if your opponents are too busy worrying where their next meal is coming from.

: '''Step three''': Venezuelan police acting on Chavez's orders have arrested Carlos Fernandez, the head of Venezuela's largest business federation and a leader of the recent anti-Chavez strike, charging him with rebellion and sabotage. Another strike leader, Carlos Ortega, head of Venezuela's largest labor union, has gone into hiding. In one move, Chavez has neutralized two potential rivals for the presidency. After all, elections don't mean much if all of the other candidates are in jail.

: '''Step four''': Last week, four protesters were kidnapped while returning from an anti-Chavez rally. They were blindfolded, tortured, and shot execution-style. Some of the victims were witnesses to a previous pro-Chavez political killing, and they had planned to testify against the shooter. Consider the message sent to the opposition when the mutilated bodies of their friends start showing up in the city streets. After all, elections don't mean much if your opponents are afraid to leave their houses and walk to the polls.

: '''Step five''': A few days ago, Chavez delivered a speech denouncing Spain, Colombia, and the US for interfering in Venezuela. This morning in Caracas, the diplomatic missions of Spain and Colombia were bombed. Credit was claimed by a splinter pro-Chavez group--but this was not a bunch of kids cooking up homemade bombs in their basement. The bombs were powerful plastic explosives, the kind of weapons that are difficult to obtain without government complicity.<ref>http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/americas/2514-dictatorship-by-the-numbers-in-venezuela.html {{dead link}}</ref>
</blockquote>

$4 billion dollars were spent paying paramilitary groups to attack unarmed protestors and other dissidents during and after the elections.<ref>http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/americas/2968-venezuela-a-new-junket-for-a-dictator-s-best-friend-jimmy-carter.html</ref>

The [[European Union]] condemned the conditions placed on election monitors as unacceptable and declined to attend. The Carter Center was shut out for three days. Experts from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University have identified signs of fraud based on statistical analysis.<ref>http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/americas/3924-the-carter-stamp-of-approval-on-the-venueuzlan-election-less-than-worthless.html</ref>

==Human rights concerns==
Hugo Chávez was a great friend of the tyrannical [[Cuban]] despot [[Fidel Castro]] and is said to have drawn his political style through influences such as [[Che Guevara]], [[Karl Marx]] and [[Simon Bolivar]]. The U.S. State Department ''Report on Global Anti-Semitism'' cited Chavez in August 2004 warning citizens against following the lead of Jewish citizens in the effort to overturn his referendum victory.<ref>[http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/40258.htm Report on Global Anti-Semitism] U. S. Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, [[Human Rights]], and Labor, January 5, 2005. </ref> Chavez also embraced a number of world leaders that have hostile relations with the United States, including Holocaust-denier [[Mahmoud Ahmadinejad]], the President of [[Iran]], who Chavez has referred to as "my brother".<ref>[http://english.eluniversal.com/2006/07/31/en_pol_art_31A756133.shtml Chávez decorated in Iran; initials cooperation pacts]</ref> U.S. Speaker of the House of Representatives [[Nancy Pelosi]] said of Chavez, "Hugo Chavez fancies himself a modern-day [[Simon Bolivar]], but all he is is an everyday thug."<ref>[http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/pruden092206.php3 Back to the old days, if only for a minute], Wesley Pruden, ''Jewish World Review'', Sept. 22, 2006.</ref> He was also considered to be an ally of [[leftist]] [[Ecuador|Ecuadorian]] president [[Rafael Correa]], [[Bolivia|Bolivian]] president [[Evo Morales]] and the president of [[Nicaragua]], [[Daniel Ortega]] ... all radical leftists.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6187364.stm Correa]</ref>

In May 2007, Chavez silenced the only remaining opposition television station critical of his repression by revoking its licence.<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/venezuela/story/0,,2085952,00.html Chávez silences critical TV station], Rory Carroll, ''The Guardian'', May 23, 2007.</ref> Crowds of students demonstrated saying they feared for the future of human rights in Venezuala. National Guard troops were ordered to fire [[tear gas]] and [[rubber bullets]]. Two students were injured, a third was hit with a tear gas canister, and about 20 people needed emergency medical attention for inhaling tear gas. <ref>[http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/05/28/ap3763178.html Troops Fire Upon Protesters in Venezuela], Fabiola Sanchez, Associated Press, 05.28.07. Retrieved from Forbes.com 05/31/07. </ref> Chavez employs discrimination against [[migrant workers]] in the country.<ref>http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/americas/3924-the-carter-stamp-of-approval-on-the-venueuzlan-election-less-than-worthless.html</ref>

Chavez said, “I am going to go after those who resist the revolution and eliminate them one by one.”<ref>[http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2007/jul/07/guest_commentary_we_must_help_venezuela_because_fr/ Because Freedom Matters], By U.S. Rep. Connie Mack IV and Blanquita Cullm, ''Naples Daily News'', July 7, 2007.</ref>

===Trafficking in Persons===
Venezuela under Chavez was on the U.S. State Department’s Tier 3 list for [[trafficking in persons]] since 2004, which means that the government was categorized as one that has failed to make significant efforts to bring itself into compliance with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking in persons. The State Department’s June 2007 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report maintains that Venezuela is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children trafficked for [[sexual exploitation]] and [[forced labor]].<ref>U.S. Department of State, [http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2007/ Trafficking in Persons Report], June 12, 2007, p. 207.</ref>

==Relations with US==
[[File:Chavez Obama.jpg|thumb|At the Fifth Summit of the Americas.]]
Foreign relations between the [[United States of America]] and [[Venezuela]] are presently unstable. Chavez often criticized the United States for its 'imperialism' on his radio segment 'Alo Presidente', and alleged the United States's supported a 2002 coup in Venezuela which toppled Chávez momentarily and later removed by Chávez supporters, also known as 'Chávistas'. Venezuela is heavily dependent upon trade revenue from oil sales to the United States. Chavez has founded [[Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas|ALBA]] an international organization of leftist countries on the [[Caribic]]s and Southern America. Chavez said that the ALCA is a "instrument of imperialism".

===Terrorism===
In May 2006, the State Department determined that, pursuant to Section 40A of the [[Arms Export Control Act]], Venezuela was not fully cooperating with U.S. [[antiterrorism]] efforts. This triggered a prohibition on the sale or license of defense articles and services to Venezuela. Other countries on the Section 40A list include [[Cuba]], [[Iran]], [[North Korea]], and [[Syria]], not to be confused with the "state sponsors of
terrorism" list under Section 6(j) of the Export Administration Act of 1979, which currently includes Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, and Syria. The State Department asserted that the Section 40A determination was based on Venezuela’s near lack of antiterrorism cooperation over the last year, citing its support for Iraqi insurgents and Iran’s development of nuclear capabilities, the country’s status as a safe haven for Colombian and Basque terrorist groups, and its effort to derail hemispheric efforts to advance counter-terrorism policies in the OAS. In May 2007, the State Department again included Venezuela in its annual Section 40A determination that it was not cooperating fully with U.S. antiterrorism efforts.

In late April 2007, the State Department issued its annual Country Reports on Terrorism, which asserted that President Chávez "persisted in public criticism of U.S. counterterrorism efforts, deepened Venezuelan relationships with Iran and Cuba, and was unwilling to prevent Venezuelan territory from being used as a safe haven" by Colombian terrorist groups.

There have been long-held suspicions that Chávez has supported leftist Colombian guerrillas, although Chávez denies such support. The State Department’s terrorism report maintains that units of Colombia’s two leftist terrorist groups — the [[Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia]] (FARC) and the [[National Liberation Army]] (ELN) — often crossed into Venezuela "to rest and regroup with relative impunity."

In addition, according to the report, splinter groups of the FARC and a rightist terrorist group, the [[AUC|United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia]] (AUC) reportedly operate in various parts of the country and are involved in drug trafficking. The report maintained, however, that "it remained unclear to what extent the Venezuelan
Government provided material support to Colombian terrorists."

In addition, according to the report, Venezuelan citizenship, identity, and travel documents remained easy to obtain, making the country a potentially attractive waystation for terrorists. In July 13, 2006, congressional testimony, the State Department’s Principal Deputy Coordinator for Counterterrorism, Frank Urbancic, asserted that the United States was detaining increasing numbers of third-country aliens at its borders carrying falsified or fraudulently issued Venezuelan documents. U.S. officials also have expressed concerns about President Chávez’s close relationship with Cuba’s Fidel Castro, but Chávez defends his relationship with Cuba. Overall Venezuelan support to Cuba is estimated to be more than $2 billion a year.<ref>Frances Robles and Phil Gunson, ''Cuba Spotlights Chávez Friendship,'' Miami Herald, January 26, 2007.</ref> Venezuela supplies some 90,000 barrels of oil per day to Cuba on a concessionary basis under PetroCaribe. In return, Venezuela has received support from thousands of Cuban health care workers and sports instructors in the country.

During an April 2005 trip to Cuba, Presidents Chávez and Castro announced commercial deals worth over $400 million, including a joint shipyard to build small navy ships and a joint housing construction company. In January 2007, a delegation of Cuban officials visited Caracas and signed a number of agreements to increase economic linkages, including an agreement for joint oil exploration in both countries.

PdVSA is also involved in refurbishing an unfinished oil refinery in Cienfuegos, Cuba. Beyond Latin America, the Bush Administration has expressed concerns with Venezuela’s growing relations with Iran. In February 2006, Secretary of State Rice referred to Venezuela, along with Cuba, as “sidekicks” of Iran in reference to those countries’ votes in the International Atomic Energy Agency against reporting Iran to the U.N. Security Council over its uranium enrichment program.<ref>Pablo Bachelet, “Rice Bashes Venezuelan Leader, Politics,” Miami Herald, February 17, 2006; House International Relations Committee, Hearing on the Fiscal Year 2007
International Affairs Budget, Testimony of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, February
16, 2006.</ref> In testimony before the Senate Select Intelligence Committee in February 2006, Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte expressed concern that President Chávez "is seeking closer economic, military, and diplomatic ties with Iran and North Korea."<ref>Senate Select Intelligence Committee, Hearing on World Wide Threats, Testimony of Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte, February 2, 2006.</ref> ran and Venezuela signed an agreement for a $200 million fund to finance joint investment and social projects, and commercial agreements in the early stages include plans for a cement factory, oil exploration in the Orinoco River belt, and a joint operation to build oil and liquid natural gas tankers.<ref>Steven Dudley, "Chávez’s Wooing of Iran Called Troubling," Miami Herald, March 2, 2006.</ref> During a visit by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Venezuela in mid-January 2007, the two countries announced they would use a $2 billion investment fund to finance projects in both countries and other countries as well.<ref>Simon Romero, ''Iranian President Visits Venezuela to Strengthen Ties,'' New York Times, January 14, 2007.</ref>

Some Members of Congress have expressed concerns about relations between Venezuela and Iran. In the 110th Congress, H.Res. 435 (Klein) would, among its provisions, express concern over national security implications of the relationship between the leaders of Iran and Venezuela.

According to the ''Washington Post'' Chavez was accused of supplying weapons to Colombian rebels, of financing Bolivian and Ecuadorian groups seeking to establish "Marxist" states, and of being, with Cuban leader Fidel Castro's guidance, a "[[subversion (political)|subversive]]" everywhere else in the region.<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/25/AR2005082501420.html?nav=rss_world/centralamerica ''Dealing With the Good and Bad Hugo Chavez''], Marcela Sanchez The Washington Post 25 August 2005.</ref>

==Expropriation==
[[Image:Hugo-chavez8.jpg|left|175px|thumb|Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez with Fidel Castro.]]

In typical socialist rhetoric, Chavez made wild claims to fund the government by nationalizing foreign assets. Typical reasons included accusing companies of environmental damage and exploiting its workers. In 2010 alone, Chavez seized 195 companies. <ref>[http://english.eluniversal.com/2010/10/20/en_eco_art_a-total-of-195-busin_20A4631291.shtml A total of 195 businesses has been seized in 2010, El Universal, October 20, 2010]</ref> Spanish-owned farm supply and U.S.-based Ohio bottle company were recently taken over. Other recognized multi-national companies such ExxonMobil, steel maker Sidor, cement company CEMEX fell to the same fate. <ref>[http://wellsy.wordpress.com/2010/10/26/chavez-takes-over-venezuelan-plants-of-oh-company/ Chavez takes over Venezuelan plants of OH company, Wellsy's World, October 26, 2010]</ref> Venezuala is supposed to compensate the companies but nobody expects Chavez to provide other than peanuts for assets he steals.

Through Venezuela's state owned petroleum industry and membership in [[OPEC]], Chávez used powers granted to him by Parliament to increase oil prices, adding revenue for the Bolivarianist projects. Countries such as the United States have criticized Chávez for the increase in cost for crude oil. Chavez was at the forefront of wanting to set crude oil prices at $60 a barrel minimum, according to the ''Asia Times''<ref>[http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/HL07Dj01.html ''Bush, OPEC and Chavez of Arabia''], Pepe Escobar, Asia Times, 7 December 2006.</ref> The state owned oil company PDVSA is estimated to have spent in excess of $120 million dollars sponsoring the [[Formula 1]] team, Willaims F1, so that they would give the Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado a seat.

==Anti-semitism==
[[File:Chavez ahmad.jpg|thumb|Hugo Chavez and Holocaust denier [[Mahmoud Ahmadinejad]]]]
Chavez was known to be fiercely [[Anti-semitism|anti-semitic]]<ref>http://www.commentarymagazine.com/viewarticle.cfm/hugo-ch-vez-s-jewish-problem-11455
</ref>, which was the likely reason for his friendship and political alliance with Iranian dictator and [[Holocaust denial|holocaust denier]] [[Mahmoud Ahmadinejad]]<ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/04/AR2008020402428.html
</ref>. As a result of the anti-semitic policies of the Chavez regime and the wave of violent attacks on Venezuelan Jews that it caused, the [[Jewish]] population of Venezuela decreased by more than 50 percent within a decade of Chavez coming to power.<ref>http://www.worldjewishdaily.com/venezuela.php</ref>

==Drug trafficking==
The ''Associated Press'' reported in July 2007 that since Chavez's ascension to power, illegal narcotics passing through Venezuela from [[Colombia]] has risen by as much as 30 tons a year and now accounts for roughly a third of the world's supply of [[cocaine]]. Mildred Camero who was in charge of Venezuela's anti-drug efforts stated, "[[Caracas]] is replacing [[Bogota]] as a center of everything related to drug operations." Camero was fired in 2005 after reporting high-level corruption. <ref>[http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/07/01/ap3875048.html Venezuela Becomes Cocaine Conduit], By Ian James and Frank Bajak, ''Associated Press'', 1 July 2007. Retrieved from Forbes.com 8 July 2007.</ref>

In 2008 Chavez revealed that he himself regularly chews coca leafs, the leafs from which cocaine is made.<ref>[http://uk.reuters.com/article/2008/01/26/uk-venezuela-chavez-coca-idUKN2638848320080126 Venezuela's Chavez swaps coffee for coca in speech - Reuters]</ref> This revelation casts serious doubts about his ability to function properly as a head of state and reach sound judgements.

==Religious==
Chavez demanded that [[Pope Benedict]] apologize for saying the Roman Catholic Church purified Indians in Latin America. Chavez called the treatment of Indians after [[Christopher Columbus]] landed in 1492 a "holocaust".<ref>[http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSN1819661120070519 Chavez demands Pope apologize for Indian comments], Reuters, May 19, 2007</ref>

==2011-2012 Health Crisis and subsequent cover-up and Constitutional Crisis==

On June 30th, 2011, the 56 year-old President admitted, in a televised speech, of having cancer.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-13991906]</ref>.He sought treatment, to no avail, in Brazil.<ref>http://latindispatch.com/2011/07/14/hugo-chavez-to-receive-cancer-treatment-in-brazil/</ref>

Despite knowing full well that he was dying of cancer and had only a few months to live, Chavez selfishly chose to run for reelection and plunge his country into chaos and turmoil instead of organizing a more orderly transfer of power to one of his Communist cronies. On 7 October 2012, a terminally ill Chávez won election as president for a fourth time, defeating Henrique Capriles.<ref>http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/08/venezuela-election-idUSL1E8L70WK20121008</ref>

Chavez was not seen since 11 December 2012, the last time he appeared in public. He must have died shortly afterwards. However, the Cuban and Venezuelan communists attempted to keep his death secret, and pretended he was alive for another two and a half months, going as far as using his [[Twitter]] account to post fake messages from a supposedly recovering Chavez.

Chavez should have taken the oath of office on January the 10th, the necessary step to asume the presidency for his new period. However, Venezuela's Supreme Court ignored the provisions of the Venezuelan Constitution (reformed by Chavez himself in 1999) and allowed Chavez to become president without taking the oath of office, thus doing away with any remaining semblance of constitutional government.

On February, the 18th it was announced that Chavez had returned to Venezuela to finish his recovery.<ref>http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/02/18/president-chavez-returns-to-venezuela-from-cuba-after-months-medical-treatment/</ref> The then Venezuelan vice-president [[Nicolás Maduro]] said that Chavez had been flown in secrecy from [[Havana]] to [[Caracas]] in the early hours of the morning to avoid possible attacks from his enemies. The two top floors of Caracas' Military Hospital were sealed from the public, with Chavez supposedly recovering in the 8th floor and the 7th floor closed to guarantee his security. On March the 5th the Venezuelan ''de facto'' government finally ended the charade and announced that Chavez had died, suggesting also that his cancer and death had been the result of an assessination plot by "the historical enemies of the Fatherland" (referring to the United States and the Venezuelan democratic opposition). On March 7th, Venezuelan vice-president announced that Chavez's body should be embalmed and put on permanent display inside a glass tomb, thus imitating the treatment given to the corpses of other Communist dictators like [[Vladimir Lenin|Lenin]], [[Joseph Stalin|Stalin]], [[Klement Gottwald]], [[Georgi Dimitrov]], [[Mao Zedong]], [[Ho Chi Minh]], [[Kim Il-Sung]] and [[Kim Jong-Il]].<ref>FOX News: [http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/03/07/chavez-body-embalmed-to-be-permanently-on-display/ Chavez's body embalmed, to be permanently on display] (March 7, 2013)</ref> But this was canceled because Chavez`s body would otherwise should be brought for a time in Russia.

==Quotes from Hugo Chavez==
* On closure of RCTV, claiming the network's broadcasts amounted to a "permanent attack on public morals" with cartoons that were "poisoned with hatred, violence and even sex."

* "Private banks have to give priority to financing the industrial sectors of Venezuela at low cost...If banks don't agree with this, it's better that they go, that they turn over the banks to me."

==See Also==
* [[Previous Breaking News/Hugo Chavez|Articles about '''Hugo Chavez''' from previous "Breaking News"]]
* [[Dictatorship]]
** [[Dictator]]
** [[List of dictators]]
** [[Friendly dictator]]
** [[Adolf Hitler]], [[Joseph Stalin]], [[Chairman Mao]], [[Kim Jong-Il]], [[Pol Pot]]
** [[Dictatorship of the proletariat]]
** [[List of Communist States]]
** [[List of Socialist States]]
** [[Death toll of communism]]
** [[Coup d'etat]]
* [[Cult of personality]]
* [[Single-party state]]
* [[Mobocracy]], [[Social Effects of the Theory of Evolution]], [[Anti-Semitism]], [[Communist Racism]], [[Genocide]], [[Holocaust]]
* [[National Socialist German Workers Party]] ([[Nazi]])
* [[National Socialism]] - the Nazis were elitist [[Police state]] [[liberals]] not [[conservative]]s
* [[Big government]] [[Welfare state]] leads to [[Nanny state]], leads to [[Police state]]: [[Globalist]]-[[Statist]]-[[Socialist]]-[[Communist]]
* [[Liberal totalitarianism]]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==Further reading==
*[http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/] An in depth view on Venezuela under Hugo Chávez.
*[http://www.latinbusinesschronicle.com/app/article.aspx?id=706] An overview of articles on Venezuela's business under Hugo Chávez.
*[http://www.realclearpolitics.com/Commentary/com-2_24_06_AVL.html ''Why The Left Should Cringe at The Mention of Hugo Chavez''], Alvaro Vargas Llosa, Independent Institute, February 24, 2006.
*[http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_kmnew/is_200108/ai_kepm313968 ''Bolivar, Dictator or Paladin?''] Interview: Hugo Chavez talks about Venezuela, Maria Amparo Lasso, Newsweek, Aug 20, 2001.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chavez, Hugo}}
[[Category:Venezuela]]
[[Category:Dictators]]
[[Category:Anti-Semitism]]
[[Category:Socialists]]

Talk:Hugo Chavez

2015-08-19T02:26:03Z

Scatach: /* Chavez and Christianity */ new section

This page appears fine to me. Citations are needed throughout the article, but as far as everything else goes, I approve. [[User:ColinR|ColinR]] 05:18, 13 March 2007 (EDT)

==Date Of Chavez's Death==

No offence, but this is absurd. Why are we calling ourselves an Encyclopedia if we're letting our biases and prejudices be used in lieu of verifiable evidence? If we had verifiable evidence it would be proudly plastered (this is based on observation of the nature and personality of this wikia) but it's not. All i get in response to my revisions fixing the date of his death to March 5th and addressing the suspicions (as there is some question) which is set as being around Dec 11th is "its obvious he died months ago!" with no citations beyond an article questioning on his actual death date. This appears to be based on nothing more than prejudice against liberals and calling them liars. If i'm incorrect in my assessment and wish to provide more reasoning beyond y'all's position feel free to do so. If y'all truly call yourselves a trust worthy encyclopedia for the sake of integrity in the project provide sound evidence for the basis of your conclusion beyond suspicions as gut feelings are not substitutions for verifiable facts. I refuse to get sucked into an edit war but this is ridiculous. I do not expect to be listened to I just want to put this out there. [[user:dsherman]]

== Thanks ==

I'll get to work on some citations, but thankyou for accepting it, It's good to see some objectivity on this site. =)
==This article is surprisingly neutral==
I'm impressed that this article is surprisingly neutral towards Chavez, I figured it would call him a totalitarian communist.--[[User:DemocraticSocialist|DemocraticSocialist]] 11:50, 20 May 2007 (EDT)
:He's more of a '''greedy''' communist robber baron. [[User:RobS|RobS]] 16:36, 20 May 2007 (EDT)
It must be liberal subversion hahahaha--[[User:DemocraticSocialist|DemocraticSocialist]] 11:51, 20 May 2007 (EDT)

:Sorry to burst the bubble. He has been referred to as a dictator [http://www.conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Template:AboutC&oldid=139640 here]. Have patience this article will eventually follow suit. [[User:Auld Nick|Auld Nick]] 11:59, 20 May 2007 (EDT)

I knew it was too good to be true. While Castro is a dictator, Chavez who was elected by almost two thirds of the population is clearly not --[[User:DemocraticSocialist|DemocraticSocialist]] 14:58, 20 May 2007 (EDT)
:We're waiting for Castro to die before her passes the baton. [[User:RobS|RobS]] 16:27, 20 May 2007 (EDT)
==Dictator!!!!????==
How can someone who is democratically elected be referred to as a dictator --[[User:ScandalousHegemony|ScandalousHegemony]] 23:57, 23 May 2007 (EDT)
:How about that Hitler guy in 1933? [[User:Karajou|Karajou]] 21:16, 30 May 2007 (EDT)
::...Who was not democratically elected. --[[User:Hojimachong|'''Ĥøĵĭmåçħôńğ''']][[User_Talk:Hojimachong|talk]] 21:17, 30 May 2007 (EDT)
::: Maybe the question should be, "how can someone who continues to hold democratic elections at the frequency prescribed in the nations constitution (Like Mr. Chavez for example) be called a dictator?" The answer to that question is, he cannot. Because he isn't. Like it or not, Hugo Chavez is the democraticly elected leader of a democratic country and any suggestion that he is a dictator is little more than an insult to democracy. How can this website call Chavez a Dictator, but not someone like General [[Pinochet]] of Chile??? This 'encyclopedia' gets progressively more ridiculous by the day. Unless someone either 'locks this page for editing' or gives me some very good evidence to suggest that I am wrong about Mr. Chavez and his democratic government I will delete the word 'Dictator' from this entry.
:::::: Oh look, how suprising. It's already been locked. That's it. I've had enough of Conservapedia. You have to look less hard to find the truth in UNcyclopedia than Conservapedia. At least they admit they are a comedy parody of the truth. And at least they dont get all angry because I choose to spell suprising with an 's' instead of a 'z'.

It doesn't matter how he got into power, especially if he significantly increases his power while in office. [[User:DanH|DanH]] 21:19, 30 May 2007 (EDT)
:Chavez does not have a record of increasing his power, merely changing the economy to having a socialist slant. --[[User:Hojimachong|'''Ĥøĵĭmåçħôńğ''']][[User_Talk:Hojimachong|talk]] 21:21, 30 May 2007 (EDT)
::*actually, he does [http://www.mywire.com/pubs/ForeignPolicy/2006/01/01/1111144/print]. Chavez is an autocrat.[[User:Bohdan|Богдан]] [[User talk:Bohdan|Talk]] 21:28, 30 May 2007 (EDT)
I used to have neighbors from Venezuela whose relatives were on Chavez's hit list. [[User:DanH|DanH]] 21:28, 30 May 2007 (EDT)
:Not surprising. Mr. Homimachong seems to be a fan of Kim Jong il and Hitler and Saddam Husseien, and he can't NOT be a fan of someone like Chavez. If you liked Hitler, you'll like Chavez! '''Scorpion'''[[User_Talk:Scorpion|Vote for Pedro]] 14:18, 29 November 2007 (EST)

== chavez IS NOT a dictator ==

you conservatives all suck. how can someone who was democratically elected be considered
a dictator? you are all a bunch of imperialist fascists!

:Typical non-spelling, America-hating fascist liberal, accusing others of fascism! Go to Venezuela. '''Scorpion'''[[User_Talk:Scorpion|Vote for Pedro]] 14:14, 29 November 2007 (EST)
:And Hitler was also voted in democratically. Are you going to say that he was Germany's "president"? '''Scorpion'''[[User_Talk:Scorpion|Vote for Pedro]] 14:15, 29 November 2007 (EST)
::We 'wouldn't' say that Hitler was Germany's "president," considering that he abolished the office after Paul von Hindenburg's death. Nor was he democratically elected. He was 'appointed' to the chancellorship by Hindenburg, and then assumed presidential powers after Hindenburg's death that he was never intended to have. Hence, as Chavez is a democratically elected head of state, you need greater evidence that he is a "dictator." [[User:Agnapostate|Agnapostate]] 01:02, 23 December 2008 (EST)

== Irony ==

Guys, you lost me at "Repressive Dictator". Can you really not see the irony in this skewed, worthless article namecalling democratically elected foreign (to you) leaders?. Someone please kill this article as it is embarassed by it's own existence.

Can anyone actually explain the point of this article; a blinkered, one sided repressive waste of time projecting its own ignorance onto others. Really there is no point to it. {{unsigned|Mrivpond}}

== What a disgrace. ==

How can anyone seriously type that he is a repressive dictator? He was democratically election every single time, his new bid to remove term limits is being done by REFERENDUM.. are you guys on something, how is he a dictator in '''ANY WAY'''?

And don't get me started on this RCTV stuff, he closed it down because it actively called for a violent revolution against him, and then when that actually occured and an ACTUAL DICTATORSHIP was put in place, it just ran anti-Chavez ads the entire time, then when the dictatorship was crumbling as the people fought back to put Chavez back in, instead of running actual news saying this, it showed dramas like the Bold and the Beautiful. And so when it came around the renewing the liscence for it, he refused. '''ANY COUNTRY WOULD DO THIS''', If there was a television channel in the United States actively calling for a violent revolution against the US government and falsifying news, what do you think the US government would do? The exact same. PLUS, RCTV can still be viewed on cable television.

It also is in ''no way'' the only anti-Chavez media source in the country, most media in the country are hostile to Chavez. [[User:Pallawish]]

:So sorry to hear that, Mr. Chavez. I bet you'd rather be like your pal over in North Korea, who has a media that praises and worships him! '''Scorpion'''[[User_Talk:Scorpion|Vote for Pedro]] 14:12, 29 November 2007 (EST)

==NOT A DICTATOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!==
CHAVEZ WAS ELECTED WITH TWO THIRDS OF THE VOTE, HOW CAN YOU CALL HIM A DICTATOR. YOUR PRESIDENT WAS ELECTED WITH LESS THAT HALF THE VOTE. --[[User:ChavezFan|ChavezFan]] 16:24, 29 October 2007 (EDT)
:Two thirds? Wow, Hitler beat him with 92% & Saddam got 99%. Looks like Chavez still has his work cut out for him. [[User:RobSmith|Rob Smith]] 13:18, 30 October 2007 (EDT)

::Perhaps ChavezFan would like to go down to Venezuela right now and begin his own newspaper with the expressed purpose of being critical of the government in general, and Chavez in particular. Let's see how long it lasts. [[User:Karajou|Karajou]] 13:33, 30 October 2007 (EDT)

:What is this Chavestite doing in America????? '''Scorpion'''[[User_Talk:Scorpion|Vote for Pedro]] 14:08, 29 November 2007 (EST)

== Pro-Chavez ==

I don't care how Chavez was sworn in, he can certainly become a dictator in office! I, frankly, am appalled at all those on here who love this man. If you love this man you must be a chavestite yourself or went to a ultra-pro-Chavez Venezuelan school. If so, you have a lot of surprises waiting for you! This article isn't even listing the things he said about Bush, like calling him "the devil". If he thinks Bush is the devil, why isn't he following him?? '''Scorpion'''[[User_Talk:Scorpion|Vote for Pedro]] 14:22, 29 November 2007 (EST)

== Dictator ==

I want to agree with the views expressed above. I am by no means a fan of Chavez; he is a manipulative, power-hungry, buffoonish demagogue who may yet drive his country into the ground and is stripping away his citizens' freedom. But he is absolutely ''not'' a dictator. A dictator has total or near-total control of the government; Chavez, whatever he may wish, is still heavily hamstrung by the apparatus of Venezuela's democracy. He has had to refer many of his measures to the voters, and was recently handed a defeat which he could do nothing about. You can call him a dictator-wannabe or repressive, but it ill-serves the credibility of Conservapedia to say he is something he is not. [[User:Tor|Tor]] 16:53, 2 March 2008 (EST)
:Thank You Tor to are completely correct on this one. You know I am beginning to have my doubts about whether this website is being edited in good faith. Chavez is not perfect, and has done a lot of things to harm his country's economy and its people but a dictater? Well that's nonsense and for our encyclopedia to say so because we dislike his economic and social positions, well that's nonsense on stilts.--[[User:DamianJohn|DamianJohn]] 08:59, 8 July 2008 (EDT)

Anyone here heard the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra? No? I thought not. [[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 22:54, 12 August 2008 (EDT)

=="Silencing" the Media==
''"In May 2007, Chavez silenced the only remaining opposition television station critical of his repression by revoking its licence."''
This claim has more problems than the "non-American spelling," which has caused Conservapedia to be critical of Wikipedia in the past. It is outright disingenuous to claim that Chavez "silenced" RCTV because they were "critical of his repression." RCTV's license was simply not renewed; it was not "revoked." And the reason that it was not renewed is because five years prior, RCTV had openly endorsed the overthrow of the democratically elected President Chavez. If a news outlet in the U.S. had openly called for the overthrow of Bush, and Bush was temporarily removed from power, it's likely that the persons responsible would be imprisoned and charged with treason, not have their license not renewed five years after the fact. --[[User:Agnapostate|Agnapostate]] 21:28, 10 October 2008 (EDT)
:Well, given that nobody here has expressed any opposition to this, I'm editing the media claim. --[[User:Agnapostate|Agnapostate]] 21:25, 12 October 2008 (EDT)

'''2002 coup'''

I am alarmed at the only passing mention of the 2002 coup perpetrated by the extreme right. I no one minds I am going to add a section in on it.

== Reliable Sources? ==

I notice most of these sources come from the State Department. Some of these seem to be without proof or trustworthy information (mainly right wing media).

Is there any information from other sources pending to allegations of terrorism or human trafficking from sources other than the State Department? If there is I can't find any. So is all that information extremely relevant of reliable?
::Please don't erase information you don't like. Instead, if you know some reliable sources with conservative information, please provide them. [[User:RJJensen|RJJensen]] 17:13, 16 October 2009 (EDT)

:The word of one man is hardly a reliable source that you have cited. There was no election fraud. I simply erased it as it had no basis in fact. The election was verified by the Venezuelan government (without controversy claimed) and many international observers (including those from Canada.) I was simply removing information that was by any standard unacceptable and uncredited.
--[[User:Cidd11|Cidd11]] 17:23, 16 October 2009 (EDT)
Once again I am removing the article on Election Fraud. I cannot stress the need for a reliable source on this subject. The opinion of one man does not constitute a reliable source. I also do not feel obligated to provide proof that he won the election as that would be a moot point towards this article. --[[User:Cidd11|Cidd11]] 12:02, 20 October 2009 (EDT)
::C'mon, Chavez is a power freak. He is a master manipulator who has Cidd11 defending a tyrant-wannabe results. Someone check if Wikipedia whitewashes the election. Someone see if Carter gave his stamp of approval.--[[User:Jpatt|Jpatt]] 12:12, 20 October 2009 (EDT)
:::Here's a source from a left-wing rag (Washington Post) which hints at election fraud [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A4208-2004Aug16.html], as well as the numbers cited in the source you removed. Others [http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2005/2/15/144227.shtml][http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122748875503551983.html][http://97.74.65.51/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=33175]. Cidd11, if you also don't feel obligated to provide proof, as you said, of anything that could help this or any other article, then why should you feel obligated to ''remove'' anything in any article? [[User:Karajou|Karajou]] 12:22, 20 October 2009 (EDT)

If your attempting to prove this "election fraud" with media rants and unsourced news articles you go a long way from promoting facts. As I have said you are not providong any reliable sources to his election fraud other than these rants. I can give you the election results from the Venezuelan government (to which may I say ''again'' no one in Venezuela disputes the results. Perhaps members of the right-wing media but other wise it is a legitimate election) though i doubt you will give them any stock. I can provide you with sources saying he was elected freely. But they are not conservative or liberal. Honestly please try not to inject a useless bias into this discussion just because you wish to brand him a dictator. All I am pointing out is that you are not using any facts to back up this claim other than biased anti-Chavez news articles! I don't care whose liberal and whose not! I simply cannot support a lie!--[[User:Cidd11|Cidd11]] 13:16, 20 October 2009 (EDT)
:Now you're calling the above sources "media rants", as if you are determining what is news and what is not. You're also pushing to some degree the election results in Venezuela ''as provided by the Chavez-controlled Venezuelan government'' as though it was fact. You're completely-ignoring Carter's role in this, and he's on record as supporting every socialistic/dictatorship government in which an election was disputed. If you say that election fraud in Venezuela didn't happen, ''then you prove it'' by using the totally unbiased sources which you claim exist. [[User:Karajou|Karajou]] 13:32, 20 October 2009 (EDT)

==Carter==
I agree that some of the wording could be changed in the article. You suggest that is was a fair election because Carter says it was. That is nonsense. Carter is a racist Jew basher and an apologist for terrorists. His word is worth as much as a handful of dirt. --[[User:Jpatt|Jpatt]] 01:14, 10 December 2009 (EST)
:No I suggest we add a source that was used worldwide regarding the election which was ultimately accepted as fair by everybody who wasn't an opposition spokesperson or who's mates didn't want to get their hands on a few billion dollars of oil each year. You're trying to censor even the inclusion of that information and maintain a false impression of the election rather than allowing the reader to make up their own mind. Have to go out now but I'll change some of the wording and in a seperate edit add this information in a neutral way and you can then decide. [[User:Rutger|Rutger]] 01:26, 10 December 2009 (EST)
Nonsense. Nobody thought this election was fair, and trying to deprive our readership of the knowledge that it was a rigged election is censorship. Your goal isn't to make the article more informative, but LESS informative, and your edit is designed to influence Conservapedia readers in favor of Chavez and socialism. There's nothing biased about saying an election was probably rigged if it was probably rigged.[[User:JacobB|JacobB]] 01:32, 10 December 2009 (EST)
::Nonsense yourself. One or two ratbags claiming something doesn't make it true and as per Andy this website operates on a concensus of facts, not the opinions of a few. Almost everyone (eventually, many claimed like you did there was fraud initially but gave up once they failed to find evidence of it) thought the election was fair except the opposition, those involved in the previous coup attempt and hardcore capitalists. Even Fox gave up on claiming they were fraudulent. You see the problem with the theory that it was rigged is how did he rig his first election? The next two? How did he rig the massive amount of popular support which overthrew the coup attempt? How did he physically "rig it"? '''And lastly, and very importantly, why did he rig the elections but not the referendum which would have given him greater power?''' I know it's strange that poor people wouldn't vote to support large companies and disgustingly greedy wealth distribution but it really did happen. [[User:Rutger|Rutger]] 22:57, 10 December 2009 (EST)

== Latest edit ==

My latest edit didn't see DamianJohn's edit comment. At this point it seems more detail is fine.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 19:11, 5 March 2013 (EST)

== Biblical Truths ==
Long time reader, first time poster. Testing the waters on this page with something I think should be included on all of the pages of deceased enemies of conservative Christianity: that those who deny the Biblical truths of Jesus Christ are destined to spend eternity in hell for their rejection of Salvation. This would be in keeping with the un-PC truth that Conservapedia is famous for as well as a warning for the libs that read and mock our work here. I included it under the "religious" section as I found that to be the best fit for this article. If the admins agree that this is a logical idea, which I hope they do, it could be worded or arranged any way deemed appropriate. Perhaps in the side panel along side place of birth, place of death, etc.? --[[User:Kmatthews|Kmatthews]] 20:03, 25 July 2013 (EDT)

== Chavez and Christianity ==

Looking for some sources right now, but I have heard he was a devout Christian and there is no mention of that in the article.Gonna add what I can find on him and religion. Putting this here to see other people's thoughts.-[[User:Scatach|Scatach]] ([[User talk:Scatach|talk]]) 22:26, 18 August 2015 (EDT)

Hugo Chavez

2015-08-19T02:23:08Z

Scatach: Chavez and Venezuela is socialist, not communist

{{Dictator bio
| image =[[Image:chavez.jpg|200px]]
| name =Hugo Chavez
| birth =July 28, 1954 Sabaneta, Venezuela
| parents =Hugo de los Reyes Chávez Elena Frías de Chávez
| religion =Roman Catholic
| education =Daniel Florencio O'Leary High School, Barinas Venezuelan Academy of Military Sciences, Caracas
| spouse =Nancy Colmenares (div.) Marisabel Rodríguez (div.)
| children =Rosa Virginia María Gabriela Hugo Rafael Rosinés (with Marisabel)
| death = circa Dec. 11, 2012 (denied by the [[lamestream media]] until Mar. 5, 2013)
| deathmanner = illness in a Cuban hospital
| burial =The museum of the Bolivarian Revolution in Caracas
| country =[[Venezuela]]
| military =Venezuelan army
| rank =Lieutenant colonel
| polbeliefs =[[Socialism]]
| party =Fifth Republic Movement United Socialist Party
| dictatordate =November 2000
| war =n/a
| deathnumber =n/a
}}
'''Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías''' (b. July 28, 1954 - d. circa Dec. 11, 2012) <ref>http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-21476917 (obviously staged photo)</ref> was the [[leftist]] President of the Bolivarian Republic of [[Venezuela]] from 1999 to 2012. Chavez was not seen in public since he entered a Cuban hospital near death on December 11, 2012. Venezuela's [[socialist]] regime engaged in [[liberal denial]] about his death for nearly three months, even releasing a photo of an ostensibly fit and smiling Chavez. But on March 5, 2013, likely due to pressure from other nations that knew Chavez had died, Venezuelan [[communist]]s finally admitted Chavez was dead. <ref>[http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/03/05/hugo-chavez-dead-at-58-good-riddance.html "Hugo Chavez dead at 58] "How little we know about the manner in which - or when - he died"]</ref> <ref>[http://apnews.myway.com/article/20130311/DA4UKU7G0.html Venezuela candidate: Govt exploits Chavez death]</ref>

A self-proclaimed [[socialist]] and [[collectivist]], his disastrous economic policies led to food shortages, quotas, and rationing in his oil-rich country, causing thousands to flee.<ref>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/venezuela/4938993/Venezuelas-Hugo-Chavez-tightens-state-control-of-food-amid-rocketing-inflation-and-food-shortages.html</ref>
Chávez assumed power as President in 1999 and pledged to aid Venezuela's poor majority.
Fraudulent elections were held in 2000 and in 2006, allowing Chavez to retain his [[Authoritarianism|authoritarian]] power. As such it would be accurate to describe him as a [[dictator]].

*{{Venezuela blunder}}

Due to an illness, in early April 2012 "Hugo Chavez weeps and calls on [[God]] to spare his life."<ref>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/venezuela/9189962/Hugo-Chavez-weeps-and-calls-on-God-to-spare-his-life.html</ref> That contrasts with Jesus's request in his time of crisis, when [[Jesus]] prayed, "O Father, if You can, let this cup pass from Me. But ''don't do what I want, but rather what You want''."<ref>[[Matthew 20-28 (Translated)#26:39|Matthew 26:39]].</ref>

Despite knowing full well that he was dying of cancer and had only a few months to live, Chavez selfishly chose to run for reelection and plunge his country into chaos and turmoil instead of organizing a more orderly transfer of power to one of his Communist cronies. On 7 October 2012, a terminally ill Chávez won election as president for a fourth time, defeating Henrique Capriles, and would have served another six years until 2019 if he had remained alive.<ref>http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/08/venezuela-election-idUSL1E8L70WK20121008</ref>

==Election fraud==
Steven F. Hayward wrote:
* While exit polls conducted by the very reliable American firm of Penn, Schoen, and Berland showed Chavez losing by a large margin (41 to 59), the official results put Chavez free and clear by a vote of 58 to 41 percent.<ref>[http://frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=5A8D0094-4590-4DFB-A7F0-C2E06A6820FB]</ref>

A 26 February 2003 report by Robert Tracinski obliterates the left-wing mythology around Chavez:
<blockquote>
: '''Step one''': Chavez has initiated formal proceedings to revoke the licenses of independent, privately owned television and radio stations. Meanwhile, his political militias, the Bolivarian Circles, have staged violent attacks on independent media outlets. After all, elections don't mean much if all people watch is propaganda on state-run television.

: '''Step two''': Chavez has used a moratorium on currency conversion--needed to pay for imported goods--to punish his opponents. Vowing "no dollars for coup-mongers," he has used this power, for example, to prevent opposition newspapers from importing ink. After all, elections don't mean much if your opponents are too busy worrying where their next meal is coming from.

: '''Step three''': Venezuelan police acting on Chavez's orders have arrested Carlos Fernandez, the head of Venezuela's largest business federation and a leader of the recent anti-Chavez strike, charging him with rebellion and sabotage. Another strike leader, Carlos Ortega, head of Venezuela's largest labor union, has gone into hiding. In one move, Chavez has neutralized two potential rivals for the presidency. After all, elections don't mean much if all of the other candidates are in jail.

: '''Step four''': Last week, four protesters were kidnapped while returning from an anti-Chavez rally. They were blindfolded, tortured, and shot execution-style. Some of the victims were witnesses to a previous pro-Chavez political killing, and they had planned to testify against the shooter. Consider the message sent to the opposition when the mutilated bodies of their friends start showing up in the city streets. After all, elections don't mean much if your opponents are afraid to leave their houses and walk to the polls.

: '''Step five''': A few days ago, Chavez delivered a speech denouncing Spain, Colombia, and the US for interfering in Venezuela. This morning in Caracas, the diplomatic missions of Spain and Colombia were bombed. Credit was claimed by a splinter pro-Chavez group--but this was not a bunch of kids cooking up homemade bombs in their basement. The bombs were powerful plastic explosives, the kind of weapons that are difficult to obtain without government complicity.<ref>http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/americas/2514-dictatorship-by-the-numbers-in-venezuela.html {{dead link}}</ref>
</blockquote>

$4 billion dollars were spent paying paramilitary groups to attack unarmed protestors and other dissidents during and after the elections.<ref>http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/americas/2968-venezuela-a-new-junket-for-a-dictator-s-best-friend-jimmy-carter.html</ref>

The [[European Union]] condemned the conditions placed on election monitors as unacceptable and declined to attend. The Carter Center was shut out for three days. Experts from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University have identified signs of fraud based on statistical analysis.<ref>http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/americas/3924-the-carter-stamp-of-approval-on-the-venueuzlan-election-less-than-worthless.html</ref>

==Human rights concerns==
Hugo Chávez was a great friend of the tyrannical [[Cuban]] despot [[Fidel Castro]] and is said to have drawn his political style through influences such as [[Che Guevara]], [[Karl Marx]] and [[Simon Bolivar]]. The U.S. State Department ''Report on Global Anti-Semitism'' cited Chavez in August 2004 warning citizens against following the lead of Jewish citizens in the effort to overturn his referendum victory.<ref>[http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/40258.htm Report on Global Anti-Semitism] U. S. Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, [[Human Rights]], and Labor, January 5, 2005. </ref> Chavez also embraced a number of world leaders that have hostile relations with the United States, including Holocaust-denier [[Mahmoud Ahmadinejad]], the President of [[Iran]], who Chavez has referred to as "my brother".<ref>[http://english.eluniversal.com/2006/07/31/en_pol_art_31A756133.shtml Chávez decorated in Iran; initials cooperation pacts]</ref> U.S. Speaker of the House of Representatives [[Nancy Pelosi]] said of Chavez, "Hugo Chavez fancies himself a modern-day [[Simon Bolivar]], but all he is is an everyday thug."<ref>[http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/pruden092206.php3 Back to the old days, if only for a minute], Wesley Pruden, ''Jewish World Review'', Sept. 22, 2006.</ref> He was also considered to be an ally of [[leftist]] [[Ecuador|Ecuadorian]] president [[Rafael Correa]], [[Bolivia|Bolivian]] president [[Evo Morales]] and the president of [[Nicaragua]], [[Daniel Ortega]] ... all radical leftists.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6187364.stm Correa]</ref>

In May 2007, Chavez silenced the only remaining opposition television station critical of his repression by revoking its licence.<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/venezuela/story/0,,2085952,00.html Chávez silences critical TV station], Rory Carroll, ''The Guardian'', May 23, 2007.</ref> Crowds of students demonstrated saying they feared for the future of human rights in Venezuala. National Guard troops were ordered to fire [[tear gas]] and [[rubber bullets]]. Two students were injured, a third was hit with a tear gas canister, and about 20 people needed emergency medical attention for inhaling tear gas. <ref>[http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/05/28/ap3763178.html Troops Fire Upon Protesters in Venezuela], Fabiola Sanchez, Associated Press, 05.28.07. Retrieved from Forbes.com 05/31/07. </ref> Chavez employs discrimination against [[migrant workers]] in the country.<ref>http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/americas/3924-the-carter-stamp-of-approval-on-the-venueuzlan-election-less-than-worthless.html</ref>

Chavez said, “I am going to go after those who resist the revolution and eliminate them one by one.”<ref>[http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2007/jul/07/guest_commentary_we_must_help_venezuela_because_fr/ Because Freedom Matters], By U.S. Rep. Connie Mack IV and Blanquita Cullm, ''Naples Daily News'', July 7, 2007.</ref>

===Trafficking in Persons===
Venezuela under Chavez was on the U.S. State Department’s Tier 3 list for [[trafficking in persons]] since 2004, which means that the government was categorized as one that has failed to make significant efforts to bring itself into compliance with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking in persons. The State Department’s June 2007 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report maintains that Venezuela is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children trafficked for [[sexual exploitation]] and [[forced labor]].<ref>U.S. Department of State, [http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2007/ Trafficking in Persons Report], June 12, 2007, p. 207.</ref>

==Relations with US==
[[File:Chavez Obama.jpg|thumb|At the Fifth Summit of the Americas.]]
Foreign relations between the [[United States of America]] and [[Venezuela]] are presently unstable. Chavez often criticized the United States for its 'imperialism' on his radio segment 'Alo Presidente', and alleged the United States's supported a 2002 coup in Venezuela which toppled Chávez momentarily and later removed by Chávez supporters, also known as 'Chávistas'. Venezuela is heavily dependent upon trade revenue from oil sales to the United States. Chavez has founded [[Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas|ALBA]] an international organization of leftist countries on the [[Caribic]]s and Southern America. Chavez said that the ALCA is a "instrument of imperialism".

===Terrorism===
In May 2006, the State Department determined that, pursuant to Section 40A of the [[Arms Export Control Act]], Venezuela was not fully cooperating with U.S. [[antiterrorism]] efforts. This triggered a prohibition on the sale or license of defense articles and services to Venezuela. Other countries on the Section 40A list include [[Cuba]], [[Iran]], [[North Korea]], and [[Syria]], not to be confused with the "state sponsors of
terrorism" list under Section 6(j) of the Export Administration Act of 1979, which currently includes Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, and Syria. The State Department asserted that the Section 40A determination was based on Venezuela’s near lack of antiterrorism cooperation over the last year, citing its support for Iraqi insurgents and Iran’s development of nuclear capabilities, the country’s status as a safe haven for Colombian and Basque terrorist groups, and its effort to derail hemispheric efforts to advance counter-terrorism policies in the OAS. In May 2007, the State Department again included Venezuela in its annual Section 40A determination that it was not cooperating fully with U.S. antiterrorism efforts.

In late April 2007, the State Department issued its annual Country Reports on Terrorism, which asserted that President Chávez "persisted in public criticism of U.S. counterterrorism efforts, deepened Venezuelan relationships with Iran and Cuba, and was unwilling to prevent Venezuelan territory from being used as a safe haven" by Colombian terrorist groups.

There have been long-held suspicions that Chávez has supported leftist Colombian guerrillas, although Chávez denies such support. The State Department’s terrorism report maintains that units of Colombia’s two leftist terrorist groups — the [[Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia]] (FARC) and the [[National Liberation Army]] (ELN) — often crossed into Venezuela "to rest and regroup with relative impunity."

In addition, according to the report, splinter groups of the FARC and a rightist terrorist group, the [[AUC|United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia]] (AUC) reportedly operate in various parts of the country and are involved in drug trafficking. The report maintained, however, that "it remained unclear to what extent the Venezuelan
Government provided material support to Colombian terrorists."

In addition, according to the report, Venezuelan citizenship, identity, and travel documents remained easy to obtain, making the country a potentially attractive waystation for terrorists. In July 13, 2006, congressional testimony, the State Department’s Principal Deputy Coordinator for Counterterrorism, Frank Urbancic, asserted that the United States was detaining increasing numbers of third-country aliens at its borders carrying falsified or fraudulently issued Venezuelan documents. U.S. officials also have expressed concerns about President Chávez’s close relationship with Cuba’s Fidel Castro, but Chávez defends his relationship with Cuba. Overall Venezuelan support to Cuba is estimated to be more than $2 billion a year.<ref>Frances Robles and Phil Gunson, ''Cuba Spotlights Chávez Friendship,'' Miami Herald, January 26, 2007.</ref> Venezuela supplies some 90,000 barrels of oil per day to Cuba on a concessionary basis under PetroCaribe. In return, Venezuela has received support from thousands of Cuban health care workers and sports instructors in the country.

During an April 2005 trip to Cuba, Presidents Chávez and Castro announced commercial deals worth over $400 million, including a joint shipyard to build small navy ships and a joint housing construction company. In January 2007, a delegation of Cuban officials visited Caracas and signed a number of agreements to increase economic linkages, including an agreement for joint oil exploration in both countries.

PdVSA is also involved in refurbishing an unfinished oil refinery in Cienfuegos, Cuba. Beyond Latin America, the Bush Administration has expressed concerns with Venezuela’s growing relations with Iran. In February 2006, Secretary of State Rice referred to Venezuela, along with Cuba, as “sidekicks” of Iran in reference to those countries’ votes in the International Atomic Energy Agency against reporting Iran to the U.N. Security Council over its uranium enrichment program.<ref>Pablo Bachelet, “Rice Bashes Venezuelan Leader, Politics,” Miami Herald, February 17, 2006; House International Relations Committee, Hearing on the Fiscal Year 2007
International Affairs Budget, Testimony of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, February
16, 2006.</ref> In testimony before the Senate Select Intelligence Committee in February 2006, Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte expressed concern that President Chávez "is seeking closer economic, military, and diplomatic ties with Iran and North Korea."<ref>Senate Select Intelligence Committee, Hearing on World Wide Threats, Testimony of Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte, February 2, 2006.</ref> ran and Venezuela signed an agreement for a $200 million fund to finance joint investment and social projects, and commercial agreements in the early stages include plans for a cement factory, oil exploration in the Orinoco River belt, and a joint operation to build oil and liquid natural gas tankers.<ref>Steven Dudley, "Chávez’s Wooing of Iran Called Troubling," Miami Herald, March 2, 2006.</ref> During a visit by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Venezuela in mid-January 2007, the two countries announced they would use a $2 billion investment fund to finance projects in both countries and other countries as well.<ref>Simon Romero, ''Iranian President Visits Venezuela to Strengthen Ties,'' New York Times, January 14, 2007.</ref>

Some Members of Congress have expressed concerns about relations between Venezuela and Iran. In the 110th Congress, H.Res. 435 (Klein) would, among its provisions, express concern over national security implications of the relationship between the leaders of Iran and Venezuela.

According to the ''Washington Post'' Chavez was accused of supplying weapons to Colombian rebels, of financing Bolivian and Ecuadorian groups seeking to establish "Marxist" states, and of being, with Cuban leader Fidel Castro's guidance, a "[[subversion (political)|subversive]]" everywhere else in the region.<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/25/AR2005082501420.html?nav=rss_world/centralamerica ''Dealing With the Good and Bad Hugo Chavez''], Marcela Sanchez The Washington Post 25 August 2005.</ref>

==Expropriation==
[[Image:Hugo-chavez8.jpg|left|175px|thumb|Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez with Fidel Castro.]]

In typical socialist rhetoric, Chavez made wild claims to fund the government by nationalizing foreign assets. Typical reasons included accusing companies of environmental damage and exploiting its workers. In 2010 alone, Chavez seized 195 companies. <ref>[http://english.eluniversal.com/2010/10/20/en_eco_art_a-total-of-195-busin_20A4631291.shtml A total of 195 businesses has been seized in 2010, El Universal, October 20, 2010]</ref> Spanish-owned farm supply and U.S.-based Ohio bottle company were recently taken over. Other recognized multi-national companies such ExxonMobil, steel maker Sidor, cement company CEMEX fell to the same fate. <ref>[http://wellsy.wordpress.com/2010/10/26/chavez-takes-over-venezuelan-plants-of-oh-company/ Chavez takes over Venezuelan plants of OH company, Wellsy's World, October 26, 2010]</ref> Venezuala is supposed to compensate the companies but nobody expects Chavez to provide other than peanuts for assets he steals.

Through Venezuela's state owned petroleum industry and membership in [[OPEC]], Chávez used powers granted to him by Parliament to increase oil prices, adding revenue for the Bolivarianist projects. Countries such as the United States have criticized Chávez for the increase in cost for crude oil. Chavez was at the forefront of wanting to set crude oil prices at $60 a barrel minimum, according to the ''Asia Times''<ref>[http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/HL07Dj01.html ''Bush, OPEC and Chavez of Arabia''], Pepe Escobar, Asia Times, 7 December 2006.</ref> The state owned oil company PDVSA is estimated to have spent in excess of $120 million dollars sponsoring the [[Formula 1]] team, Willaims F1, so that they would give the Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado a seat.

==Anti-semitism==
[[File:Chavez ahmad.jpg|thumb|Hugo Chavez and Holocaust denier [[Mahmoud Ahmadinejad]]]]
Chavez was known to be fiercely [[Anti-semitism|anti-semitic]]<ref>http://www.commentarymagazine.com/viewarticle.cfm/hugo-ch-vez-s-jewish-problem-11455
</ref>, which was the likely reason for his friendship and political alliance with Iranian dictator and [[Holocaust denial|holocaust denier]] [[Mahmoud Ahmadinejad]]<ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/04/AR2008020402428.html
</ref>. As a result of the anti-semitic policies of the Chavez regime and the wave of violent attacks on Venezuelan Jews that it caused, the [[Jewish]] population of Venezuela decreased by more than 50 percent within a decade of Chavez coming to power.<ref>http://www.worldjewishdaily.com/venezuela.php</ref>

==Drug trafficking==
The ''Associated Press'' reported in July 2007 that since Chavez's ascension to power, illegal narcotics passing through Venezuela from [[Colombia]] has risen by as much as 30 tons a year and now accounts for roughly a third of the world's supply of [[cocaine]]. Mildred Camero who was in charge of Venezuela's anti-drug efforts stated, "[[Caracas]] is replacing [[Bogota]] as a center of everything related to drug operations." Camero was fired in 2005 after reporting high-level corruption. <ref>[http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/07/01/ap3875048.html Venezuela Becomes Cocaine Conduit], By Ian James and Frank Bajak, ''Associated Press'', 1 July 2007. Retrieved from Forbes.com 8 July 2007.</ref>

In 2008 Chavez revealed that he himself regularly chews coca leafs, the leafs from which cocaine is made.<ref>[http://uk.reuters.com/article/2008/01/26/uk-venezuela-chavez-coca-idUKN2638848320080126 Venezuela's Chavez swaps coffee for coca in speech - Reuters]</ref> This revelation casts serious doubts about his ability to function properly as a head of state and reach sound judgements.

==Religious==
Chavez demanded that [[Pope Benedict]] apologize for saying the Roman Catholic Church purified Indians in Latin America. Chavez called the treatment of Indians after [[Christopher Columbus]] landed in 1492 a "holocaust".<ref>[http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSN1819661120070519 Chavez demands Pope apologize for Indian comments], Reuters, May 19, 2007</ref>

==2011-2012 Health Crisis and subsequent cover-up and Constitutional Crisis==

On June 30th, 2011, the 56 year-old President admitted, in a televised speech, of having cancer.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-13991906]</ref> He sought medical treatments in communist Cuba instead of choosing the much better hospitals and doctors of Brazil, the United States or Europe, because of the deeply rooted leftist myth according to which Cuban medicine is the best in the world, and because only a murderous dictatorship like the Cuban Communist regime could impose the level of secrecy Chavez needed to keep the Venezuelans in the dark about how terminally ill he really was.

Despite knowing full well that he was dying of cancer and had only a few months to live, Chavez selfishly chose to run for reelection and plunge his country into chaos and turmoil instead of organizing a more orderly transfer of power to one of his Communist cronies. On 7 October 2012, a terminally ill Chávez won election as president for a fourth time, defeating Henrique Capriles.<ref>http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/08/venezuela-election-idUSL1E8L70WK20121008</ref>

Chavez was not seen since 11 December 2012, the last time he appeared in public. He must have died shortly afterwards. However, the Cuban and Venezuelan communists attempted to keep his death secret, and pretended he was alive for another two and a half months, going as far as using his [[Twitter]] account to post fake messages from a supposedly recovering Chavez.

Chavez should have taken the oath of office on January the 10th, the necessary step to asume the presidency for his new period. However, Venezuela's Supreme Court ignored the provisions of the Venezuelan Constitution (reformed by Chavez himself in 1999) and allowed Chavez to become president without taking the oath of office, thus doing away with any remaining semblance of constitutional government.

On February, the 18th it was announced that Chavez had returned to Venezuela to finish his recovery.<ref>http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/02/18/president-chavez-returns-to-venezuela-from-cuba-after-months-medical-treatment/</ref> The then Venezuelan vice-president [[Nicolás Maduro]] said that Chavez had been flown in secrecy from [[Havana]] to [[Caracas]] in the early hours of the morning to avoid possible attacks from his enemies. The two top floors of Caracas' Military Hospital were sealed from the public, with Chavez supposedly recovering in the 8th floor and the 7th floor closed to guarantee his security. On March the 5th the Venezuelan ''de facto'' government finally ended the charade and announced that Chavez had died, suggesting also that his cancer and death had been the result of an assessination plot by "the historical enemies of the Fatherland" (referring to the United States and the Venezuelan democratic opposition). On March 7th, Venezuelan vice-president announced that Chavez's body should be embalmed and put on permanent display inside a glass tomb, thus imitating the treatment given to the corpses of other Communist dictators like [[Vladimir Lenin|Lenin]], [[Joseph Stalin|Stalin]], [[Klement Gottwald]], [[Georgi Dimitrov]], [[Mao Zedong]], [[Ho Chi Minh]], [[Kim Il-Sung]] and [[Kim Jong-Il]].<ref>FOX News: [http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/03/07/chavez-body-embalmed-to-be-permanently-on-display/ Chavez's body embalmed, to be permanently on display] (March 7, 2013)</ref> But this was canceled because Chavez`s body would otherwise should be brought for a time in Russia.

==Quotes from Hugo Chavez==
* On closure of RCTV, claiming the network's broadcasts amounted to a "permanent attack on public morals" with cartoons that were "poisoned with hatred, violence and even sex."

* "Private banks have to give priority to financing the industrial sectors of Venezuela at low cost...If banks don't agree with this, it's better that they go, that they turn over the banks to me."

==See Also==
* [[Previous Breaking News/Hugo Chavez|Articles about '''Hugo Chavez''' from previous "Breaking News"]]
* [[Dictatorship]]
** [[Dictator]]
** [[List of dictators]]
** [[Friendly dictator]]
** [[Adolf Hitler]], [[Joseph Stalin]], [[Chairman Mao]], [[Kim Jong-Il]], [[Pol Pot]]
** [[Dictatorship of the proletariat]]
** [[List of Communist States]]
** [[List of Socialist States]]
** [[Death toll of communism]]
** [[Coup d'etat]]
* [[Cult of personality]]
* [[Single-party state]]
* [[Mobocracy]], [[Social Effects of the Theory of Evolution]], [[Anti-Semitism]], [[Communist Racism]], [[Genocide]], [[Holocaust]]
* [[National Socialist German Workers Party]] ([[Nazi]])
* [[National Socialism]] - the Nazis were elitist [[Police state]] [[liberals]] not [[conservative]]s
* [[Big government]] [[Welfare state]] leads to [[Nanny state]], leads to [[Police state]]: [[Globalist]]-[[Statist]]-[[Socialist]]-[[Communist]]
* [[Liberal totalitarianism]]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==Further reading==
*[http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/] An in depth view on Venezuela under Hugo Chávez.
*[http://www.latinbusinesschronicle.com/app/article.aspx?id=706] An overview of articles on Venezuela's business under Hugo Chávez.
*[http://www.realclearpolitics.com/Commentary/com-2_24_06_AVL.html ''Why The Left Should Cringe at The Mention of Hugo Chavez''], Alvaro Vargas Llosa, Independent Institute, February 24, 2006.
*[http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_kmnew/is_200108/ai_kepm313968 ''Bolivar, Dictator or Paladin?''] Interview: Hugo Chavez talks about Venezuela, Maria Amparo Lasso, Newsweek, Aug 20, 2001.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chavez, Hugo}}
[[Category:Venezuela]]
[[Category:Dictators]]
[[Category:Anti-Semitism]]
[[Category:Socialists]]

Israel Defense Forces

2015-08-19T02:18:12Z

Scatach: /* 2014 Gaza bombing */

[[Image:IDFlogo.jpg|right|thumb|IDF Logo]]

The '''Israel Defense Forces''' (IDF) ([[Hebrew]]: צבא ההגנה לישראל) is the name of the [[Israel|Israeli]] military, including the Israeli Army, Air Force and Sea Corps.

Their general mission is to "To defend the existence, territorial integrity and sovereignty of the state of Israel. To protect the inhabitants of Israel and to combat all forms of terrorism which threaten the daily life." The quality of the IDF has become a legend as a result of many specific missions such as the 1976 [[Entebbe rescue]], the 1973 [[Operation Spring of Youth]] and the 1967 [[Six-Day War]], in which Israel fought off for the second time the armies of all four of its immediate neighbors -- [[Egypt]], [[Jordan]], [[Syria]], and [[Lebanon]] -- as well as that of [[Iraq]] and token commitments from other Arab states. Even leaving aside its [[nuclear weapons]], the exact number and [[Weapon yield|yield]] of which are unknown, Israel is definitely the world's best armed small country (its air force would give it an edge were it somehow to fight [[North Korea]]) and is orders of magnitude more capable in a military sense than any of its neighbors.

All citizens of Israel, male and female, except for the ultra-[[Orthodox]] and [[Muslim]] are obligated to serve a minimum of two years on [[active duty]] in the IDF upon graduating from high school and a number of years thereafter as [[reservists]], meaning that Israel probably has the world's most thorough system of [[conscription]]. Career soldiers have gone on to lead the country more frequently than in the [[United States]], such as the notable examples of [[Yitzhak Rabin]], [[Ehud Barak]] and [[Ariel Sharon]].
==Recent engagements in Gaza==
The most recent high profile engagement of the IDF was in the 2014 Israel-Gaza conflict which was in part instigated by the murder of Israeli and Palestinian teenagers.The IDF bombed parts of Gaza city.It is estimated to take 20 years to fully repair the damage incurred.<ref>http://bigstory.ap.org/article/housing-group-says-20-years-rebuild-gaza</ref>

==Links==
*[http://www1.idf.il/DOVER/site/homepage.asp?clr=1&sl=EN&id=-8888&force=1 Official Site in English]
*[http://www1.idf.il/DOVER/site/ Official Site in Hebrew]
*[http://bertschlossberg.blogspot.com/ Orde Wingate and the Night Raiders: Give 'em He...Heaven!]
*[http://bertschlossberg.blogspot.com/ The courage of sticking to it: On the march with the IDF]

==See also==
*[[Sar-El]]
==Further reading==
* Tucker, Spencer C., ed. ''The Encyclopedia of the Arab-Israeli Conflict A Political, Social, and Military History'' (4 vol. 2008)

[[Category:Israel]]
[[Category:Israeli Wars]]
[[Category:Military]]

Israel Defense Forces

2015-08-18T23:27:02Z

Scatach: /* 2014 Gaza bombing */

[[Image:IDFlogo.jpg|right|thumb|IDF Logo]]

The '''Israel Defense Forces''' (IDF) ([[Hebrew]]: צבא ההגנה לישראל) is the name of the [[Israel|Israeli]] military, including the Israeli Army, Air Force and Sea Corps.

Their general mission is to "To defend the existence, territorial integrity and sovereignty of the state of Israel. To protect the inhabitants of Israel and to combat all forms of terrorism which threaten the daily life." The quality of the IDF has become a legend as a result of many specific missions such as the 1976 [[Entebbe rescue]], the 1973 [[Operation Spring of Youth]] and the 1967 [[Six-Day War]], in which Israel fought off for the second time the armies of all four of its immediate neighbors -- [[Egypt]], [[Jordan]], [[Syria]], and [[Lebanon]] -- as well as that of [[Iraq]] and token commitments from other Arab states. Even leaving aside its [[nuclear weapons]], the exact number and [[Weapon yield|yield]] of which are unknown, Israel is definitely the world's best armed small country (its air force would give it an edge were it somehow to fight [[North Korea]]) and is orders of magnitude more capable in a military sense than any of its neighbors.

All citizens of Israel, male and female, except for the ultra-[[Orthodox]] and [[Muslim]] are obligated to serve a minimum of two years on [[active duty]] in the IDF upon graduating from high school and a number of years thereafter as [[reservists]], meaning that Israel probably has the world's most thorough system of [[conscription]]. Career soldiers have gone on to lead the country more frequently than in the [[United States]], such as the notable examples of [[Yitzhak Rabin]], [[Ehud Barak]] and [[Ariel Sharon]].
==2014 Gaza bombing==
The most recent high profile engagement of the IDF was in the 2014 Israel-Gaza conflict which was in part instigated by the murder of Israeli and Palestinian teenagers.The IDF bombed parts of Gaza city.It is estimated to take 20 years to fully repair the damage incurred.<ref>http://bigstory.ap.org/article/housing-group-says-20-years-rebuild-gaza</ref>

==Links==
*[http://www1.idf.il/DOVER/site/homepage.asp?clr=1&sl=EN&id=-8888&force=1 Official Site in English]
*[http://www1.idf.il/DOVER/site/ Official Site in Hebrew]
*[http://bertschlossberg.blogspot.com/ Orde Wingate and the Night Raiders: Give 'em He...Heaven!]
*[http://bertschlossberg.blogspot.com/ The courage of sticking to it: On the march with the IDF]

==See also==
*[[Sar-El]]
==Further reading==
* Tucker, Spencer C., ed. ''The Encyclopedia of the Arab-Israeli Conflict A Political, Social, and Military History'' (4 vol. 2008)

[[Category:Israel]]
[[Category:Israeli Wars]]
[[Category:Military]]

Syriac

2015-08-18T23:25:34Z

Scatach: Redirected page to Aramaic

#REDIRECT[[Aramaic]]

Israel Defense Forces

2015-08-18T23:24:08Z

Scatach:

[[Image:IDFlogo.jpg|right|thumb|IDF Logo]]

The '''Israel Defense Forces''' (IDF) ([[Hebrew]]: צבא ההגנה לישראל) is the name of the [[Israel|Israeli]] military, including the Israeli Army, Air Force and Sea Corps.

Their general mission is to "To defend the existence, territorial integrity and sovereignty of the state of Israel. To protect the inhabitants of Israel and to combat all forms of terrorism which threaten the daily life." The quality of the IDF has become a legend as a result of many specific missions such as the 1976 [[Entebbe rescue]], the 1973 [[Operation Spring of Youth]] and the 1967 [[Six-Day War]], in which Israel fought off for the second time the armies of all four of its immediate neighbors -- [[Egypt]], [[Jordan]], [[Syria]], and [[Lebanon]] -- as well as that of [[Iraq]] and token commitments from other Arab states. Even leaving aside its [[nuclear weapons]], the exact number and [[Weapon yield|yield]] of which are unknown, Israel is definitely the world's best armed small country (its air force would give it an edge were it somehow to fight [[North Korea]]) and is orders of magnitude more capable in a military sense than any of its neighbors.

All citizens of Israel, male and female, except for the ultra-[[Orthodox]] and [[Muslim]] are obligated to serve a minimum of two years on [[active duty]] in the IDF upon graduating from high school and a number of years thereafter as [[reservists]], meaning that Israel probably has the world's most thorough system of [[conscription]]. Career soldiers have gone on to lead the country more frequently than in the [[United States]], such as the notable examples of [[Yitzhak Rabin]], [[Ehud Barak]] and [[Ariel Sharon]].
==2014 Gaza bombing==
The most recent high profile use of the IDF was in the 2014 Israel-Gaza conflict which was in part instigated by the murder of Israeli and Palestinian teenagers.The IDF bombed parts of Gaza city.It is estimated to take 20 years to fully repair the damage incurred.<ref>http://bigstory.ap.org/article/housing-group-says-20-years-rebuild-gaza</ref>
==Links==
*[http://www1.idf.il/DOVER/site/homepage.asp?clr=1&sl=EN&id=-8888&force=1 Official Site in English]
*[http://www1.idf.il/DOVER/site/ Official Site in Hebrew]
*[http://bertschlossberg.blogspot.com/ Orde Wingate and the Night Raiders: Give 'em He...Heaven!]
*[http://bertschlossberg.blogspot.com/ The courage of sticking to it: On the march with the IDF]

==See also==
*[[Sar-El]]
==Further reading==
* Tucker, Spencer C., ed. ''The Encyclopedia of the Arab-Israeli Conflict A Political, Social, and Military History'' (4 vol. 2008)

[[Category:Israel]]
[[Category:Israeli Wars]]
[[Category:Military]]

Assyrians

2015-08-18T23:16:08Z

Scatach:

The '''Assyrians''' are a modern people living in northern [[Iraq]] and [[Syria]] as well as parts of [[Turkey]] and western [[Iran]]They are the bona fide descendant of the ancient Assyrians,who between the 9th and 7th centuries B.C. - controlled an empire that covered most of civilised south western Asia and Egypt. They were known in the past for their military might, administrative efficiency, architecture and sculpture , and feared for their brutality.

They entered history as a [[Bronze Age]] trading people, based around their capital Assur, (south of what is now [[Mosul]] in northern [[Iraq]] and part of the hegemony of their southern cousins based in Babylon. Assyrian trading posts from this period have been found as far a-field a western Turkey. In the later Bronze Age they were at various times within the ambit of Mitanni and [[Hittite]] influence; and when the folk-migrations known as the movement of the [[Sea Peoples]] in the late 12th century overturned the Hittites and weakened Egypt, the Assyrians – using iron weapons - began to move into the vacuum. Ninevah and Nimrud became co-capitals, although Assur remained the religious centre.

Their period of rapid expansion and widespread control began in the early 9th century with the military campaigns of Ashurnasipal II (r.883-859 B.C.) and at its greatest extent included present day Iraq, western [[Iran]], all of [[Syria]] and the lands of the [[Hebrew]]s, eastern [[Turkey]] and Egypt. They developed the art of siege craft (including the first recorded use of the battering ram) to levels not improved on until the [[Roman]]s and organised their army in a way not seen before (including the use of demountable chariots for transportation over rough terrain. They used terror, capable administration, and enforced migration to control their vassals. Their domination was an endless succession of wars as they expanded or maintained their empire.

They were defeated by a revolt by a coalition of Chaldean-Mede vassals in 612 B.C. and their cities and war machine completely annihilated.

*See also: [[Assyrian Empire]]

==Modern Times==

Assyrians today face persecution from [[ISIS]]. They became involved in the political turbulence in the area in the 1920s and 1930s caused by [[Soviet Russia]]n expansion, and new nationalism in [[Turkey]], Iraq and Syria. This was to bring about a diaspora of Assyrians to many parts of the globe including U.S.A. and various parts of the British Commonwealth.

==See Also==
The following entries pertain to the antecedents of the modern Assyrians and the Aramaic Church of the East and derivatives:

*[[Aramaic Church]]
*[[Adiabene]]
*[[Syro-Chaldean Church of North America]]
*[[First Century Aramaic Jewish Christian Gospel and poetry]]
*[[Aramaic Judaism, Jewish Aramaic Christianity, and John 1:1]]
*[[Evangelical Apostolic Church of North America (Syro-Chaldean)]]
*[[Early Aramaic Jewish Christian prophesying]]

References: Chambers Encyclopedia|Penguin Dictionary of Archaeology]]

[[Category:Ethnicities]]
[[Category:Middle East]]

Qatar

2015-08-18T23:10:25Z

Scatach: /* People */

{{Country
|name =''دولة قطر Dawlat Qatar''
|map =Qatar rel95.jpg
|flag =Flag of Qatar.png
|arms =Arms of Qatar.png
|capital =Doha
|capital-raw =
|government =Constitutional monarchy
|government-raw =
|language =Arabic
|king =
|queen =
|monarch-raw =[[Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani]] (emir)
|president =
|president-raw =
|chancellor =
|chancellor-raw =
|pm =Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani
|pm-raw =
|area =4,416 sq mi 11,437 KM2
|pop =841,000 (2007)
|pop-basis =
|gdp =$25.01 billion
|gdp-year =2005
|gdp-pc =$49,655
|currency =Riyal
|idd =
|tld =
}}
The '''State of Qatar''' is an [[emirate]] on a [[peninsula]] on the west coast of the [[Persian Gulf]], with a population of over 900,000, although one quarter of that population are foreign workers and their family. The official language is [[Arabic]] and the capital is [[Doha]]. [[English]] is a commonly used second language.

==People==
[[File:Qatar people.jpg|left|230px]]
Natives of the Arabian Peninsula, many Qataris are descended from a number of migratory tribes that came to Qatar in the 18th century from the neighboring areas of Nejd and Al-Hasa. Some came from neighboring Gulf emirates and others are descended from Persian merchants. Most of Qatar's 907,229 inhabitants live in Doha, the capital. Foreigners with temporary residence status make up about three-fourths of the population. Foreign workers comprise 52% of the total population and make up about 89% of the total labor force. Most are South and Southeast Asians, Egyptians, Palestinians, Jordanians, and Iranians. About 8,000 U.S. citizens reside in Qatar.

Ethnic groups: Arab 40%, Pakistani 18%, Indian 18%, Iranian 10%, other 14%.

<blockquote>
The various ethnic groups of the country are Arab, Indian, Pakistani, Iranian and so on. Arabic is the official language of Qatar. However, English and Urdu are also spoken widely in various corners of the country. [http://www.mapsofworld.com/country-profile/qatar-economy-people-culture-and-flag.html]
</blockquote>

For centuries, the main sources of wealth were pearling, fishing, and trade. At one time, Qataris owned nearly one-third of the Persian Gulf fishing fleet. With the Great Depression and the introduction of Japan's cultured-pearl industry, pearling in Qatar declined drastically.

The Qataris are mainly Sunni Muslims.Salafi Islam is the official religion, and Islamic jurisprudence is the basis of Qatar's legal system, although civil courts have jurisdiction over commercial law. Education is compulsory and free for all Arab residents 6-16 years old. Qatar has an increasingly high literacy rate. 85% people are educated.

==Government and Political Conditions==
[[File:Doha Palace in Qatar.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Doha Palace.]]
The ruling Al Thani family continued to hold power following the declaration of independence in 1971. The head of state is the Amir, and the right to rule Qatar is passed on within the Al Thani family. Politically, Qatar is evolving from a traditional society to one based on more formal and democratic institutions to meet the requirements of social and economic progress. The country's constitution formalizes the hereditary rule of the Al Thani family, but it also establishes an elected legislative body and makes government ministers accountable to the legislature. In current practice, the Amir's role is influenced by continuing traditions of consultation, rule by consensus, and the citizen's right to appeal personally to the Amir. The Amir, while directly accountable to no one, cannot violate the Shari'a (Islamic law) and, in practice, must consider the opinions of leading families and the religious establishment.

The opinions of the people are institutionalized in the Advisory Council, an appointed body that assists the Amir in formulating policy. However, it is possible that the first elections for this body will occur in 2008. Elections in 1999, in which both men and women participated, resulted in the formation of a municipal council. One woman candidate was elected to the municipal council in 2003. Municipal elections were held for the third time in April 2007.

There has been no serious challenge to Al Thani rule. As the most visible sign of the move toward openness, the Al Jazeera satellite television station based in Qatar is considered the most free and unfettered broadcast source in the Arab world. In practice, however, Al Jazeera rarely criticizes the ruling Al Thani family.

== Democracy ==
[[File:Qatar dictator.jpg|right|200px]]
Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, one of the richest man in the world, is the ruling Emir of the State of Qatar since 1995. He rose to that position on June 26, 1995, after deposing his father Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani who was on vacation in Switzerland at the time. [http://www.nationmaster.com/country/qa-qatar/dem-democracy]

At present there is not direct election in the electoral system. Since 1992, Sheikh Hamad has selected Qatar's cabinet as in an absolute monarchy.

An editorial in a Qatari newspaper published said:

<blockquote>
U.S. President Barack Obama should refrain from sending U.S.-style democracy to the Middle East, "Mr. President, we have often written about U.S. foreign policy having double standards and being unmindful of the process of change in the Middle East. We do not want U.S. to export democracy to us because we do not want to repeat the Iraq experience," the editorial in the Doha daily The Peninsula said.
[http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2011/04/19/Editorial-Qatar-passes-on-US-democracy/UPI-80331303219157/#ixzz1KXWgdFv3]
</blockquote>

Obama: "No big move toward democracy in Qatar" [http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2011/04/obama-no-big-move-toward-democracy-in-qatar/1] but
<blockquote>
Qatari women started to assume their leading role in the march of democracy; then in 2003 the first Qatari woman was appointed to the post of minister. Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al Missned, '''the spouse of His Highness the Emir''', played an active role in empowering and activating the role of women in all fields. [http://www.todayszaman.com/newsDetail_getNewsById.action?load=detay&link=142359]
</blockquote>

Qatar has the potential to be an arena where peaceful democratic discussion can thrive. [http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/the-staggers/2011/02/democracy-wave-qatar-uae]

===Principal Government Officials===
*Amir, Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, and Minister of Defense--HH Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani
*Heir Apparent, Deputy Chief of the Armed Forces--HH Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani
*Prime Minister--Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani
*Minister of Energy and Industry and Deputy Prime Minister--Abdullah al-Attiyah
*Ambassador to the U.S.--vacant

==Foreign Relations==
[[File:Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani with Obamas.jpg|thumb|340px|Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani and wife with Obamas.]]
Qatar achieved full independence in an atmosphere of cooperation with the U.K. and friendship with neighboring states. Most Arab states, the U.K., and the U.S. were among the first countries to recognize Qatar, and the state promptly gained admittance to the United Nations and the Arab League. Qatar established diplomatic relations with the U.S.S.R. and China in 1988. It was an early member of OPEC and a founding member of the GCC.

In September 1992, tensions arose with Saudi Arabia when Saudi forces allegedly attacked a Qatari border post, resulting in two deaths. Relations have since improved, and a joint commission has been set up to demarcate the border as agreed between the two governments. Most, but not all, of the border issues have been resolved.

For years, both Qatar and Bahrain claimed ownership of the Hawar Islands. The case was eventually referred to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague. The ICJ issued a ruling in June 2001, which both sides accepted. In the agreement Bahrain kept the main Hawar Island but dropped claims to parts of mainland Qatar, while Qatar retained significant maritime areas and their resources.

Qatar is well known for being a mediator in the region. The government has brokered peace between Sunni radicals and the Yemeni government,<ref>http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2008/02/2008525134531779340.html</ref> and has also negotiated a peace deal in Lebanon averting a potential civil war.<ref>http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2008/02/2008525134531779340.html</ref> Much of their political capital has been earned through various humanitarian donations. The Qatari government provided $300 million dollars to help rebuild Lebanon after their war with Israel.<ref>http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,212521,00.html</ref> Additionally, after many Western nations cut off aid to Palestine in response to the election of Hamas, Qatar promised $50 million to help maintain the welfare of the state. While the United States has not supported every action taken by the Qatari government, the nation remains an indispensable asset on the road to peace in the Middle East. In response to questions regarding Qatar's positive relationships with both Western and Middle Eastern nations, Prime Minister Al Thani responded "Our ambition is to have prosperity for our people, we would like to be friendly with everyone."<ref>http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/03/04/america/letter5.php?page=2</ref>

==Defense==
Qatar's defense expenditures are estimated to be in the range of 10% of GDP. Qatar maintains a modest military force of about 12,000 men, including an army, navy, and air force. The country has a public security force of about 8,000 men, including a coast guard, national firefighting force, air wing, marine police, and an internal security force. Qatar also has signed defense pacts with the U.S., U.K., and France. Qatar plays an active role in the collective defense efforts of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC--the regional organization of the Arab states in the Gulf; the other five members are Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, the U.A.E., and Oman). Qatari forces played an important role in the first Gulf War, and Qatar has supported U.S. military operations critical to the success of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. Al Udeid, one of America's largest Air Force bases, remains a critical asset to operations in both Iraq and Afghanistan.<ref>http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE3DA133DF93BA15757C0A9659C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1</ref> Qatar hosts CENTCOM Forward Headquarters.

==Economy==
Oil formed the cornerstone of Qatar's economy well into the 1990s and still accounts for about 62% of total government revenue. In 1973, oil production and revenues increased sizably, moving Qatar out of the rank of the world's poorest countries and providing it with one of the highest per capita incomes. In 2006, Qatar's per capita income of nearly $62,000 was the fifth-highest in the world.
[[File:Industrial Gas Oil Qatar.jpg|left]]
Qatar's economy suffered a downturn from in the mid-1990s. Lower Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) oil production quotas, a fall in oil prices, and the generally unpromising outlook on international markets reduced oil earnings. In turn, the Qatari Government cut spending plans to match lower income. The resulting recessionary local business climate caused many firms to lay off expatriate staff. With the economy recovering in the late 1990s, expatriate populations have grown again.

Oil production is currently around 835,000 barrels a day (bpd), and is expected to reach 1.1 million bpd by 2009. At the current production pace, oil reserves are expected to last more than 40 years. Moreover, Qatar's proven reserves of gas are the third-largest in the world, exceeding 900 trillion cubic feet (14% of the world's total proven gas reserves). Qatar shares with Iran the largest single non-associated gas field in the world, the North Field. Qatar is now the world's largest producer of liquefied natural gas (LNG), with a capacity of more than 31 million metric tons per annum (mmta), and it expects to reach 77.5 mmta of LNG exports by 2010. By 2010, Qatar will account for one-third of the world's LNG supply.

The 1991 completion of the $1.5-billion Phase I of the North Field gas development project strongly boosted the economy. In 1996, Qatar began exporting liquefied natural gas to Japan. Further phases of North Field gas development costing billions of dollars are in various stages of planning and development, and Qatar has concluded agreements with the U.A.E. to export gas via pipelines and to Spain, Turkey, Italy, the U.S., France, South Korea, India, China, Taiwan, and the U.K. via ship. However, the government has halted any further expansion of gas production until 2010, as it assesses its plans for future exploitation of the field.

Qatar's natural gas liquefaction facilities and related industries are located in Ras Laffan Industrial City, site of the world's largest LNG exports of more than 31 million metric tons per year. Qatar's heavy industrial base, located in Messaieed, includes a refinery with a 140,000 bpd capacity, a fertilizer plant for urea and ammonia, a steel plant, and a petrochemical plant, and several new petrochemical plants will be built in the coming years. All these industries use gas for fuel. Most are joint ventures between U.S., European, and Japanese firms and the state-owned Qatar Petroleum (QP). The U.S. is the major equipment supplier for Qatar's oil and gas industry, and U.S. companies are playing a major role in the development of the oil and gas sector and petrochemicals.

The country's economic growth has been stunning. Qatar's nominal GDP, currently around $52.7 billion, has grown an average of 15% over the past five years. GDP is expected to grow approximately 8.3% in 2007. Qatar's per capita GDP is more than $60,000, and projected to soon be the highest in the world. The Qatari Government's strategy is to utilize its wealth to generate more wealth by diversifying the economic base of the country beyond hydrocarbons.

Qatar pursues a vigorous program of "Qatarization," under which all joint venture industries and government departments strive to move Qatari nationals into positions of greater authority. Growing numbers of foreign-educated Qataris, including many educated in the U.S., are returning home to assume key positions formerly occupied by expatriates. In order to control the influx of expatriate workers, Qatar has tightened the administration of its foreign manpower programs over the past several years. Security is the principal basis for Qatar's strict entry and immigration rules and regulations.

<blockquote>
For 2011, despite the global financial crisis, Qatar has maintained its economic growth of the last several years. Qatari authorities throughout the crisis sought to protect the local banking sector with direct investments into domestic banks. GDP rebounded in 2010 largely due to the increase in oil prices. Economic policy is focused on developing Qatar's nonassociated natural gas reserves and increasing private and foreign investment in non-energy sectors, but oil and gas still account for more than 50% of GDP, roughly 85% of export earnings, and 70% of government revenues. Oil and gas have made Qatar the second highest per-capita income country - following Liechtenstein - and the world's second fastest growing - following Macau. Proved oil reserves of 15 billion barrels should enable continued output at current levels for 37 years. Qatar's proved reserves of natural gas exceed 25 trillion cubic meters, about 14% of the world total and third largest in the world. Qatar's successful 2022 world cup bid will likely accelerate large-scale infrastructure projects such as Qatar's metro system and the Qatar-Bahrain causeway. GDP - per capita:
$145,300 (2010 est.); Country comparison to the world: 1; GDP (official exchange rate): $126.5 billion (2009 est.). Agriculture - products: fruits, vegetables; poultry, dairy products, beef; fish; Industries: liquefied natural gas, crude oil production and refining, ammonia, fertilizers, petrochemicals, steel reinforcing bars, cement, commercial ship repair. Oil - proved reserves:
25.41 billion bbl (1 January 2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 12
<ref> [http://www.theodora.com/wfbcurrent/qatar/qatar_economy.html Qatar Economy 2011, CIA World Factbook.] </ref>
</blockquote>

==History==
[[File:Map of Qatar Persia Arabia.jpg|thumb|300px|Map of Persia - Arabia, with the adjacent countries, 1855, (detail).]]
Qatar has been inhabited for millennia. The Al Khalifa family of Bahrain dominated the area until 1868 when, at the request of Qatari nobles, the British negotiated the termination of the Bahraini claim, except for the payment of tribute. The tribute ended when the Ottoman Empire occupied Qatar in 1872.

When the Ottomans left at the beginning of World War I, the British recognized Sheikh Abdullah bin Jassim Al Thani as ruler. The Al Thani family had lived in Qatar for 200 years. The 1916 treaty between the United Kingdom and Sheikh Abdullah was similar to those entered into by the British with other Gulf principalities. Under it, the ruler agreed not to dispose of any of his territory except to the U.K. and not to enter into relationships with any other foreign government without British consent. In return, the British promised to protect Qatar from all aggression by sea and to lend their good offices in case of a land attack. A 1934 treaty granted more extensive British protection.

In 1935, a 75-year oil concession was granted to the Qatar Petroleum Company, a subsidiary of the Iraq Petroleum Company, which was owned by Anglo-Dutch, French, and U.S. interests. High-quality oil was discovered in 1940 at Dukhan, on the western side of the Qatari peninsula. However, the start of WWII delayed exploitation of Qatar's oil resources, and oil exports did not begin until 1949.
[[File:Doha Mosque Qatar.jpg|thumb|left|280px|Doha Mosque.]]
During the 1950s and 1960s gradually increasing oil revenues brought prosperity, rapid immigration, substantial social progress, and the beginnings of Qatar's modern history. When the U.K. announced a policy in 1968 (reaffirmed in March 1971) of ending the treaty relationships with the Gulf sheikdoms, Qatar joined the other eight states then under British protection (the seven trucial sheikdoms--the present United Arab Emirates--and Bahrain) in a plan to form a union of Arab emirates. By mid-1971, as the termination date of the British treaty relationship (end of 1971) approached, the nine still had not agreed on terms of union. Accordingly, Qatar declared independence as a separate entity and became the fully independent State of Qatar on September 3, 1971.

In February 1972, the Heir Apparent, Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad, deposed his cousin, Amir Ahmad, and assumed power. Key members of the Al Thani family supported this move, which took place without violence or signs of political unrest.

On June 27, 1995, the Deputy Amir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa, deposed his father Amir Khalifa in a bloodless coup. An unsuccessful counter-coup was staged in 1996. The Amir and his father are now reconciled, though some supporters of the counter-coup remain in prison. The Amir announced his intention for Qatar to move toward democracy and has permitted a freer and more open press and municipal elections as a precursor to expected parliamentary elections. Qatari citizens approved a new constitution via public referendum in April 2003, which came into force in June 2005.

In 1996 [[Al Jazeera]] launches the first independent Arab satellite news channel, breaking the monopoly of state controlled media in the region and in 2006 Qatar becomes the world’s largest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and acts as the first Arab host of the Asian Games. [http://www.qatartourism.gov.qa/discover/index/1/207]

== External links ==

*[http://www.qatartourism.gov.qa/ Qatar tourism.]
*[https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/qa.html Qatar.] CIA - The World Factbook.
*[http://www.dohaluxury.com/category/qatar-doha-living/ Doha living.]
*[http://qatarise.blogspot.com/ Qatar Wakeup Call.]

{{Copyright Details (US Government)}}

Source = [http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/5437.htm]

==References==
<references/>

{{Asian Countries}}

[[category:Middle Eastern Countries]]
[[Category:Muslim-Majority Countries]]

Gaza Strip

2015-08-18T23:00:50Z

Scatach: /* Christians in Gaza Strip */

[[Image:Gazastrip91.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Gaza Strip]]
The '''Gaza Strip''' is a narrow [[coast]]al strip of land that runs along the [[Mediterranean Sea]]. With a population fo 1.4 million, almost all Palestinians, in an area of only 139 square miles, it is one of the most densely populated areas in the world and has been littered with refugee camps. The strip takes its name from [[Gaza City|Gaza, the main city]].

==History==
[[History|Historically]] the Gaza Strip was part of the land controlled by ancient [[Israel]] after the removal of the [[Philistines]]. An Islamic area since the Islamic conquest of the 7th century, it was controlled by the British after [[World War I]] and was to be a part of an independent Palestinian state in 1948 based upon a UN partition, but the first Arab-Israeli War saw Israel take most of the region that would have made the Arab state and Egypt absorbed the Gaza Strip, which overflowed with refugees from the war. In 1967 Israel overran the area in the [[Six Day War]] and administered the region. They built settlements, but these never attracted many people and only 10,000 Israelis lived there by 2005 among the Palestinians. The Israeli government withdrew, with strong objections from the settlers, leaving the area under the control of the [[Palestinian Authority]]. In 2007, [[Hamas]] overran the Palestinian authority and took defacto control for themselves.

== Hostilities in late 2008-present ==

Terrorists are still attacking Israel from the Gaza strip with missiles, in response to this Israel is bombarding in order to prevent more threats to its population on the border. On January 3, 2009 Israel has started a ground campaign in Gaza. It was preceded by an artillery barrage to soften the border so Israeli troops could cross safer. The campaign was against Hamas targets and Israel never had any plans to reoccupy the land. Hamas, rather than stop firing rockets into Gaza has begun sabre rattling and stated that they will kidnap and kill invading Israeli soldiers and cause mental illness from the horrors they will bring them. They have also stated that they will begin suicide attacks again.[http://www.onenewsnow.com/Headlines/Default.aspx?id=372854]

==Today==
A very poor and desolate area, the residents of the area live in poverty and squalor, mainly due to the control of their daily lives by Hamas. The Strip is not self sufficient and counts on outside aid, but Hamas takes most foreign aid for itself to manufacture more bombs and rockets. There is continued friction with Israel with home made rockets being fired by the Gaza residents and occasional open fighting. Hamas does not recognize Israel's right to exist. The Strip has been the source of many suicide missions against Israel as well Kasam rocket fire against the settlements and towns of southern Israel.

Israel controls the Gaza strip’s airspace and offshore maritime access, in order to prevent more materials being given to Hamas terrorists.

==Christians in Gaza Strip==
Gaza Strip is currently under the control of [[Hamas]], an Islamist terrorist organization. Christians face persecution and pressure to convert and have next to no rights. <ref>http://www.opendoorsuk.org/persecution/worldwatch/palestinian_territories.php</ref>
There are three churches in Gaza:Baptist,Orthodox and Catholic.
<ref>http://www.worldmag.com/2010/04/tested_by_fire</ref><ref>http://www.explorecorps.org/Reports_From_The_Field/Entries/2009/2/15_Gazas_Church_of_Saint_Porphyrius.html</ref>
<ref>http://www.indcatholicnews.com/news.php?viewStory=25263</ref>

==See also==
[[Suicide bomber: a personal account]]

==External links==
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7v1C0VUhyA A Hamas made video of one of their suicide bomber operations]
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOVhTFOPKxc&feature=related Failed suicide bombing attempt by anguishing 21 year old Gazan woman]

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Geography]]
[[Category:Disputed Territories]]

Aramaic

2015-08-18T22:49:26Z

Scatach: Nestorians are not an ethnic group. Aramaic (Syriac) speakers are Assyrians

'''Aramaic'''(ܐܪܡܝܐ) was the [[language]] of [[Jesus]].It's modern form is most commonly known as "Syriac".<ref name="a">The New American Desk Encyclopedia, Penguin Group, 1989</ref> It is a Semitic language and was spoken by the [[Aramaeans]] and spread across the [[Mesopotamia]] and became the language of the [[Persian Empire]].<ref name="a"/> It was most closely related to [[Hebrew]] and [[Arabic]]. The post-biblical Rabbinic commentary on the Bible and application of the Biblical laws (as well as perpetuating of the Biblical lore) to contemporary Jewish life, is known as the [[Talmud]]. The first part of the Talmud is primarily in Mishnaic (2nd cent. B.C. to 2nd cent. A.D.) Hebrew and secondarily in Aramaic. The second part of the Talmud, known as the Gemara, is primarily in Aramaic and secondarily in Hebrew. The [[Babylon]]ian recension of the Talmud - representing Babylonian exilic [[Judaism]] - is authoritative for [[Jew]]s today rather than the [[Palestine|Palestinian]] Talmud - representing "Land of [[Israel]]" Hebrew-speaking Judaism from Palestine.

Parts of the [[New Testament]] were written in Aramaic.<ref name="a"/>

It survives today only in isolated [[Lebanon|Lebanese]] villages as well as in northern [[Iraq]] and eastern [[Turkey]].<ref name="a"/>

==The "Aramaic" Church==

The [[Church of the East]], sometimes known as the [[Nestorian]] Church or sometimes as the [[Assyria]]n Church uses the Aramaic Language in their liturgy <ref>[http://www.cired.org/]</ref>. This is true also of the Church of the East in [[India]], also known as the Syro-Chaldean Church, though its people speak an Indian dialect and not Aramaic. The Aramaic translation of the Bible for this Church is the Peshitta, the earliest of the translations for both the Old and New Testament after the [[Greece|Greek]] [[Septuagint]] of the Hebrew original for the Old and after the Greek original for the New. Jesus spoke Aramaic as well as Mishnaic (1st century common) Hebrew and some of his utterances in the Greek New Testament are transliterations of the Aramaic. Examples of these are Talitha Kum(i)-"Get up ,Young girl!", Eloi, Eloi, lama Shvaktani- My God, My God, why have you left Me." In the book of Revelation of the New Testament, the word "Maranatha" appears, as it does in the liturgies of the early church. Maranatha means either (according to its accent), "The Lord has come" or "O Lord, come!"

Church of the East members from the "Assyrian" group still speaking Aramaic, are dispersed to several countries since their World War l persecution and flight from Turkey - along with the Armenians. They are settled today in various countries and in the United States are found in numbers in Flint Michigan, Modesto California, and Yonkers New York.

A few modern Churches such as the [[Syro-Chaldean Church of North America]], now known as the [[Evangelical Apostolic Church of North America (Syro-Chaldean)]] derive their Apostolicity and general theological outlook from the Aramaic Church of the East though their membership is not ethnically Assyrian <ref>[http://www.eacna.org/]</ref>.

The Chaldean Catholic Church represents a part of the Church of the East which has recognized the Pope and the jurisdiction of the Western Catholio Church. This Church also uses the Aramaic language in their liturgy. These are the churches, some under the Pope and some independent (autocephalous -
"self heading") that use Aramaic as part of their liturgy nowadays - the Syrian Catholic Church, the Assyrian Church of the East (Holy Apostolic and Catholic Church of the East), the Indian Orthodox Church, the Chaldean Catholic Church, the Maronite Church, the Malankara Syrian Orthodox Church, the Syro-Malabar Church and the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church.

==See Also==
*[[Semitic languages]]
*[[The Aramaic Church]]
*[[The Sign of the Cross: of Jewish Origin]]
*[[First Century Aramaic Jewish Christian Gospel and poetry]]
*[[Targum]]
*[[Aramaic Judaism, Jewish Aramaic Christianity, and John 1:1]]
*[[Hebrew]] for the structure of Aramaic language as a member of the Semitic language family.
*[[Had Gadya]]
*[[Kaddish]]
*[[The Lord's Prayer]] for the Aramaic Version
*[[Adiabene]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Semitic Languages]]
[[Category:Middle East]]

Talk:Allah

2015-08-18T22:46:22Z

Scatach: /* Allah */

{{Wikiproject Religion}}

Isn't Arabic read right-to-left? Perhaps the article should mention that? I'd do it now but I'm not sure.[[User:Rob Pommer| Cracker]][[User_talk:Rob_Pommer|talk]]

How is the fact that Arabic is read from right to left relevant to the article on Allah? It should be included in an article on Arabic.

== extending the article ==

I will extend the article to bring more comprehensive understandin
i will also remove the information that said Allah was the word for the moon god due to the absence of a citation and the apsence of proof

*I have added information and citations to the article concerning linguistic information and the question of whether Allah was a title of Hubal, the Moon god.
[[User:FREConservative|FREConservative]]

== Allah ==

"Allah" has a specific meaning in Islam.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] ([[User talk:Aschlafly|talk]]) 17:56, 18 August 2015 (EDT)

Allah just means God in Arabic. I believe it will confuse the users to imply it's only Islamic as it does in the opening, and then say non-Muslims use it as well -[[User:Scatach|Scatach]] ([[User talk:Scatach|talk]]) 18:04, 18 August 2015 (EDT)

:"Allah" with a capital "A" means the God of Islam. The word is derived from a generic word for "god", of course, but "Allah" has a specific meaning.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] ([[User talk:Aschlafly|talk]]) 18:30, 18 August 2015 (EDT)

::I assumed it is like how English speakers who are Christians say "God" instead of "god". Granted I do not know much about Islam, but I can't say I've heard capitalization is exlcusive to them.-[[User:Scatach|Scatach]] ([[User talk:Scatach|talk]]) 18:46, 18 August 2015 (EDT)

Free Syrian Army

2015-08-18T22:10:37Z

Scatach:

The '''Free Syrian Army''' (FSA) is the armed part of syrian opposition that fights in the [[Syrian Civil War]]. It fights the Syrian Army of the government and the Kurds..
<ref>http://frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/boko-haram-joins-free-syrian-army-in-descending-into-cannibalism/</ref> Its colonel is Riad al-Asaad. The FSA was founded on July 29th, 2011 by seven officers.<ref>http://www.joshualandis.com/blog/free-syrian-army-established-to-fight-the-syrian-army/</ref>
The bulk of the FSA is made up of Sunnis, especially Islamists.Many have even left the FSA and joined Al-Qaeda affiliate Jahbat al-Nusra.<ref>http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/may/08/free-syrian-army-rebels-defect-islamist-group</ref>
==Controversy==
It was often criticized for its Islamist fighters, who persecute[[Christians in Syria]]. But it attacked also the [[Shia|Shiite]] village Hatla and killed 60 fighters and civilians.<ref>http://cnsnews.com/news/article/syrian-extremist-rebels-raid-shiite-village</ref> The Nigerian Anti-Christian terrorist group [[Boko Haram]] joined the FSA also.<ref>http://frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/boko-haram-joins-free-syrian-army-in-descending-into-cannibalism/</ref> The [[United Nations]] reported that child soldiers are fighting with the Free Syrian Army.<ref>http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/26/us-syria-un-idUSBRE82P0W220120326</ref> The Free Syrian Army is dominated by the [[Muslim Brotherhood]], works with [[Al-Qaeda]] and is trained by [[Hamas]].<ref>http://frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/hamas-terrorists-now-training-free-syrian-army-terrorists/</ref>

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Syria]]

Talk:Hezbollah

2015-08-18T22:04:16Z

Scatach: /* Hezbollah and Christians */

This entire page is a shameless plug for a blog. It cites no facts.

==Hezbollah and Christians==
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2012/1221/In-Hezbollah-stronghold-Lebanese-Christians-find-respect-stability
http://www.mintpressnews.com/christians-in-northern-lebanon-and-hezbollah-unite-over-shared-isis-threat/196663/

A lot of the info on this is either outdated or downright false.-[[User:Scatach|Scatach]] ([[User talk:Scatach|talk]])

:Updates are welcome.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] ([[User talk:Aschlafly|talk]]) 17:57, 18 August 2015 (EDT)
Ty-[[User:Scatach|Scatach]] ([[User talk:Scatach|talk]]) 18:04, 18 August 2015 (EDT)

Talk:Allah

2015-08-18T22:04:08Z

Scatach: /* Allah */

Allah

2015-08-18T21:39:36Z

Scatach:

[[Image:Allah.png|thumb|right|200px|"Allah" in simple [[Arabic language|Arabic]] calligraphy. In Islam any image depicting God is strictly forbidden.]]
The name '''''Allah''''' (الله) is the [[Arabic]] term for [[God]]. This [[theonym]] is likely a contraction of Arabic ''Al-'ilāh'' (ال إِله), which means "the god"<ref>http://www.chishti.ru/sufi_doct.htm</ref>. It is thus related to the Hebrew term [[Elohim|Eloh(-im)]].

In Islam, Allah is the personal name of God and comprises all of the [[99 Names of God]] in Islam. When a Muslim refers to Allah, he thinks of God as being One, Creator, Owner, Sustainer, and Almighty. In Arabic, the name is composed of four letters, ا ل ل ه (or Alif, Lam, Lam, Ha) which when brought together make الله. [[Arab]] [[Christians]] often use this name simply to mean "God". (The generic word for "god" is simply'' 'ilāh'', though due to the strong association of Arabic with Islam this word is rarely used in modern speech.) These Christians do maintain a belief in the traditional Christian [[Trinity]], however, and believe that Allah consists of the Father, Son and Spirit.

== Christianity and Judaism ==
As noted, the name Allah is used by Arab Christians throughout the Middle East. It is also used by Arabic Jews, especially those residing in Yemen.

According to the [[Qur'an]] the authority of the [[Torah]] and the [[Gospels]] is subordinated to the content of Muslim revelation. It was regarded by the prophet [[Muhammad]] that both, the Jewish and Christian scriptures, were "corrupted" (from the Arabic term: ''Tahrif''). ''Accordingly, since the Qur'an has remained unaltered to the present day, (compared to the other Scriptures) Muslims assert that only the Qur'an contains the Words of God -- the truth in toto (i.e., the whole truth and nothing but the truth). Whereas the earlier Scriptures/Books such as The New Testament, The Old Testament, etc. contain only partial truths.'' <ref> [http://muslim-canada.org/islam_christianity.html Islam and Christianity.] </ref>
Christians believe in the mystery of the [[Trinity]] (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), but Muslims don't. <ref> [http://answering-islam.org/Why-not/13trinity.html My Questions to Muslims.] </ref>
<ref> [http://www.islamfrominside.com/Pages/Tafsir/Tafsir(5-116%20t
o%20120).html Islam from inside.] </ref> In the Qur'an's Surah 13 it is said: ''"Allah is the Creator of all things: He is the One, the Supreme and Irresistible." ''

The Kalimah, the first of the 5 pillars of Islam, states:

<blockquote>
To believe that Allah Ta’ala is One. That He has no partner, no father, mother, wife and so has no son or daughter; and that there is nothing else that is worthy of praise, or worship except Him ‑Alone and to equally testify that Muhammed (S.A.W.) is His servant and messenger.

</blockquote>
<blockquote>
This Kalimah is simple and can be uttered in a few sentences which can easily be pronounced by anybody without much difficulty.

''"La ilaha Illa Allah Muhammad Rasulu llah" (SAW)''.

Meaning: ''There is no deity worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad (S.A.W.) is the messenger of Allah.''
<ref> [http://www.nmnonline.net/articles/kalimah.htm KALIMAH: THE DECLARATION OF FAITH.] </ref>
</blockquote>

Consequently ''Allah'' is unique, is the God in Islam, and according to Marshall G. S. Hodgson, (The Venture of Islam) Muslims are worshiping ''Allah'' rather than God, the creator.

From the 112th sura of the Qur'an: ''"In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. Say (O Mohammad) He is God the One God, the Everlasting Refuge, who has not begotten, nor has been begotten, and equal to Him is not anyone." '' <ref> [http://www.answers.com/topic/allah Islamic Dictionary: Allah] </ref>

== Possible Early Use ==
It is a matter of contention as to whether the name Allah came into use only with the foundation of Islam, or whether it is a reuse of a title of the main pagan god of pre-Islamic [[Mecca]]; Hubal, god of the Moon. Muslim scholars have offered reasonable refutations of this allegation<ref>http://www.islamic-awareness.org/Quran/Sources/Allah/hubal.html</ref>, but some Christian groups have offered counter-refutations that are seemingly logical as well<ref>http://www.studytoanswer.net/islam/hubalallah.html</ref>. Whether the allegation is true is unknown.

== ''Takbeer or Takbir'' (Glorification of God) ==
''Takbeer'' (تَكْبِير) (Glorification of God), is the common way Muslims give glory to God. The wording used is ''Allahu-Akbar'' "الله أكبر", which is translated as "God is great". It is a very common practice in Islam and is essential to the Islamic call of prayer ([[Athan]]).
It has also been used by Islamic terrorists as a final cry before their homicide attacks.

== See also ==

*[[The Bible versus the Qur'an]]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

[[Category:Islam]]
[[Category:Divine Beings]]
[[Category:God]]

Hezbollah

2015-08-18T21:25:44Z

Scatach: false info

[[Image:800px-Flag of Hezbollah svg.png|right|thumb|200px|Flag of Hezbollah.]]
'''Hezbollah''' (حزب الله, "Party of [[Allah]]"; sometimes spelled ''Hizbullah'', ''Hezbullah'', or ''Hezballah'') is a Shi'a [[Islam|Islamic]] [[terrorist]] organization based in [[Lebanon]] and supported by [[Syria]]<ref>It has been declared a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada, Israel, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Australia. See:
*[http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/fs/37191.htm United States Department of State]
*[http://www.osfi-bsif.gc.ca/eng/documents/advisories/docs/entstld.txt Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions Canada]
*[http://www.psepc.gc.ca/prg/ns/le/cle-en.asp Listed entities pursuant to the Anti-Terrorism Act (2001, c. 41)]
*[http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/2000_2009/2005/Summary+of+Terrorist+Activity+2004.htm Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs]
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5262484.stm BBC news]
*[http://www.minbuza.nl/nl/actueel/brievenparlement,2003/12/beantwoording_toezegging_inzake_de_positie_van_hezbollah.html The Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs]
*[http://www.nationalsecurity.gov.au/agd/www/nationalsecurity.nsf/AllDocs/7986D1536C0FFD5FCA256FCD001BE859?OpenDocument Australian National Security]</ref> and [[Iran]].

The Radical Shia group was founded with the intention of creating an Islamic republic in Lebanon. Strongly anti-West and anti-Israel.<ref>[[U.S. Department of State]], ''Background Information on Foreign Terrorist Organizations,'' Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism, October 8, 1999 http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/rpt/fto/2801.htm</ref>

Founded in 1982 during the Lebanese civil war, its primary goal is the protection of Lebanon from further Israeli aggression. Its current Secretary General, Hassan Nasrallah, has publicly stated a clear genocidal goal: "''if Jews all gather in Israel, it will save us the trouble of going after them worldwide.''"<ref>''The Daily Star'' (Beirut) October 23, 2002, http://web.archive.org/web/20021024133755/http://www.dailystar.com.lb/23_10_02/art5.asp, http://tenc.net/a/graduation.htm, http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/774649/posts</ref><ref>"The Enemy Within," Elena Lappin, the New York Times, May 23, 2004 http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/23/books/the-enemy-within.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm</ref><ref>HuffingtonPost, Alan Dershowitz: Hezbollah's Goal: "Going After [the Jews] Worldwide," Aug 10, 2006 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alan-dershowitz/hezbollahs-goal-going-aft_b_26983.html</ref><ref>''CAMERA: Hassan Nasrallah: In His Own Words,'' Jul 26, 2006 http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=7&x_issue=11&x_article=1158</ref><ref>Joseph Telushkin, ''Jewish Literacy Revised Ed: The Most Important Things to Know About the Jewish Religion, Its People, and Its History,'' HarperCollins (2008), p. 376, "On one noted occasion, Nasrallah had even encouraged Jews throughout the world to move to Israel on the grounds that 'If [Jews] all gather in Israel, it will save us the trouble of going after them worldwide.' " http://books.google.com/books?id=bIHtJzYCkqEC&pg=PA376</ref><ref>Arthur Ledeen, ''Accomplice to evil: Iran and the war against the West,'' Macmillan (2009), p. 108 http://books.google.com/books?id=LOmDsgYzS7gC&pg=PA108</ref><ref>Robert S. Wistrich, ''A lethal obsession: anti-semitism from antiquity to the global Jihad,'' Random House Digital, Inc. (2010) http://books.google.com/books?id=Lzs48d3tudsC&pg=PT989</ref> The organization's privately controlled TV broadcast station ''Al-Manar'' was banned in [[France]], [[Germany]], [[Spain]] and the [[US]]<ref>"Hezbollah TV comes to Australia," Barney Zwartz, The Age, August 1, 2009. http://www.theage.com.au/national/hezbollah-tv-comes-to-australia-20090731-e4ja.html</ref> for inciting racial hatred and [[Holocaust denial]].

=Iranian founded, Iranian/Syrian Backed: Arab Islamic Hezbollah Global Terrorists=

Author explains that the "Impetus for the founding of the Lebanese Hezbollah came from the Hezbollah Party formed in Iran in 1978 by Hadi Ghaffary, a cleric with close ties to Ayatollah," and that "Khomeini decided to export his Islamic revolution and to form a Hezbollah group among the Shi'ites of Lebanon."<ref>Stephen E. Atkins, "Encyclopedia of modern worldwide extremists and extremist groups," p. 130. (Greenwood Publishing Group, 2004) 404 pp. http://books.google.com/books?id=b8k4rEPvq_8C&pg=PA130</ref>

Huzbollah is a radical Shi’a Muslim organization fighting against Israel and "western imperialism" in Lebanon, and has advocated since its beginning (1982) for an Islamic State, Tehran style<ref>http://www.analyst-network.com/article.php?art_id=2082</ref>. The group does not recognize the legitimacy of the State of Israel. Hezbollah refers to itself with multiple titles including the "Organization of the Oppressed on Earth" and the "Revolutionary Justice Organization." Its main goal is the establishment of an Islamic government across the Arab world that will "liberate" Jerusalem and the entire area of the present-day State of Israel.

It is financed and armed by Iran,<ref>"Iran Arming Hezbollah In Lebanon, Us Says", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Apr 18, 1996 http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=sPFRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=DnADAAAAIBAJ&pg=4686,1073300</ref> it acts as its proxy<ref>Written Testimony of Ambassador Roger F. Noriega...
Before a Hearing of the Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence
Committee on Homeland Security, U.S. House of Representatives, Thursday, July 7, 2011, http://homeland.house.gov/sites/homeland.house.gov/files/Testimony%20Noriega.pdf</ref> and enjoys full backing from Syria. Hezbollah was founded with the help of Iranian Revolutionary Guards.

Syria backs Hizballah morally and has also supplied it with money and arms. In return, Hizballah protects Syria’s political and military interests in Lebanon.
<ref>http://www.adl.org/israel/advocacy/glossary/hezbollah.asp</ref><ref>http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Terrorism/hizbollah.html</ref>

The two major leaders of Hezbollah are Secretary General Sheikh Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and the organization's spiritual chief, Sheikh Muhammad Husayn Fadlallah, both named "specially designated global terrorists" by the U.S. government.
<ref name=emerson>http://www.steveemerson.com/4281/blood-money-hezbollahs-revenue-stream-flows</ref>

It was founded and continued, and still is marked by violence, locally and worldwide, though, recently, it tries to portray itself as a mere "political" party.
It has been said that: "The very year Hezbollah was founded it became the most lethal terrorist organization in Lebanon" & "neither had ever managed to spill so much blood in a single incident."
<ref name=elieberman>''Radical, Religious, and Violent: The New Economics of Terrorism'', Eli Berman, MIT Press, 2009, p. 50 [http://books.google.com/books?id=R7jvDS3OiAUC&pg=PA50]</ref>

==Funding==

''Dirty Money, Blood Money''

===Criminal funding===

The Lebanese Shiite Terrorist Organization has been highlighted as a profile in "Crime and Terrorism" - Hezbollah's Criminal activity is widely in Lebanon and worldwide <ref>http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/html/hezbollah.htm</ref>, or what researches call: "various criminal enterprises to raise funds for Hezbollah."
<ref>http://www.amazon.com/Lightning-Out-Lebanon-Hezbollah-Terrorists/dp/0345475682</ref>
Among the illegal, criminal methods of the Islamic group is wide fraud, drug trafficking, credit card fraud & cigarette smuggling, it has been known that "Cigarette Smuggling Funds Terrorism." <ref>http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2005/2/13/135754.shtml</ref>
<ref>http://www.goofigure.com/UserGoofigureDetail.asp?gooID=5094</ref>
In a 2009 report on "Hezbollah: narco-Islamism Middle East Strategy at Harvard" researchers have found that: 'more than any other Islamist group, Hezbollah has a long record of engaging in criminal activity to support its activities.'
<ref>http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/mesh/2009/03/hezbollah-narco-islamism/</ref>
<ref>http://counterterrorismblog.org/2007/11/hezbollah_financing_through_cr.php</ref>

====Latin America====

The 'Hezbollah's global finance network' includes "The Triple Frontier" (in South America) - "Argentina, Brasil & Paraguay." <ref>http://www.meib.org/articles/0201_l2.htm</ref>, <ref>http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Front_Page/HH03Aa01.html</ref>

There's an extensive report on "Hezbollah and the Drug Trade in South America" - Hezbollah is active in the drug trade in Colombia, a web of criminality that extends from Lebanon to Africa to South America.
<ref>http://www.investigativeproject.org/documents/testimony/313.pdf</ref>

Douglas Farah wrote in 2006 on "Hezbollah’s External Support Network in West Africa and Latin America" that Hezbollah, has the largest financial structure in Latin America and it is similar to that in of the organization’s Africa structure, that is to say, structured along family/clan lines. These clans have family members across the continent’s main free trade zones of Panama, (Venezuela's) Isla Margarita and the TBA (tri-border area), allowing for multiple opportunities to launder funds by over invoicing stocks, under invoicing merchandise and thtough the use of little-monitored electronic money transfer systems and bulk money smuggling. The first study of this overlapping clan structure spread across broad geographic areas was not undertaken until 2004.

The TBA has for years drawn attention as a center for contraband smuggling, drug trafficking and large-scale money laundering, in part because all of the countries whose borders are involved profit from the illicit trade. It is also an easy place to hide and move money. Estimates of the amount of drug money alone laundered through the two main urban centers in the TBA, Foz do Iguacu and Ciudad del Este, range as high as $12 billion a year.
<ref>http://www.strategycenter.net/research/pubID.118/pub_detail.asp</ref>

From a 2003 research on Hezbollah "Hezbollah: A Case Study of Global Reach":
Hezbollah is also active in Chile, Venezuela, Cuba, Panama and Ecuador.
<ref>http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/print.php?template=C07&CID=132</ref>

Counter terrorism expert Steven Emerson wrote in 2007 in an article titled "Blood Money: Hezbollah's revenue stream flows through the Americas":<blockquote>A New Front. Hezbollah operatives have frequently sought out sympathetic members of the Lebanese Diaspora to assist them, several of whom have owned and operated Lebanese restaurants. Salim Boughader Mucharrafille, owner of Cafe La Libanesa in Tijuana, Mexico, was arrested in December 2002 for running a ring that allegedly smuggled at least 200 Lebanese compatriots into the United States , including an employee of Al- Manar, Hezbollah's television station. Although it was never confirmed, Boughader was suspected of having helped Kourani to slip over the border. Last May, a Mexican judge sentenced Boughader to 14 years in prison for organized crime and human smuggling.
 
The case of Rady Zaiter, a.k.a. David Assi Alvarez, is an example of drug-running activities designed to benefit Hezbollah, using a restaurant as a front. In June 2005, Ecuadorian police broke up an international drug-trafficking ring led by the owners of El Turco restaurant: Zaiter and his partner, Maher Hamajo. The restaurant in Quito served as the logistical center for the ring's activities. Drug mules carried cocaine in double bottomed suitcases bound for other countries in South America, as well as Europe and the Middle East. According to investigating authorities, Hezbollah received at least 70 percent of the drug money. Additionally, officials confiscated more than $150,000 and 2,000 euros. Further arrests were made in Brazil, Syria and the Dutch Antilles, bringing the total apprehended to 19 people. El Turco, like the Detroit-area restaurant La Shish that was recently allegedly linked to Hezbollah, was a very popular restaurant, appreciated by the locals.
<ref name=emerson>http://www.steveemerson.com/4281/blood-money-hezbollahs-revenue-stream-flows</ref></blockquote>

In 2008, Colombia smashed a drug ring tied to Hezbollah, Colombian authorities said that they had broken up a drug and money-laundering ring in an international operation that included the capture of three suspects from the Middle East who used profits from the drug trade to fund Hezbollah.

More than 100 suspects were arrested in Colombia and overseas on charges that they trafficked drugs and laundered cash for Colombia’s Norte del Valle cartel and outlawed paramilitaries, in a network that stretched from South America to Asia.
"The criminal organization used routes through Venezuela, Panama, Guatemala, the Middle East and Europe, bringing in cash from the sale of these substances," the statement said.
<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/22/world/americas/22colombia.html</ref><ref>http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/a-13-2008-10-22-voa37-66602227.html</ref>

From 'Inside Homeland Security' 2009: <blockquote>Muslim businessmen operating companies in Panama "for many years" have laundered funds for Hezbollah, Hamas and the PLO.<ref>http://www.insidehomelandsecurity.com/articles/news/59/15/The-Rise-of-Islamist-Extremism-in-Latin-America</ref></blockquote>

====U.S.====

The [[Washington Times]] had an editorial (2005) on 'Hezbollah in
America,' a 41-year-old businessman, was arrested at his Dearborn home on charges of smuggling funds to Hezbollah.<ref>http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20050519-092915-7312r.htm</ref>
In 2009, a grand jury in Philadelphia indicted four men in connection with a plot to support Hezbollah through schemes like buying machine guns.<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/25/us/25philly.html?_r=1</ref>

Al-Mabarrat has a U.S.-based branch headquartered in Dearborn, Mich. Founded in 1991, the Al-Mabarrat Charitable Organization-USA, Inc., has repeatedly changed its name over the past 15 years. Although Al-Mabarrat acknowledges on its Web site that it works in conjunction with the Al-Mabarrat Association in Lebanon (whose logo it shares), it omits the fact that Al-Mabarrat Lebanon is run by Sheikh Fadlallah. Despite Al- Mabarrat USA's direct link to a Fadlallah-controlled organization, the U.S. branch continues to operate unfettered.

Hezbollah's use of Al-Mabarrat as a fund-raising front is a savvy strategic move, mirroring a tactic long exploited by terrorist groups operating on U.S. soil. By utilizing charities, terrorists can generate popular support by providing some legitimate services, attract contributions from donors both unwitting and aware, and attempt to obscure financial trails. But such operations extend far beyond the United States.
<ref name=emerson>http://www.steveemerson.com/4281/blood-money-hezbollahs-revenue-stream-flows</ref>

In October 2011, it was revealed that a suspect in an Iranian plot to assassinate Saudi ambassador to the US, is linked to Hezbollah.<ref>Saudi ambassador assassination plot suspect linked to Hezbollah and Bahrain unrest
Al-Arabiya, 19 October 2011 http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/10/19/172590.html</ref>

====Europe====

There's a serious "Hezbollah's Terrorist Threat to the European Union" writes [[The Heritage]] (2007)
<ref>http://www.heritage.org/Research/Testimony/Hezbollahs-Terrorist-Threat-to-the-European-Union</ref>.
From a report on "Hezbollah Around the World" - Arabs, Muslims in [[Germany]] have been key fund raising center for Hezbollah. through crimes of: drug trafficking, weapons and people smuggling, document and currency fraud. <ref>http://www.adl.org/main_Terrorism/hezbollah_overview.htm?Multi_page_sections=sHeading_7</ref> From a May 2010 report: 'Hezbollah funded by drug trade in Europe,' German police arrested Lebanese men who transferred millions of Euros to family connected to Hezbollah.
<ref>http://www.haaretz.com/news/report-hezbollah-funded-by-drug-trade-in-europe-1.261091</ref><ref>http://www.thelocal.de/national/20100109-24465.html</ref>

Hezbollah has established several front charities, mainly operating from Great Britain and Germany, to raise funds earmarked to support the group's members in Lebanon . For example, the British-based Lebanese Welfare Committee, HELP Charity Association for Relief and Abrar Islamic Foundation are among the charities suspected of channeling funds to Sheikh Nasrallah and Hezbollah.
<ref name=emerson>http://www.steveemerson.com/4281/blood-money-hezbollahs-revenue-stream-flows </ref>

====U.S. Mexican border====

Hezbollah is also accused of using the same southern narcotics routes that Mexican drug kingpins use, that Hezbollah members have entered the U.S. border through drug cartel.
<ref>http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/mar/27/hezbollah-uses-mexican-drug-routes-into-us/print/</ref><ref>http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/hezbollah-using-drug-smuggling-routes/story.aspx?guid=%7BA14CB7E3-86EE-4ECE-A417-E31BF77E65FD%7D&dist=msr_2</ref>
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review wrote an article on ‎Apr 10, 2009, "The Hezbollah threat: It's here, now." <ref>http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/opinion/s_620146.html</ref>

===Blood diamonds===

The [[Associated Press]] reported on "Blood diamonds fund Hezbollah" (2004): that Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrilla movement is systematically siphoning profits from West Africa's multimillion-dollar diamond trade, in part by threatening the Lebanese merchants who long have handled much of the region's diamond business, US diplomats in West [[Africa]] charge.

The pervasive claim is wider --on organised and co-ercive Hezbollah profiteering from West Africa's diamond trade-- than most [[US]] officials have previously acknowledged.

"One thing that's incontrovertible is the financing of Hezbollah. It's not even an open secret; there is no secret," Larry Andre, deputy chief of mission for the [[US Embassy]] in diamond-rich [[Sierra Leone]], told The [[Associated Press]].
<ref>http://www.news24.com/Africa/News/Blood-diamonds-fund-Hezbollah-20040629</ref><ref>http://archive.wn.com/2004/07/02/1400/diamond/sale.html</ref>

T. Schure wrote in "Blood Diamonds: Still Bloody" (May 14, 2010) that West Africa is a well known transit center for smuggled diamonds, especially for Lebanese traders, with many sales funding criminal and terrorist groups including Hezbollah.
<ref>http://www.worldpress.org/Africa/3543.cfm</ref>

Douglas Farah in the [[Washington Post]]: "Digging Up Congo's Dirty Gems; Officials Say Diamond Trade Funds Radical Islamic Groups", that diamond dealers and intelligence sources said Hezbollah and other groups buy diamonds in. Congo -- sometimes through middlemen, sometimes directly.

European and American intelligence sources have long known that Hezbollah has raised significant amounts of money in West Africa through the largely Shiite Muslim Lebanese communities in Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Togo. There are an estimated 120,000 Lebanese in West Africa, mostly involved in import-export businesses.

"Hezbollah is active in all these countries and are deeply involved in many businesses across the region," said one European official tracking the movement. "It is only a small part of the Lebanese community that is sympathetic, but many people contribute to them just to keep Hezbollah off their backs."

For at least since the early 1980s, Hezbollah had also raised some cash through the sale of diamonds from Sierra Leone, intelligence sources said. Bah, they said, was long suspected of brokering diamond deals through buyers connected to Hezbollah, assisted by sympathetic Lebanese businessmen across the region.
<ref>D. Farah, ''Digging Up Congo's Dirty Gems; Officials Say Diamond Trade Funds Radical Islamic Groups'', Washington Post, 30 December, 2001 [http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A40026-2001Dec29&notFound=true ][http://www.globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/182/33794.html ] [http://www.kongo-kinshasa.de/dokumente/divers/wp12-01.pdf ]
qdt in:[http://books.google.com/books?id=luPNuThpx6QC&pg=PA86 ]</ref>

==Character, racism, fascism==

A writer in the [[Christian Science Monitor]] explains that "Hizbullah's real goal is racist: To free the Middle East holy lands of Jews... Hizbullah's goal is not the "liberation" of Palestine. Its members are not Palestinian. They are (Arab) Islamic extremists who want to "liberate" all Islamic land."<ref>http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0727/p09s01-coop.html</ref>

Its [[Al-Manar]] television is infamous for being [[racist]], several [[European]] countries, including [[France]], [[Spain]], [[Germany]] and the [[Netherlands]], as well as [[Australia]], have also taken measures to block Al-Manar. In March 2005, the broadcasting regulators in the [[European Union]] agreed to ban satellite broadcasting of Al-Manar on the basis that the channel carried racist material and incitement. As a result, several satellite service providers, most of them European, dropped Al-Manar, making it unavailable in North and South America, Asia and Australia. Al-Manar, is, however, still available in Europe through Arab satellite companies and its Web site offers English, French and Spanish translations of its material.
<ref>http://www.adl.org/main_terrorism/hezbollah_overview.htm?Multi_page_sections=sHeading_8 </ref>

On its TV, [[Jews]] are termed pigs and monkeys (stemming from radical Islamic teaching of "apes & pigs" - branding Christians as pigs, Jews as apes [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5426633 ][http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/christopher_howse/blog/2007/02/07/whats_this_about_apes_and_pigs ][http://www.onenewsnow.com/2007/02/pupils_aged_five_poisoned_at_i.php ][http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2007060106,00.html ][http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/06/25/wsaudi25.xml ][http://www.obsessionthemovie.com/ ]) and the [[Holocaust]] is denied. Participants in a network-sponsored symposium urge that Israel "be completely wiped out" and "just like [[Hitler]] fought the Jews" the "great Islamic nation of Jihad" should "fight the Jews and burn them."
<ref>http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2006/08/08/death_and_destruction_are_hezbollahs_goals/</ref>

It has been written in an article titled "Hezbollah's Nazi roots" that "Hezbollah's Nazi salute evokes memories of [[Hitler]]'s support for [[Arab]] agitators such as the Grand Mufti ([[al-Husayni]]) of Jerusalem and the leaders of a pro-[[Nazi]] coup."<ref>http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/issuesideas/story.html?id=e3157f0d-21ad-41e9-b26e-a3c06a460e73</ref>

From the book, 'Planting hatred, sowing pain: the psychology of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict':<blockquote>
Palestinians are constantly exposed to cultural products that expouse classical anti-Semitic ideas. Fir example, a television series produced by Hezbollah, the south Lebanon Shiite militia group, titled Al-Shatat. This series is focused oin the old middle-ages myth of the blood libel (in which Jews --supposedly-- need the blood of Christian children for the Passover matzoth).
<ref>''Planting hatred, sowing pain: the psychology of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict'', Moises F. Salinas, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007, p. 24 [http://books.google.com/books?id=9Tt9d6gnUkoC&pg=PR24]</ref></blockquote>

Related, from an [[ADL]] speech: <blockquote>In recent years, Jews were killed because they were Jews, something we have not witnessed since World War II, at the hands of jihadists. There was the Buenos Aires bombings of the Israeli embassy and the Jewish center; there was the kidnapping and murder of Daniel Pearl in Pakistan; there was the kidnapping and murder of Ilan Halimi in Paris; and there was the attack on the Seattle Jewish Federation. Hamas and Hezbollah do not want to kill for land, but to eliminate Jews and a Jewish presence.<ref>http://www.adl.org/main_Anti_Semitism_International/threat_islamic_extremism.htm</ref></blockquote>

===Nasrallah & the Jews===

Within a month of Nasrallah's taking over as leader, Hezbollah (with the help of Iranian intelligence) bombed the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires, killing 29 and injuring over 200. The next attack perpetrated by Hezbollah—again with Iranian help—was the bombing of the Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, killing 86 and injuring over 200.

The widening arena of Hezbollah's attacks stemmed from Nasrallah's perception that Jews anywhere are legitimate targets. In fact, Nasarallah has said:
<blockquote>
If they (Jews) all gather in Israel, it will save us the trouble of going after them worldwide. (Daily Star, Oct. 23, 2002)<ref>http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_ID=1&article_ID=38204&categ_id=2#axzz0pYls8Frn</ref><ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/23/books/the-enemy-within.html?sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2</ref><ref>http://www.adl.org/main_terrorism/hezbollah_overview.htm?Multi_page_sections=sHeading_7</ref><ref>http://www.ajc.org/atf/cf/%7B42D75369-D582-4380-8395-D25925B85EAF%7D/HIZBALLAH_SPEAKS_092006.PDF</ref></blockquote>

Shiite scholar Amal Saad-Ghorayeb analyzed the anti-Jewish roots of Hezbollah ideology in her book Hezbollah: Politics & Religion. In it, she quotes Hassan Nasrallah describing his antipathy toward Jews:

<blockquote>If we searched the entire world for a person more cowardly, despicable, weak and feeble in psyche, mind, ideology and religion, we would not find anyone like the Jew. Notice, I do not say the Israeli. (New Yorker, Oct. 14, 2002)<ref>''Nuclear logics: contrasting paths in East Asia and the Middle East'' by Etel Solingen, Princeton University Press, 2007 [http://books.google.com/books?id=dZc3udnvlbIC&pg=PA335]</ref></blockquote>

Nasrallah also incoroporates anti-Semitic rhetoric in speeches. For example, he has characterized Jews as the "grandsons of apes and pigs" and "Allah's most cowardly and greedy creatures." (MEMRI: Al- Manar, Feb. 3, 2006)
<ref>http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=7&x_issue=11&x_article=1158</ref><ref>http://www.jcpa.org/text/ahmadinejad2-words.pdf</ref>

In 1998, Ashura commemorations of Hessein's martyrdom coincided with Israel's fiftieth anniversary. Nasrallah used the occasion to lambaste Israelis as "the descendants of apes and pigs. "A few million vagabonds from all over the world, brought together..."
<ref>''Dreams and shadows: the future of the Middle East,'' Robin B. Wright, Penguin Group, 2008, ISBN 1594201110, 9781594201110, p. 180[http://books.google.com/books?id=nzXA7PZdO0AC&pg=PA180]</ref><ref>''Out of step: life-story of a politician : politics and religion in a world at war'', Jack Brian Bloom, Jack Bloom, 2005, p. 104 [http://books.google.com/books?id=Kr2gAAAAMAAJ&dq=hezbollah]</ref><ref>''The War Against the West: Crucial Conversations with the Most Informed Experts about Our Enemies, Our Defenses, Our Strategy and Our Leaders in the Long War Against Islamist Extremism'', Hugh Hewitt, Xulon Press, 2008, p. 200 [http://books.google.com/books?id=CFCHgaADriIC&pg=PA200]</ref>

==Iran's arm: "Big Satan, Little Satan"==

Israel and the United States as Portrayed in the Doctrine of Hezbollah:

1) Hatred of Israel ("that vile microbe") and the Jewish people, --As an arm of Iran it regards, <ref>http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2007/3/30/204228.shtml?s=lh</ref> <ref>http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/GC25Ak04.html</ref> <ref>http://www.ict.org.il/Articles/tabid/66/Articlsid/231/currentpage/10/Default.aspx</ref>
<ref>http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3272498,00.html</ref>
<ref>http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123093176783149767.html</ref>
<ref>http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/html/iran_hezbollah_e1b.htm</ref> and it seeks to-- Eradicating the 'Little Satan.'
2) Hatred of the [[United States]] ("the big Satan")
<ref>http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/html/hezbollah.htm</ref>

==Death cult, suicide missions, martyrdom philosophy, inventing 'mass casualty' bombing==

The doctrine of Hezbollah: Suicide attacks ("the shortest road to Allah") are of supreme value.
<ref>http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/html/hezbollah.htm</ref>

In May 2006, Nasrallah appeared on the network to explain that "our nation's willingness to sacrifice their blood, souls, children, fathers, and families" is an advantage over the Jews "who guard their lives."
<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/08/opinion/08iht-edlevin.2417146.html</ref>

The modern, high-casualty suicide attack, which has changed our lives irreversibly, was invented by Hezbollah in Lebanon in 1982.
<ref name=elieberman>''Radical, Religious, and Violent: The New Economics of Terrorism'', Eli Berman, MIT Press, 2009, p. 50 [http://books.google.com/books?id=R7jvDS3OiAUC&pg=PA50]</ref>

To attack the multinational forces, Hezbolah invented a terrible new weapon--the suicide truck bomb. The group loaded several hundred pounds of explosives into a truck. A member of the group--someone prepared to sacrifice his or her life--would drive the truck in front of an embassy or into a military base.
The driver then set off the explosives with a control switch in the truck's cab. The detonation would instantly destroy the driver, the truck, and any buildings or people standing within several hundred feet.
Sheikh Fadlallah and Hezbollah never took credit for these attacks. As a Shi'ite cleric, Fadlallah knew that Islam would get tarnished by terrorism and the killing of innocent civilians. Fadlallah also claimed to be running the Hezbollah as a political, not a military organization.
However, as Many Islamic nation have declared jihads against enemies. For this reason, an organization calling itself the "Islamic Jihad" publicly claimed responsibility for terrorists acts in Lebanon. For several years, the United States and other governments tried to find out who was running the Islamic Jihad. In fact, Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad were one and the same.
<ref>''International Terrorists'', profiles Series, profiles (Minneapolis, Minn.),
by Thomas Streissguth, The Oliver Press, Inc., 1993, ISBN 1881508072, 9781881508076, pp. 130-131 [http://books.google.com/books?id=vdKnY1vRKZkC&pg=PA130]</ref>

==Regional plans==

Amongst its stated objectives is the establishment of a Shiite theocracy in [[Lebanon]].
<ref>http://www.aph.gov.au/Library/pubs/rn/2002-03/03rn42.htm</ref>
Hezbollah's goal is the establishment of an Islamic state encompassing Lebanon and Israel.
<ref>http://www.adl.org/terrorism/symbols/hezbollah.asp</ref>
Many in the [[Lebanese]] [[Christian]] diaspora, beyond the reach of Hezbollah intimidation, speak out forcefully against turning Lebanon into a [[Shia]] [[theocracy]] emulating Iran.
<ref>http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2006/08/08/death_and_destruction_are_hezbollahs_goals/</ref>

==Global Plans==

The [[Associated Press]] reported in May, 2010, that a [[Muslim]] cleric calls for 'Greater Iran' - [[Shi'ite]] '''Islamic union''' would stretch from [[Afghanistan]] to [[Israel]]. Ayatollah Mohammad Bagher Kharrazi said the creation of what he termed an "Islamic United States" is a central aim of the political party he leads - called Hizbullah, or Party of God. He added that he hoped to make his vision a reality if the party won the next presidential election. "The Islamic United States will be an introduction to the formation of the global village of the oppressed and that will be a prelude to the single global rule of the Mahdi," the newspaper quoted him as saying. <ref>http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ixeFBxfLzaSjs8Mb8cuFmtPOT6-wD9FN9ING1</ref><ref>http://www.jpost.com/IranianThreat/News/Article.aspx?ID=175619 </ref>

==Violence, Bloodshed==

Their known spreading of violence & bloodshed includes:

===Regional: Lebanon, Israel===

====Kidnappings, torture====

Hezbollah's founding quickly resulted in a spate of kidnappings, torture.
<ref>http://article.nationalreview.com/300511/negotiate-with-iran/andrew-c-mccarthy</ref>
Westerners, including French, German and Americans were target of Hezbollah's kidnapping.<ref>Christopher C. Harmon, Andrew N. Pratt, Sebastian Gorka, ''Toward a Grand Strategy Against Terrorism,'' McGraw Hill Professional, (2010), [http://books.google.com/books?id=fYp2NlDbrb0C&pg=PA46 p. 46]</ref><ref>Tom Diaz, Barbara Newman, ''Lightning Out of Lebanon: Hezbollah Terrorists on American Soil,'' Random House Digital, Inc. (2006), [http://books.google.com/books?id=KXa6qOt86OwC&pg=PA64 p. 64]</ref><ref>"Does Human Rights Law Apply to Terrorists?" Middle East Quarterly by T Lapkin, 2004 http://www.meforum.org/651/does-human-rights-law-apply-to-terrorists</ref><ref>Mark Perry, ''Talking to terrorists: why America must engage with its enemies,'' Basic Books (2010), [http://books.google.com/books?id=HDRG-EYhyZ0C&pg=PA140 p. 140]</ref><ref>http://www.michaeltotten.com/archives/2009/03/hezbollah-scout.php</ref> including hijacking US personell.<ref>Newsweek: Volume 109, 1987, [http://books.google.com/books?id=1eQmAQAAIAAJ&q=The+fanatics+in+Beirut+can+kidnap+them,+torture+them,+hang+them+publicly+and+dump+their+bodies+on+the+streets p. 117]</ref><ref>http://books.google.com/books?id=b8k4rEPvq_8C&pg=PA130</ref><ref>http://books.google.com/books?id=vHrQGZ8lUgIC&pg=PA73</ref><ref>http://books.google.com/books?id=HNyv0N8cVE0C&pg=PA85</ref><ref>http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/162295/re-hezbollah-america/andy-mccarthy</ref><ref>http://books.google.com/books?id=m_ktBrZfuUYC&pg=PA118</ref><ref>http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article708342.ece</ref><ref>http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/myths/mf11.html</ref> An estimated kidnapping of 30 Westerners in that period are attributed to Hezbollah.<ref name="congress112">[http://books.google.com/books?id=W6gziQydtBwC&pg=RA2-PA112 Congressional Record - Page 112]</ref><ref>"Lebanon: Hezbollah's Kidnapping Plan," STRATFOR, Jan 22, 2008 http://www.stratfor.com/analysis/lebanon_hezbollahs_kidnapping_plan</ref><ref>Hizballah ("Party of God") http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Terrorism/hizbollah.html</ref><ref>Michael T. Kindt, Jerrold M. Post, Barry R. Schneider, ''The world's most threatening terrorist networks and criminal gangs,'' Macmillan, (2009) [http://books.google.com/books?id=WMZdR8XPzQoC&pg=PA129 p. 129]</ref>
Among the notorious victims were: William Francis Buckley, Terry Anderson, William Richard Higgins.

In March, 1984, Hezbollah operatives kidnapped William Francis Buckley, the CIA's station chief in [[Lebanon]]. He was whisked to [[Damascus]] and on to [[Tehran]], where, after 15 months of torture, he succumbed to a heart attack.
<ref>''Willful Blindness: A Memoir of the Jihad'' by Andrew C. McCarthy, Encounter Books, 2008, [http://books.google.com/books?&id=5dgoAQAAIAAJ&dq=buckley p. 97]</ref>

Feb. 17, 1988: The group kidnaps Col. William Higgins, a [[U.S.]] Marine serving with a [[United Nations]] truce monitoring group in Lebanon, and later murders him.

The [[United States]] asserts that top Hezbollah military commander who was one of America's most wanted men, accused of involvement in a string of bombings, hijackings and kidnappings during the 1980s and 1990s, [[Imad Mughniyeh]], was also behind the torture and murder of [[William Buckley]], the CIA station chief in Beirut, in 1984; the kidnapping, torture and murder of Lieutenant Colonel William Richard Higgins of the Marines, who was on peacekeeping duty in Lebanon in 1988; and, through the Islamic Jihad Organization, the seizure of Western hostages in Beirut during the 1980s.
<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/13/world/africa/13iht-syria.4.10025106.html?pagewanted=all</ref>
<ref>''Lightning out of Lebanon: Hezbollah terrorists on American soil'', Tom Diaz, Barbara Newman, [http://books.google.com/books?cd=4&id=waboAAAAIAAJ&dq=torture p. 64]</ref> <ref>http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2006/jul/20/20060720-081459-2509r/</ref>

From a legal claim against [[Iran]]:<blockquote> In the instant case the evidence once again discloses that Iran provided Hezbollah with funding, direction and training for its terrorist activities in Lebanon, including the kidnapping and torture of Terry Anderson hezbollah kidnapping torture and his imprisonment as a hostage for 2,454 days.
<ref>''Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act: Congressional Hearing'', Bill McCollum, DIANE Publishing, 2002, p. 24 [http://books.google.com/books?id=XB4lFqK_2SgC&pg=PA24]</ref></blockquote>

Dec. 31, 1986: Under the alias Organization of the Oppressed on Earth, Hezbollah announces it had kidnapped and murdered three Lebanese [[Jews]]. The organization previously had taken responsibility for killing four other Jews since 1984.
<ref>http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=2&x_outlet=118&x_article=1148</ref>

The 1985 Hezbollah torture-murder of Isaac Tarab, 63, and Chaim Halala Cohen, 39, the 1986 Hezbollah's torturing to death of Ibrahim Benesti, aged 54, of Beirut, and his elderly relatives, Yehudah and Yosef, Benesti's family – like many [[Lebanese]] [[Jews]] – had been in [[Lebanon]] since 2,000 B.C. (before the birth of [[Mohammed]]), [described as a charitable and kindly candy store owner who gave free candy to children of all religions]. All these crimes were motivated for no other reason than for the victims simply being Jewish.<ref>http://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=11798</ref> See: [[#Character, racism, fascism]].

7 Apr 2005 - Two [[Israeli-Arabs]] from the village of Rajar near the Israel-Lebanon border were kidnapped by Hezbollah operatives and held in captivity for four days. The men, identified as Muki Ben-Jamal and Nuef Maharj Ben-Ali, said they were interrogated by their captors who wanted information on [[Israel]].
<ref name=aijac-timeline>http://www.aijac.org.au/resources/hezb_00-06.html</ref>

The [[Time]] had a detailed piece by William Dowell in May 23, 1988 titled: "Three Years in the Belly of Beirut": <blockquote>"They weren't human or inhuman. They were nonhuman." That was how French Journalist Jean-Paul Kauffmann, quoting fellow hostage Michel Seurat, , described the pro-Iranian Islamic Jihad terrorists who held him hostage for three years. The wrenching account of his kidnaping, captivity and release appeared last week in L'Evenement du Jeudi, the French newsmagazine Kauffmann worked for when he and French Researcher Seurat were abducted in May 1985.
 
The two men became hostages by chance after missing a Beirut airport bus and deciding to take a taxi. When a Mercedes pulled alongside and ordered them to stop, they expected a robbery. Instead they were forced into the back of the gunmen's car. What followed was three years of intimidation and psychological torture.
 
For more than a year, the hostages never saw daylight. Their only diversion was reading the handful of books provided by their jailers; Kauffmann read War and Peace more than 20 times. At one point, he and Seurat listened while their Shi'ite captors spent eight days torturing an Arab suspected of being a spy. When it was over, Kauffmann's jailer joked, "I damaged him a little. He had two broken ribs. We broke both his legs. Finally he talked, and we set him free." Freedom, Kauffmann learned, was a euphemism for death.
 
In one of the most bizarre episodes, Seurat was allowed a brief visit in August 1985 with his wife and daughters in Beirut, and then returned to the cell loaded down with sociology books. It was the last time he saw his family. A month later, he was deathly ill with hepatitis. A Lebanese Jewish doctor, Elie Hallat, who was also a hostage, pleaded in vain for Seurat's release. As his condition worsened, a Shi'ite commander volunteered a transfusion. "You are becoming a Shi'ite," joked a captor after Seurat was given blood. In fact, the researcher was dying. By then French Hostages Marcel Carton and Marcel Fontaine had been added to the group. "So I am going to die," Seurat told his friends.
 
In March 1986, the Islamic Jihad announced that it had "executed" Seurat. It seems likely, however, that he succumbed, at 39, to his disease. But the jailers told the hostages he was alive and recovering in a hospital. Kauffmann later learned from a radio newscast that Hallat, doomed by his captors' rabid anti-Semitism, had been executed. Kauffmann, Carton and Fontaine were continually moved from apartment to apartment. At one point Kauffmann was wrapped in bandages like a mummy, sealed in a metal box and bolted under the chassis of a truck. When he banged on the side, he was told he would be shot. "Kill me," he snapped back. "It doesn't make any difference."
 
At another point Kauffmann and Fontaine were tied together and placed in a coffin. When they were let out for a moment, Fontaine peered under his blindfold and saw that they were near a cement factory. "They're going to kill us here, put our bodies in cement and dump us in the sea," said Fontaine. Later Kauffmann and Fontaine were put in a new cell and chained like animals to a spike in the floor.
<ref>Time, Volume 131, Issues 18-26 By Henry Robinson Luce, Time Inc., 1988, p. iv [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,967469,00.html]</ref></blockquote>

At a 2008 proisoner swap-deal, Israel was forced to make with Hezbollah, Bradley Burston wrote "The pleasure that Hezbollah takes in torture."<blockquote>

Few innocent people have been tortured like the loved ones of the people murdered by Samir Kuntar, the [[Palestine Liberation Front]] monster convicted of a crime so brutal that even the designation terrorist is too good for him.

This week, the loved ones will know that Kuntar will be feted to a hero's welcome staged by Hezbollah, whose claims to being a religious organization, stain the word religious with a level of sadism that is astonishing, reaching new levels with every gloat by the torture master who calls himself a spiritual leader, [[Hassan Nasrallah]].

But that will be only one aspect of the glee with which Hezbollah will likely take explicit pride and claim exultant victory.
 
Not satisfied with keeping the families of kidnapped IDF soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev in the dark for two years as to their fate, a Lebanese report which appears to have been leaked by Hezbollah two days before the prisoner swap, stated that one of the soldiers had survived the kidnapping attack, but that the other was surely dead.
 
Then, to torture the families further, the report refrained from revealing which of the two had been killed, or whether the other was still alive.

But for sheer gratuitous sadism, the case of [[Samir Kuntar]] has few rivals. Consider the survivors of Kuntar's acts of murder.

Consider Smadar Haran, a survivor of the 1979 attack led by Kuntar. Kuntar burst into Haran's apartment building in the dead of night, seizing Smadar Haran's husband Danny and their daughter Einat, 4 years old.

Desperate to save their two-year-old girl Yael, Smadar Haran huddled with her in a crawl space in the attic. "I will never forget the joy and the hatred in the voices [of Kuntar and his men] as they swaggered about hunting for us, firing their guns and throwing grenades," she later recalled in the Washington Post.

"I knew that if Yael cried out, the terrorists would toss a grenade into the crawl space and we would be killed," she wrote in 2003. "So I kept my hand over her mouth, hoping she could breathe. As I lay there, I remembered my mother telling me how she had hidden from the Nazis during the Holocaust. 'This is just like what happened to my mother,' I thought."

Smadar Haran's personal torture had only begun. She would later learn that Kuntar had dragged her husband Danny and older daughter to the beach nearby, where he shot Danny execution style, making sure that her father's death would be the last sight her little girl would ever see.

Kuntar then took the butt of his assault rifle and brought in down on Einat's head, crushing it against a rock.

Smadar Haran would later recall, "By the time we were rescued from the crawl space, hours later, Yael, too, was dead. In trying to save all our lives, I had smothered her."

Two weeks ago, in an act of heroism that is beyond imagination, Smadar Haran spoke publicly of coming to terms with the impending release of the monster who turned her life into a waking nightmare. "Samir Kuntar isn't, nor has he ever been, my private prisoner," she told a news conference. "His fate must be decided now according to Israel's needs and ethical interests." ...Kuntar... his elevation to the status of hero and martyr to the Palestinian struggle or the Lebanese resistance.
 
For Israelis, even after all these years, the release of Kuntar is a form of self-inflicted torture. So heinous, so unpardonable were his crimes, that American Jewish author and journalist Jeffrey Goldberg, himself a veteran of the [[IDF]], wrote on The [[Atlantic Monthly]]'s Website... "As unbelievable as this sounds, Israel is actually thinking of swapping Samir Kuntar in a prisoner exchange with Hezbollah. Kuntar is perhaps the most terrible person held in an Israeli prison, a man who crushed the skull of a Jewish child against a rock."
<ref>http://www.haaretz.com/news/bradley-burston-the-pleasure-that-hezbollah-takes-in-torture-1.249790</ref></blockquote>

====Terror attack on US embassy====

'''The attack on the [[U.S.]] Embassy in [[Beirut]], [[Lebanon]] on April 18, 1983 .'''
The bombing was carried out via a stolen van, carrying 2000 pounds of explosives, slamming into the embassy, killing 63 people.
<ref>http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/usmnf.htm</ref>
<ref>http://www.iranfocus.com/en/terrorism/victims-of-1983-bombing-of-u.s.-embassy-in-beirut-recalled.html</ref>
<ref>http://www.americanmemorialsite.com/beirutembassy.html</ref><ref>http://www.beirut-memorial.org/history/index.html</ref><ref>http://www.americans-working-together.com/american_veterans/id93.html</ref>

====Terror attack on peacekeeping US marine====

'''The attack on [[U.S.]] Marine Barracks in Oct. 1983.'''
<ref>http://blog.heritage.org/2009/10/23/the-1983-marine-barracks-bombing-connecting-the-dots/</ref>
Hezbollah conducted simultaneous suicide truck bombings against the two buildings housing U.S. Marines and French paratroopers in Beirut, killing 241 Marines and 58 French soldiers who were in Lebanon as part of a multinational peacekeeping mission.
<ref>http://www.stratfor.com/hezbollah_irans_ace_hole</ref>
<ref>http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/textual/topics/marinesleb.htm</ref>
<ref>http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/10/23/world/main579638.shtml</ref>
<ref>http://www.nydailynews.com/news/us_world/2008/02/14/2008-02-14_hezbollah_terror_thug_behind_83_lebanon_.html</ref>
A US federal judge found (in 2003) Iran liable for the 1983 bombing of a US marine barracks. <ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2951938.stm</ref> <ref>http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/05/30/iran.barracks.bombing/</ref>

The Beirut mission started out as an effort to stabilize a fragile peace in a war-torn country. Lebanon had been in turmoil since the Palestine Liberation Organization, having been expelled from Jordan, took refuge there in the 1970s. In 1975, a panoply of Christian and Muslim militias, turned what had been a Middle East oasis into a no-man's land of urban warfare.
The situation fell apart quickly. Islamic Militia leaders began to view the [[United States]] and its allies as favoring the Christian-led forces of the Lebanese government. <ref>http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/terror.htm</ref>

====Targeting Israeli civilians====

Hezbollah has been '''targeting Israeli civilians, for years.''' since the 1980s, (Which prompted Israel in 1996 to conduct a defensive operation "Grapes of Wrath." <ref>http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=2&x_outlet=118&x_article=1148</ref>) its main weapon - firing rockets, missiles into residential areas<ref>http://www.haaretz.com/news/barak-to-un-hezbollah-arms-target-israeli-civilians-1.266260</ref><ref>http://www.ynet.co.il/english/articles/0,7340,L-3275609,00.html</ref>
<ref>http://www.haaretz.com/news/eight-hurt-as-record-number-of-rockets-hits-northern-israel-1.194063</ref>
<ref>http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=37034</ref>
<ref>http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Terrorism/hizattacks1.html</ref>
<ref>http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2006/7/24/154609.shtml</ref>
<ref>http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/8956/hezbollah-rocket-attacks-hurt-19-israelis-in-kiryat-shmona/</ref>
<ref>http://www.mfa.gov.il/NR/exeres/9EE216D7-82EF-4274-B80D-6BBD1803E8A7,frameless.htm?NRMODE=Published</ref>.
For example, in 24 Jul 2006 - Hezbollah fired more than 70 Katyusha rockets into Israel, several of which landed in Nahariya, Safed, and Kiryat Shmona. Medics treated at least 49 people who were lightly to moderately wounded. More than 2200 rockets have been fired at Israeli cities since July 12, killing 17 Israelis, all of them civilians. 20 Israeli soldiers were killed in other incidents.
<ref name=aijac-timeline>http://www.aijac.org.au/resources/hezb_00-06.html</ref>. Though there were also other methods like in Apr 2001 – A 42 year-old Israeli woman was stabbed to death in Haifa. Her murder was the initiation rite of a terrorist cell, whose members were apprehended in July. Six members of a Hezbollah-linked Palestinian terrorist cell responsible for the murder, originally thought to be criminally motivated, were arrested in July. The murder was the initiation rite of one of the terrorists into the organization.
<ref>''Chronologies of modern terrorism'', Barry Rubin, Barry M. Rubin, Judith Colp Rubin, M.E. Sharpe, 2008, ISBN 0765620472, 9780765620477, p. 218</ref><ref>http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-+Obstacle+to+Peace/Palestinian+terror+since+2000/Victims+of+Palestinian+Violence+and+Terrorism+sinc.htm</ref>

====Use of its civilian population in war====

'''Use of Lebanese as human shields''' <ref>http://www.standwithus.com/pdfs/flyers/humanshield.pdf</ref> <ref>http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/issuesideas/story.html?id=439dbdcc-167c-423c-9d52-b14a90605440</ref>
<ref>http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/special-reports/photos-that-damn-hezbollah/story-e6frf7r6-1111112144002</ref>
<ref>http://abcnews.go.com/International/video?id=2702658</ref>
<ref>http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/12/05/D8LQVLHG2.html</ref>
<ref>http://washingtontimes.com/op-ed/20060730-093558-9976r.htm</ref>,
(copying the Arab-Palestinian tactics routine [http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-+Obstacle+to+Peace/Hamas+war+against+Israel/Hamas+exploitation+of+civilians+as+human+shields+-+Photographic+evidence.htm ]
[http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2006Nov22/0,4670,PalestiniansHumanShields,00.html ] [http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,227222,00.html ][http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0901/04/sm.03.html ][http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/6166998.stm ][http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/01/05/israel.gaza/index.html ][http://www.pmw.org.il/latestBulletins.htm ][http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jan/08/hamas-palestinian-victims/print/ ][http://article.wn.com/view/2010/03/15/Israeli_report_Hamas_used_civilians_as_human_shields_in_Gaza/][http://www.iris.org.il/blog/archives/2102-Palestinians-Brag-About-Using-Human-Shields-for-Terrorists.html ][http://www.peacewithrealism.org/headline/gaza02.htm ][http://www.peacewithrealism.org/headline/admit.htm ][http://www.palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=157&doc_id=1304 ][http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=23431&only&rss ]), especially was publicized, in their initiated war with Israel, Hezbollah's use of "Christian villages as shields in missile attacks." witnesses: "If Israel does nothing Hezbollah will continue to fire rockets from inside Lebanon shockingly using Christians as human shields actually." "Hezbollah is hiding among civilian populations and launching attacks behind human shields." <ref>http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/17528670.html</ref>
<ref>http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/hezbollah_uses_christian_villages_as_shields_in_missile_attacks/</ref>, this crime has been categorized as a "Hezbollah specialty" <ref>http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/krauthammer072806.php3</ref>, even using the [[U.N.]]<ref>http://www.drudge.com/archive/83811/hezbollah-used-un-human-shields</ref>, A.) to cause casualties among their own Arab population, especially among children, in order to generate sympathy and an outcry in the Arab world. B.) Hated Israelis' image get tarnished, an "important" goal in it of itself to make the Zionists look as "killers." C.) To cripple Israel's humane army to respond, thus enables them to come out as "heroes." <ref>http://www.telospress.com/main/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=112</ref> & saviours against the Zionist enemy."

====Subjugation, persecution====

Hezbollah has a long history of persecuting Christians, decries a Lebanese author.<ref>http://www.independentconservative.com/2006/08/02/hezbollah_kills_christians_part2/</ref>

The writer W. Phares explains on the suffering of civilians, especially since Hezbollah's take over in 2000: <blockquote>Such takeover by the Jihadist militia was expected to provoke an exodus by thousands of civilians who would have been subjected to Hezbollah’s persecution. However suddenly on May 23, the Israeli Government then under Prime Minister Ehud Barak ordered a quick pull out from the security zone without waiting for the local force, at the time known as ‘South Lebanon Army’ (SLA) to be transferred under the United Nations or to operate as a local force to stop Hezbollah until the UN would decide what to do.

The population of the "security zone" was about 150,000 counting the district of Jezzine; and its local forces were about 3,000 strong. the make up of the population was Christian, Shia and Druse with some Sunni villages to the East. To their north Hezbollah had massed its forces backed by Iranian Pasdaran advisors. Between 1984 and 2000 Hezbollah launched several offensives against the SLA positions but was unable to overrun them permanently.
<ref>http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/id.6309/pub_detail.asp</ref></blockquote>

====Civil war====

Some of '''civil war/clashes waged on the Lebanese''' by the Hezbollah:

In Jan. 2007, clash pits Hezbollah against rule in Lebanon. The police said at least three people died and 100 more were wounded throughout the country in the violence.
<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/24/world/middleeast/24lebanon.html</ref>
<ref>http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16806540/</ref>

"Rival factions return to arms as Lebanon stares into the abyss" in Nov 2007.<ref>http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article2926154.ece</ref>

In May 8, 2008 Clashes erupted as Hezbollah chief [[Hassan Nasrallah]] claims 'War' <ref>http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/middle_east/jan-june08/lebanon_0508.html</ref>, clashes between Hezbollah and Druze continued in Lebanon for the 5th day, it erupted in Lebanon's northern port city of Tripoli, as fighting between the Hezbollah militia and its rivals grew. <ref>http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/middleeast/news/article_1404713.php/17_dead_in_Lebanon_-_Druze-Hezbollah_clashes_break_out__2nd_Lead_</ref><ref>http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/05/12/lebanon.violence/index.html</ref> The Lebanese army said it will intervene, it will use force from to stop fighting, which brough the overall toll to 81 dead and about 250 wounded.
<ref>http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSL12505038200805</ref>
<ref>http://www.mg.co.za/article/2008-05-12-clashes-bring-lebanon-death-toll-to-81</ref>

In July 2008, fighting among Lebanese government and the Islamic Hezbollah terrrorists categorized as "Sectarian battles," the battles killed six, wounded 50.
<ref>http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iLbRHS1sn11z7Yw3qRkPMqnqF_xw</ref><ref>http://www.reuters.com/article/homepageCrisis/idUSL5690185._CH_.2400 </ref><ref>http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2008/07/26/sectarian_fighting_kills_6_in_lebanon/</ref>

In 28 Aug 2008, Hezbollah has "brazenly attacked the Lebanese Army" – in its shooting-attack on an army helicopter, killing 1st Lt. Samer Hanna and wounding several others – so say the leaders of Lebanon’s pro-democracy movement.
This is not the first time Hezbollah has attacked the Lebanese government. But it is one of the boldest attacks to date against the army. Hezbollah kills Lebanese Army Officer.
<ref>http://www.analyst-network.com/article.php?art_id=2389</ref>

===Global violence===
Hezbollah is another example (like Al Qaeda) of an Islamist insurgency that is both local and transnational.
<ref>''Heads we win: the cognitive side of counterinsurgency (COIN)'', David C. Gompert, RAND Corporation, 2007, p. 27 [http://books.google.com/books?id=xLDuAAAAMAAJ&q=hezbollah]</ref>

====Attack on US, French embassies in Kuwait====
Hezbollah's responsible for [[U.S.]] and [[French]] embassies attacks in [[Kuwait]] in 1983
<ref>http://books.google.com/books?id=yMnAlqo47sgC&pg=PA96</ref>.
The American embassy in Kuwait was bombed in a series of attacks whose targets also included the French embassy, the control tower at the airport, the country's main oil refinery, and a residential area for employees of the American corporation Raytheon. Six people were killed, including a suicide truck bomber, and more than 80 others were injured.
In Kuwait, 17 people were arrested and convicted for participating in the attacks. One of those convicted was Mustafa Youssef Badreddin, a cousin and brother-in-law of one of Hezbollah's senior officers, [[Imad Mughniyah]]. After a six-week trial in Kuwait, Badreddin was sentenced to death for his role in the bombings.<ref>http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/target/etc/cron.html</ref>

====Hijacking Kuwaiti planes====
A year after the 1983 attacks (on US, French targets), Kuwait Airways flight 221 was hijacked wherein the hijackers demanded the release of Islamic militant: 'Al-Dawa 17.' Two US passengers were killed and Iranian police freed the hijackers in [[Iran]] where the plane had been diverted. Imad Mugniyah and Hezbollah were accused by US authorities in the hijacking and killings.

In 1988, militants hijacked a second plane, Kuwait Airways Flight 422, with 110 passengers for 16 days. At one point during the hijacking, the plane was diverted to Iran where multiple survivors reportedly believed the original hijackers deplaned and were replaced by a fresh crew of hijackers who were armed with increased gun power.

During the ordeal, the hijackers met with reporters who quoted one as saying upon requesting the refueling of the plane in order to enable the plane to leave Algeria, "We will liquidate our account with Kuwait elsewhere. We don't want to have the massacre in a friendly country." A hijacker was quoted as saying, "Kuwait has to know that we do not fear death." The hijackers demands included the release of Al-Dawa 17.

The plane was diverted to Cyprus where two young [[Kuwait]]is aged 20 and 25 were tortured and then shot. Their dead bodies were dumped on the tarmac of the [[Cyprus]] airport.<ref>http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php?newsid=MTM4NTY5MTEwMA==</ref><ref>http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/html/ct_130208e.htm</ref><ref>http://www.esisc.org/documents/pdf/en/note-hezbollah-eng.pdf</ref>

====Iraq====
Already in November 24, 2003, The [[New York Times]] elaborated in an article: "A region inflamed, the hand of Tehran," Hezbollah, in Iraq, that Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Shiite group, has established a significant presence in Iraq.<ref>http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DEFDE113BF937A15752C1A9659C8B63</ref>

In 2006. U.S. Officials said: "Hezbollah Training Iraqi Shiite Militia Group." <ref>http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,232262,00.html</ref><ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/28/world/middleeast/28military.html</ref>

The [[Wall Street Journal]] wrote (2007) on Iran's Proxy War, The
involvement of Hezbollah in Iraq. <ref>http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118368904375158857.html?mod=googlenews_wsj</ref>

The [[BBC]] reported on additional proof, US officials had in 2007 of the link. <ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6260690.stm</ref>
In an article on Iran in Iraq, the [[Washington Post]] wrote on [[Iran]]'s Hezbollah soldiers and methods in the war in [[Iraq]].<ref>http://blog.washingtonpost.com/earlywarning/2007/07/iran_in_iraq.html?nav=rss_blog</ref>
the [[CNN]] reported on a Hezbollah agent played deaf before confessing, the
top special operations officer with Lebanon's Hezbollah militia pretended to be
deaf and mute when he was captured in Iraq.<ref>http://us.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/07/02/iraq.hezbollah/index.html</ref>

In 2008, there were reports on Hezbollah training Iraqis in Iran<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/05/world/middleeast/05iran.htm</ref>
Iraqi president [[Jalal Talabani]] charged (May, 2008) Hezbollah interference, in a Baghdad interview, he accused the leader of the Lebanon-based Hezbollah of meddling in Iraq's
affairs.<ref>http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/05/30/Talabani_charges_Hezbollah_interference/UPI-44791212150201/</ref>

In May, 2010, the [[US]] said that [[Syria]] must curb arm shipments to Hezbollah, top US diplomat has urged [[Syria]] to do more to prevent arms shipments to the militant [[Lebanese]] Hezbollah and stem the flow of militants into [[Iraq]].<ref>http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h9Pa9-v36WUhm6_Mqn4inXf_J8iAD9FQL82O0</ref>

In July 2011, U.S. official charged that militias are using Iranian weapons to target U.S. troops in Iraq.<ref>"Official: Militias Using Iranian Weapons to Target U.S. in Iraq." [[CNN]], July 3, 2011 http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/07/03/iraq.us.militia.attacks/</ref>

====Somalia====
The [[New York Times]] reported on Hezbollah in [[Somalia]]. <ref>"U.N. Says Somalis Helped Hezbollah Fighters," [[New York Times]] 15 Nov 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/15/world/middleeast/15nations.html</ref>
From [[NPR]] (November 15, 2006), the "[[U.N.]] Report ties [[Somali]] Islamists to Hezbollah," in an alarming report about the situation in Somalia.
<ref>"U.N. Report Ties Somali Islamists to Hezbollah," [[NPR]], November 15, 2006 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6493083</ref>
More than 700 Somali fighters are said to have gone to support and get training from Hezbollah..
<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6154690.stm</ref> The [[Time]] reported in 2010, on the Somali al-Shabab getting aid from Syria and Iran and is "believed to have formed direct alliances with militant groups elsewhere, including Lebanon's Hizballah."<ref>"Somalia's al-Shabab Wants to Join Terror's Big League," [[Time]],
14 Jul 2010 http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2003837,00.html</ref>

====Namibia====
There were reports by a human rights organisation in 2011, of jihadists-terrorists: Hezbollah and al-Shabab operating in Namibia.<ref>"Terrorists operate in Namibia: NamRights‎," Informante, Nov 2, 2011 http://www.informante.web.na/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9000&Itemid=1</ref>

====Gambia====
Freedom Newspaper (2011): "There is a Hezbollah cartel in Gambia."
Explaining: There is a Hezbollah cartel in Banjul [the Gambian capital], who are acting in concert with the country's President Yahya Jammeh to sell arms to the terrorist group's main base in Lebanon, a source reaching the Freedom Newspaper has alleged.
The arms deal goes like this: Gambia procures the arms from Iran, and in turn sells these deadly weapons to Hezbollah. Worst part is, that the "Gambian President has been accused of acting in concert with Lebanese alleged Hezbollah supporters."
<ref>Breaking News - Gambia "DID JAMMEH SELLS IRANIAN ARMS TO HEZBOLLA," Freedom Newspaper http://www.freedomnewspaper.com/Homepage/tabid/36/mid/367/newsid367/5960/Breaking-News-Gambia--DID-JAMMEH-SELLS-IRANIAN-ARMS-TO-HEZBOLLAH-/Default.aspx</ref><ref>http://www.hudson-ny.org/1989/iran-charm-offensive-in-africa-part-ii</ref><ref>"Hezbollah buying Iranian arms from Gambia, paper reports," NOW Lebanon, 28 Feb 2011
http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=245299</ref> This despite a [[BBC]] report in 2010 of Gambia cutting ties with the Islamic Republic.<ref>"Gambia cuts ties with Iran and orders diplomats to go." [[BBC]], November 23, 2010 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-11819143</ref>

====Senegal====
Senegal has long been a favorite 'fund0raising' hub for the terrorist organization Hezbollah.<ref>http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/ENGLISH/IRAN/PD=
F/JULY_03.PDF</ref><ref>http://www.justice.gov.il/NR/rdonlyres/E7CC31EF-A384-46A9-8E92-6B3416FA6299/0/feb05.htm</ref> Worth mentioning that Senegal accused Iran in Feb. 2011 for supplying weapons to separatist rebels that killed its soldiers.<ref>http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE71M01A20110223</ref>

====Afghanistan====
Hezbollah Link in the war in Afghanistan have been found in 2007, as NATO Finds Copy of Hizbullah's Explosives in Afghanistan. <ref>http://web.archive.org/web/20080126073425/http://yalibnan.com/site/archives/2007/07/copy_of_hezboll.php [http://www.lebanonews.net/mainra.asp?raid=2268] [http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=116544]</ref> And in 2011 the Wall Street Journal wrote: "Iran Funnels New Weapons to Iraq and Afghanistan."<ref>"Iran Funnels New Weapons to Iraq and Afghanistan," [[WSJ]]
Solomon, Jay, July 2, 2011 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303763404576420080640167182.html</ref>

====Sudan====
The Hezbollah, reportedly, is very supportive of Al-Bashir's genocide in the [[Sudan]].
<ref>http://www.istockanalyst.com/article/viewiStockNews+articleid_2432545&title=Lebanese_Hezbollah_Holds.html</ref> From a March 2009 report: "Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah leaders offer support for Sudan's chief."<ref>http://lubbockonline.com/stories/030709/wor_406280388.shtml</ref>

====Egypt====
In 2009, the [[BBC]] reported that [[Egypt]] was 'hunting Hezbollah suspects'<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7996665.stm</ref>, prosecutor accused Hezbollah of plotting attacks in Egypt, of sending operatives to [[Egypt]] to carry out attacks in the country and to smuggle weapons.<ref>http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/middleeast/news/article_1469836.php/Prosecutor_accuses_Hezbollah_of_plotting_attacks_in_Egypt__Roundup</ref>
<ref>http://uk.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUKL8213444</ref>
<ref>http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-04-08-voa48.cfm</ref>
On Apr 2010 An Egyptian court convicted 26 men of belonging to a Hezbollah cell.
<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/29/world/middleeast/29cairo.html</ref>
The Hezbollah Plot exposed Egypt's shared interests with Israel.<ref>http://www.forward.com/articles/104793/</ref>
Analysts said that the Egypt-Hezbollah standoff dents Egypt-Iran relations.<ref>http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-04/13/content_11180887.htm</ref>

====Azerbaijan====
Hezbollah plotted embassy attack' in Azerbaijan - was revealed in 2009. A trial under way in Azerbaijan of two Hezbollah members and four Azeris, where prosecutors drew a link between Iranian-backed Hezbollah terror missions.
<ref>http://www.ijn.com/ijn-news/international/1017-iran-hezbollah-plotted-embassy-attack-in-azerbaijan</ref><ref>http://jta.org/news/article/2009/05/31/1005514/hezbollah-plot-to-bomb-azerbaijan-embassy-foiled</ref>

====Syria====
In March, 2011, at the height of the so-called "Arab spring," Hizbullah and Iran were helping [[Bashar al-Assad]] kill protesters.<ref>INN, March 2011, http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/143155</ref>In May 2011, a report came out: "Hezbollah forces helping Syria in crackdown on protesters." A Lebanese parliament member said "Syrian forces have breached the border with Lebanon; notes fear that Syrian forces will kidnap refugees who fled the government crackdown in Syria."<ref>Report: Hezbollah forces helping Syria in crackdown on protesters," Haaretz, May 29, 2011 http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/report-hezbollah-forces-helping-syria-in-crackdown-on-protesters-1.36471</ref> In August 2011, Syria's youth coalition accused Hezbollah of role in Assad's brutal crackdown.<ref>"Syria's youth coalition accuses Hezbollah of role in Assad's brutal crackdown." AlArabiya, August 26, 2011
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/08/26/164222.html</ref> Indeed, The [[AP]] reported (Oct 24, 2011) "Since the uprising.. Syrians have unleashed their anger at Hezbollah over its blunt support for the regime. Some protesters have set fire to the yellow flag of Hezbollah and pictures of Nasrallah."<ref>"Hezbollah leader: Syria largely out of 'danger zone' " Star Tribune,
24 Oct 2011 http://www.startribune.com/world/132481743.html</ref><ref>"Hezbollah: Syria largely out of 'danger zone' ", CBS News, 24 Oct 2011
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501713_162-20124862.html</ref>

In November 2011, activists charged Hezbollah in abduction of Syrian activists in [[Lebanon]].<ref>"Activist says Hezbollah involved in abduction of Syrian opposition in Lebanon," The Daily Star, November 08, 2011, http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Politics/2011/Nov-08/153373-activist-says-hezbollah-involved-in-abduction-of-syrian-opposition-in-lebanon.ashx</ref> The persecution caused fear for those seeking exile in Lebanon.<ref>"Syrian Exiles Find Fear Rather Than Refuge in Lebanon‎," Jakarta Globe, November 15, 2011
http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/international/syrian-exiles-find-fear-rather-than-refuge-in-lebanon/478562</ref>

In March 2014, Hezbollah and Syrian Army drove out Islamist Syrian rebels from the ancient Christian town of Ma'aloula<ref>http://www.mintpressnews.com/christians-in-northern-lebanon-and-hezbollah-unite-over-shared-isis-threat/196663/</ref>

====Bahrain====
In June 1996, the Bahraini government said it has uncovered a coup plot by an Iranian-backed group, Hezbollah-Bahrain.<ref>BBC News - Timeline: Bahrain, Jun 4, 2011 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/817505.stm</ref>

In April 2011, Bahrain government accused Hezbollah of aiding opposition groups.<ref>''Bahrain government accuses Hezbollah of aiding opposition groups,'' [[CNN]], Apr 25, 2011 http://articles.cnn.com/2011-04-25/world/bahrain.hezbollah_1_wefaq-hezbollah-camps-hassan-nasrallah?_s=PM:WORLD</ref> Indeed, ''Tehran has been seeking to destabilize and annex Bahrain for decades.'' It ''established a military wing for Hezbollah in Bahrain,'' and in 2011, its thugs incited "protests" in that country.<ref>"Iran's Bahraini Ambitions‎," [[Wall Street Journal]], Mitchell A. Belfer, Oct 5, 2011
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204612504576608852457881450.html</ref>

In November 2011, Bahrain linked terror suspects to Iran.<ref>"Bahrain terrorist suspects had links with Iran," ABC Online, November 14, 2011
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-11-14/bahrain-terrorist-suspects-had-links-with-iran/3663812</ref><ref>"Bahrain says terror suspects linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guard,"‎ The Guardian, 14 November 14, 2011 http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/14/bahrain-terror-iran-revolutionary-guard?newsfeed=true</ref> Al Arabiya TV reported that Bahraini MP said "Hezbollah, Iran behind the terrorist cell" which planned to murder prominent Gulf figures.<ref>"Bahraini MP: Hezbollah, Iran behind the terrorist cell," November 14, 2011
http://www.yalibnan.com/2011/11/14/bahraini-mp-hezbollah-iran-behind-the-terrorist-cell/</ref>

====Europe====

=====Hijacking TWA flight=====
Among the highlighted terror crimes of the Hezbollah is the: [[TWA]] Hijacking, June 14, 1985: A Trans-World Airlines flight '847' was hijacked en route to [[Rome]] from [[Athens]] by two Lebanese Hizballah terrorists, and forced to fly to Beirut. The eight crew members and 145 passengers were held for seventeen days, during which one American hostage, a [[U.S.]] Navy sailor, was murdered. After being flown twice to [[Algiers]], the aircraft was returned to [[Beirut]] after Israel released 435 Lebanese and [[Palestinian]] prisoners.
<ref>http://www.fas.org/irp/threat/terror_chron.html</ref><ref>http://www.fbi.gov/page2/jan06/longarm010506.htm</ref><ref>http://army.mil/terrorism/1989-1980/index.html</ref><ref>http://terrorism.grady.uga.edu/history/analysistwa.html</ref> <ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/30/newsid_2527000/2527337.stm</ref><ref>http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/10/20011010-1.html</ref>

The plane was on a scheduled flight from Cairo to Athens. Hijackers --the two terrorists were brandishing grenades and pistols-- forced it to Beirut and twice went to Algiers before returning to Beirut releasing most of the (non-American) 152 passengers along the way, and murdering U.S. Navy diver Robert Stethem, one of the passengers—beating him, torturing, shooting him in the temple and dumping his body on the tarmac of Beirut International Airport (June 15).

On June 30, Hezbollah released 39 American passengers they held captive for 17 days.

German authorities arrested [[Mohammed Ali Hammadi]] and convicted him of Stethem’s murder in 1987. Hammadi was paroled in 2005 and returned to Beirut, where he is believed to be living today (2009). <ref>http://middleeast.about.com/b/2009/07/01/robert-stethems-murder-on-twa-flight-847.htm</ref><ref>http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1994-07-17/news/1994198059_1_stethem-lebanon-officer-2nd-class</ref>
<ref>http://michellemalkin.com/2008/02/13/justice-for-robert-dean-stethem-the-marines-in-beirut-and-other-american-victims-of-hezbollah/</ref>

From a letter, Robert's brother Kenneth has sent to president George W. Bush in 2006 as Robert's murderer was released by the German government (and fled to Lebanon) in an apparent exchange for a [[German]] hostage in [[Iraq]]:<blockquote>While Robert was being dragged to the door, he knew that all he had to do in order to live was to cry into that transmitter, but he wouldn't do it. He would not give in to the demands of the terrorists. He would not allow the honor and dignity of America to be intimidated by the fear and pain that Hammadi and terrorists everywhere represent. Robert sacrificed his life in order to protect our liberty and defend our way of life.<ref>http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/01/09/opinion/main1190219.shtml </ref></blockquote>

=====Dowining of a French airline=====
The [[Los Angeles Times]] wrote in November 1, 1989 that a Palestinian group allied with Hezbollah is linked to a plane crash.<blockquote>
Specialists have linked a terrorist bomb that destroyed a French airliner last month (Oct, 1989) in Africa to a Palestinian group allied with the pro-Iranian Hezbollah, the newspaper Figaro said... Working with fragments of a suitcase found in the wreckage of the airliner, specialists in Paris' central police laboratory found similarities to a terrorist bomb that exploded at a Paris department store almost five years ago. The February 1985 attack at the department store resulted in the arrest of Habib Maammar, a Tunisian member of a group directed by the Palestinian bomb maker Abu Ibrahim.
<ref>http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1989-11-01/news/8911013269_1_hezbollah-bomb-police-in-paris</ref></blockquote>

=====Terror attack on French department stores=====
Paris' Boulevard Haussmann was targeted in 1985 and 1986 during attacks on [[Paris]] department stores, many of them claimed by the Lebanese Hezbollah militants, which left 13 dead and 303 injured.
Terrorists from Hezbollah, set off bombs in both Printemps and Galeries Lafayette in December 1985, injuring 43 people.<ref>http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article5351735.ece</ref>
<ref>http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hVze0Fn4iyxmce-rEhgNsHQOLRiw</ref>

Workers at [[Printemps]] in December 1985 when Hezbollah bombs exploded on the ground floor there and in the Galeries Lafayette department store, recalled the attack which led to a bomb scare in Dec. 2008, when explosives were found there.
<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/17/world/europe/17paris.html</ref> <ref>http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601100&sid=aB8Ct9mWIdhw&refer=germany</ref>

=====Network=====
Although Europe has recently been exempt from Hezbollah attacks, numerous intelligence experts and officials assert that the group's operatives maintain cells across the continent. German authorities, in particular, have expressed concern about the presence of several hundred Hezbollah members in their country.

Reports of an increase in Hezbollah recruiting have emerged in eastern European countries, specifically Slovakia, Bosnia and Russia . And over the past few years, Hezbollah has sent operatives with European identification papers to Israel in order to collect intelligence for future attacks. Efforts by European authorities to curtail Hezbollah's influence have included France 's 2004 ban of Hezbollah's television station and chief propaganda machine, Al- Manar, from that nation's satellite television providers. Spain and the United States have made similar moves.
<ref name=emerson>http://www.steveemerson.com/4281/blood-money-hezbollahs-revenue-stream-flows </ref>

=====Attempts of attacks between 1988-1996=====
Other attacks researchers have attributed to Hezbollah include an unsuccessful attempt to carry out attacks in Cyprus in 1988; a plot, foiled by Spanish police, to carry out attacks against Jewish targets in Europe in 1989; an unsuccessful attempt to detonate a car bomb outside a Jewish community building in Romania in 1992; and a planned 1996 attack, also foiled by police, on an Israeli institution in Paris.
<ref>http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=40451</ref>

=====Attempts of 'massive-attacks' in 2009=====
In 2009, there was a report of a "Massive Hezbollah Terror Attack Against Israeli Target In Europe," that has been thwarted. <ref>http://www.nationalterroralert.com/updates/2009/01/28/report-massive-hezbollah-terror-attack-against-israeli-target-in-europe-thwarted/</ref>

====Latin America====
From a US statement in 1995 titled "Latin American Terrorism backed by Iran" <blockquote>"We believe that Hizballah activities, which include narcotics and smuggling as well as terrorism, are supported in the tri-border area of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. The organization is known to have cells in Colombia and Venezuela as well. Hizballah cells are concealed amidst the large Shia' Muslim population of Lebanese origin which has settled in the tri-border area."
<ref>http://www.globalsecurity.org/security/library/congress/1995_h/h950928w.htm</ref></blockquote>

=====Venezuela=====
US designated two Hezbollah operatives in [[Venezuela]] as terrorists- Hezbollah has used the tri-border region between Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay to recruit, train, raise and launder money, and plot attacks.
<ref>http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/hp1036.htm</ref>

[[Venezuela]]'s [[Hugo Chavez]] (Called a dictator <ref>http://www.securityaffairs.org/issues/2006/11/fleischman.php</ref>
<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/americas/3341771.stm</ref><ref>http://www.davidbruceallen.com/strategyoped/2007/05/hugo_chavezs_fi.html</ref> & his regime a dictatorship <ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/04/AR2006080401768.html</ref>, and has close ties with the Mullahcracy theocracy dictatorship of the Islamic Republic of [[Iran]] <ref>http://www.doublex.com/blog/xxfactor/adios-democracy</ref> <ref>http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2010/03/08/sean-penn-wants-reporters-jailed-calling-chavez-dictator/</ref>) has publicly supported a Hezbollah candidate for the Lebanese government, he was a supporter of Hezbollah during the 2006 war in Lebanon; afterward, the group placed signs in Lebanon proclaiming "Gracias, Chavez!" He openly invited Hezbollah members to live in Venezuela. Venezuela's embassies in the Middle East have been used to launder Hezbollah's dirty money, per investigation by the U.S. Treasury Dept
In January 2010, Israeli intelligence released information that Chavez shipped heavy arms to Hezbollah the year before; the ship originated in Venezuela, stopped in Iran and docked in Lebanon.
<ref>http://www.israeltoday.co.il/default.aspx?tabid=178&nid=20408</ref>

Chavez has a close relationship with Iran's President Ahmedinejad. The two leaders regularly visit each other. In 2007, they instituted weekly flights between Tehran and Caracas. Interestingly, the aircraft stops one place - Damascus, Syria. Journalists and others have tried to book a seat on the aircraft and have been denied. The passenger and cargo manifests are kept secret.

In an article (2009) in Forbes Magazine it was discussed how an attack by Israel against Gaza could be fought asymmetrically by Hezbollah - with help from Venezuela and Chavez.
<ref>http://www.forbes.com/2009/01/21/venezuela-iran-terror-oped-cx_mr_des_0121rowanschoen.html</ref>

(Worth mentioning [asides from Chavez's "personal" war with "imperialist" US] that Venezuela, has a large Lebanese-Arab community <ref>http://www.dawn.com/2005/05/14/int14.htm</ref>, many of them supported, financed Chavez's presidency.
There's also a significant concentration of this community in the area bordering with Colombia (Macau).
Jews have been attacked<ref>http://www.laht.com/article.asp?CategoryId=10717&

Assyrians

2015-08-18T21:25:36Z

Scatach: updated

The '''Assyrians''' are a modern people living in northern [[Iraq]] and [[Syria]] as well as parts of [[Turkey]] and western [[Iran]]They are the bona fide descendant of the ancient Assyrians,who between the 9th and 7th centuries B.C. - controlled an empire that covered most of civilised south western Asia and Egypt. They are known for their military might, administrative efficiency, architecture and sculpture , and were feared for their brutality.

They entered history as a [[Bronze Age]] trading people, based around their capital Assur, (south of what is now [[Mosul]] in northern [[Iraq]] and part of the hegemony of their southern cousins based in Babylon. Assyrian trading posts from this period have been found as far a-field a western Turkey. In the later Bronze Age they were at various times within the ambit of Mitanni and [[Hittite]] influence; and when the folk-migrations known as the movement of the [[Sea Peoples]] in the late 12th century overturned the Hittites and weakened Egypt, the Assyrians – using iron weapons - began to move into the vacuum. Ninevah and Nimrud became co-capitals, although Assur remained the religious centre.

Their period of rapid expansion and widespread control began in the early 9th century with the military campaigns of Ashurnasipal II (r.883-859 B.C.) and at its greatest extent included present day Iraq, western [[Iran]], all of [[Syria]] and the lands of the [[Hebrew]]s, eastern [[Turkey]] and Egypt. They developed the art of siege craft (including the first recorded use of the battering ram) to levels not improved on until the [[Roman]]s and organised their army in a way not seen before (including the use of demountable chariots for transportation over rough terrain. They used terror, capable administration, and enforced migration to control their vassals. Their domination was an endless succession of wars as they expanded or maintained their empire.

They were defeated by a revolt by a coalition of Chaldean-Mede vassals in 612 B.C. and their cities and war machine completely annihilated.

*See also: [[Assyrian Empire]]

==Modern Times==

Assyrians today face persecution from [[ISIS]]. They became involved in the political turbulence in the area in the 1920s and 1930s caused by [[Soviet Russia]]n expansion, and new nationalism in [[Turkey]], Iraq and Syria. This was to bring about a diaspora of Assyrians to many parts of the globe including U.S.A. and various parts of the British Commonwealth.

==See Also==
The following entries pertain to the antecedents of the modern Assyrians and the Aramaic Church of the East and derivatives:

*[[Aramaic Church]]
*[[Adiabene]]
*[[Syro-Chaldean Church of North America]]
*[[First Century Aramaic Jewish Christian Gospel and poetry]]
*[[Aramaic Judaism, Jewish Aramaic Christianity, and John 1:1]]
*[[Evangelical Apostolic Church of North America (Syro-Chaldean)]]
*[[Early Aramaic Jewish Christian prophesying]]

References: Chambers Encyclopedia|Penguin Dictionary of Archaeology]]

[[Category:Ethnicities]]
[[Category:Middle East]]

Hezbollah

2015-08-18T21:18:06Z

Scatach: /* Syria */ Hezbollah saved Assyrian Christians

[[Image:800px-Flag of Hezbollah svg.png|right|thumb|200px|Flag of Hezbollah.]]
'''Hezbollah''' (حزب الله, "Party of [[Allah]]"; sometimes spelled ''Hizbullah'', ''Hezbullah'', or ''Hezballah'') is a Shi'a [[Islam|Islamic]] [[terrorist]] organization based in [[Lebanon]] and supported by [[Syria]]<ref>It has been declared a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada, Israel, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Australia. See:
*[http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/fs/37191.htm United States Department of State]
*[http://www.osfi-bsif.gc.ca/eng/documents/advisories/docs/entstld.txt Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions Canada]
*[http://www.psepc.gc.ca/prg/ns/le/cle-en.asp Listed entities pursuant to the Anti-Terrorism Act (2001, c. 41)]
*[http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/2000_2009/2005/Summary+of+Terrorist+Activity+2004.htm Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs]
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5262484.stm BBC news]
*[http://www.minbuza.nl/nl/actueel/brievenparlement,2003/12/beantwoording_toezegging_inzake_de_positie_van_hezbollah.html The Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs]
*[http://www.nationalsecurity.gov.au/agd/www/nationalsecurity.nsf/AllDocs/7986D1536C0FFD5FCA256FCD001BE859?OpenDocument Australian National Security]</ref> and [[Iran]].

The Radical Shia group is dedicated to creation of Iranian-style Islamic republic in Lebanon and removal of all non-Islamic influences from the area. Strongly anti-West and anti-Israel.<ref>[[U.S. Department of State]], ''Background Information on Foreign Terrorist Organizations,'' Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism, October 8, 1999 http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/rpt/fto/2801.htm</ref>

Founded in 1982, its primary goal is the elimination of the state of Israel. Its current Secretary General, Hassan Nasrallah, has publicly stated a clear genocidal goal: "''if Jews all gather in Israel, it will save us the trouble of going after them worldwide.''"<ref>''The Daily Star'' (Beirut) October 23, 2002, http://web.archive.org/web/20021024133755/http://www.dailystar.com.lb/23_10_02/art5.asp, http://tenc.net/a/graduation.htm, http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/774649/posts</ref><ref>"The Enemy Within," Elena Lappin, the New York Times, May 23, 2004 http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/23/books/the-enemy-within.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm</ref><ref>HuffingtonPost, Alan Dershowitz: Hezbollah's Goal: "Going After [the Jews] Worldwide," Aug 10, 2006 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alan-dershowitz/hezbollahs-goal-going-aft_b_26983.html</ref><ref>''CAMERA: Hassan Nasrallah: In His Own Words,'' Jul 26, 2006 http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=7&x_issue=11&x_article=1158</ref><ref>Joseph Telushkin, ''Jewish Literacy Revised Ed: The Most Important Things to Know About the Jewish Religion, Its People, and Its History,'' HarperCollins (2008), p. 376, "On one noted occasion, Nasrallah had even encouraged Jews throughout the world to move to Israel on the grounds that 'If [Jews] all gather in Israel, it will save us the trouble of going after them worldwide.' " http://books.google.com/books?id=bIHtJzYCkqEC&pg=PA376</ref><ref>Arthur Ledeen, ''Accomplice to evil: Iran and the war against the West,'' Macmillan (2009), p. 108 http://books.google.com/books?id=LOmDsgYzS7gC&pg=PA108</ref><ref>Robert S. Wistrich, ''A lethal obsession: anti-semitism from antiquity to the global Jihad,'' Random House Digital, Inc. (2010) http://books.google.com/books?id=Lzs48d3tudsC&pg=PT989</ref> The organization's privately controlled TV broadcast station ''Al-Manar'' was banned in [[France]], [[Germany]], [[Spain]] and the [[US]]<ref>"Hezbollah TV comes to Australia," Barney Zwartz, The Age, August 1, 2009. http://www.theage.com.au/national/hezbollah-tv-comes-to-australia-20090731-e4ja.html</ref> for inciting racial hatred and [[Holocaust denial]].

=Iranian founded, Iranian/Syrian Backed: Arab Islamic Hezbollah Global Terrorists=

Author explains that the "Impetus for the founding of the Lebanese Hezbollah came from the Hezbollah Party formed in Iran in 1978 by Hadi Ghaffary, a cleric with close ties to Ayatollah," and that "Khomeini decided to export his Islamic revolution and to form a Hezbollah group among the Shi'ites of Lebanon."<ref>Stephen E. Atkins, "Encyclopedia of modern worldwide extremists and extremist groups," p. 130. (Greenwood Publishing Group, 2004) 404 pp. http://books.google.com/books?id=b8k4rEPvq_8C&pg=PA130</ref>

Huzbollah is a radical Shi’a Muslim organization fighting against Israel and "western imperialism" in Lebanon, and has advocated since its beginning (1982) for an Islamic State, Tehran style<ref>http://www.analyst-network.com/article.php?art_id=2082</ref>. The group does not recognize the legitimacy of the State of Israel. Hezbollah refers to itself with multiple titles including the "Organization of the Oppressed on Earth" and the "Revolutionary Justice Organization." Its main goal is the establishment of an Islamic government across the Arab world that will "liberate" Jerusalem and the entire area of the present-day State of Israel.

It is financed and armed by Iran,<ref>"Iran Arming Hezbollah In Lebanon, Us Says", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Apr 18, 1996 http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=sPFRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=DnADAAAAIBAJ&pg=4686,1073300</ref> it acts as its proxy<ref>Written Testimony of Ambassador Roger F. Noriega...
Before a Hearing of the Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence
Committee on Homeland Security, U.S. House of Representatives, Thursday, July 7, 2011, http://homeland.house.gov/sites/homeland.house.gov/files/Testimony%20Noriega.pdf</ref> and enjoys full backing from Syria. Hezbollah was founded with the help of Iranian Revolutionary Guards.

Syria backs Hizballah morally and has also supplied it with money and arms. In return, Hizballah protects Syria’s political and military interests in Lebanon.
<ref>http://www.adl.org/israel/advocacy/glossary/hezbollah.asp</ref><ref>http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Terrorism/hizbollah.html</ref>

The two major leaders of Hezbollah are Secretary General Sheikh Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and the organization's spiritual chief, Sheikh Muhammad Husayn Fadlallah, both named "specially designated global terrorists" by the U.S. government.
<ref name=emerson>http://www.steveemerson.com/4281/blood-money-hezbollahs-revenue-stream-flows</ref>

It was founded and continued, and still is marked by violence, locally and worldwide, though, recently, it tries to portray itself as a mere "political" party.
It has been said that: "The very year Hezbollah was founded it became the most lethal terrorist organization in Lebanon" & "neither had ever managed to spill so much blood in a single incident."
<ref name=elieberman>''Radical, Religious, and Violent: The New Economics of Terrorism'', Eli Berman, MIT Press, 2009, p. 50 [http://books.google.com/books?id=R7jvDS3OiAUC&pg=PA50]</ref>

==Funding==

''Dirty Money, Blood Money''

===Criminal funding===

The Lebanese Shiite Terrorist Organization has been highlighted as a profile in "Crime and Terrorism" - Hezbollah's Criminal activity is widely in Lebanon and worldwide <ref>http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/html/hezbollah.htm</ref>, or what researches call: "various criminal enterprises to raise funds for Hezbollah."
<ref>http://www.amazon.com/Lightning-Out-Lebanon-Hezbollah-Terrorists/dp/0345475682</ref>
Among the illegal, criminal methods of the Islamic group is wide fraud, drug trafficking, credit card fraud & cigarette smuggling, it has been known that "Cigarette Smuggling Funds Terrorism." <ref>http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2005/2/13/135754.shtml</ref>
<ref>http://www.goofigure.com/UserGoofigureDetail.asp?gooID=5094</ref>
In a 2009 report on "Hezbollah: narco-Islamism Middle East Strategy at Harvard" researchers have found that: 'more than any other Islamist group, Hezbollah has a long record of engaging in criminal activity to support its activities.'
<ref>http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/mesh/2009/03/hezbollah-narco-islamism/</ref>
<ref>http://counterterrorismblog.org/2007/11/hezbollah_financing_through_cr.php</ref>

====Latin America====

The 'Hezbollah's global finance network' includes "The Triple Frontier" (in South America) - "Argentina, Brasil & Paraguay." <ref>http://www.meib.org/articles/0201_l2.htm</ref>, <ref>http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Front_Page/HH03Aa01.html</ref>

There's an extensive report on "Hezbollah and the Drug Trade in South America" - Hezbollah is active in the drug trade in Colombia, a web of criminality that extends from Lebanon to Africa to South America.
<ref>http://www.investigativeproject.org/documents/testimony/313.pdf</ref>

Douglas Farah wrote in 2006 on "Hezbollah’s External Support Network in West Africa and Latin America" that Hezbollah, has the largest financial structure in Latin America and it is similar to that in of the organization’s Africa structure, that is to say, structured along family/clan lines. These clans have family members across the continent’s main free trade zones of Panama, (Venezuela's) Isla Margarita and the TBA (tri-border area), allowing for multiple opportunities to launder funds by over invoicing stocks, under invoicing merchandise and thtough the use of little-monitored electronic money transfer systems and bulk money smuggling. The first study of this overlapping clan structure spread across broad geographic areas was not undertaken until 2004.

The TBA has for years drawn attention as a center for contraband smuggling, drug trafficking and large-scale money laundering, in part because all of the countries whose borders are involved profit from the illicit trade. It is also an easy place to hide and move money. Estimates of the amount of drug money alone laundered through the two main urban centers in the TBA, Foz do Iguacu and Ciudad del Este, range as high as $12 billion a year.
<ref>http://www.strategycenter.net/research/pubID.118/pub_detail.asp</ref>

From a 2003 research on Hezbollah "Hezbollah: A Case Study of Global Reach":
Hezbollah is also active in Chile, Venezuela, Cuba, Panama and Ecuador.
<ref>http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/print.php?template=C07&CID=132</ref>

Counter terrorism expert Steven Emerson wrote in 2007 in an article titled "Blood Money: Hezbollah's revenue stream flows through the Americas":<blockquote>A New Front. Hezbollah operatives have frequently sought out sympathetic members of the Lebanese Diaspora to assist them, several of whom have owned and operated Lebanese restaurants. Salim Boughader Mucharrafille, owner of Cafe La Libanesa in Tijuana, Mexico, was arrested in December 2002 for running a ring that allegedly smuggled at least 200 Lebanese compatriots into the United States , including an employee of Al- Manar, Hezbollah's television station. Although it was never confirmed, Boughader was suspected of having helped Kourani to slip over the border. Last May, a Mexican judge sentenced Boughader to 14 years in prison for organized crime and human smuggling.
 
The case of Rady Zaiter, a.k.a. David Assi Alvarez, is an example of drug-running activities designed to benefit Hezbollah, using a restaurant as a front. In June 2005, Ecuadorian police broke up an international drug-trafficking ring led by the owners of El Turco restaurant: Zaiter and his partner, Maher Hamajo. The restaurant in Quito served as the logistical center for the ring's activities. Drug mules carried cocaine in double bottomed suitcases bound for other countries in South America, as well as Europe and the Middle East. According to investigating authorities, Hezbollah received at least 70 percent of the drug money. Additionally, officials confiscated more than $150,000 and 2,000 euros. Further arrests were made in Brazil, Syria and the Dutch Antilles, bringing the total apprehended to 19 people. El Turco, like the Detroit-area restaurant La Shish that was recently allegedly linked to Hezbollah, was a very popular restaurant, appreciated by the locals.
<ref name=emerson>http://www.steveemerson.com/4281/blood-money-hezbollahs-revenue-stream-flows</ref></blockquote>

In 2008, Colombia smashed a drug ring tied to Hezbollah, Colombian authorities said that they had broken up a drug and money-laundering ring in an international operation that included the capture of three suspects from the Middle East who used profits from the drug trade to fund Hezbollah.

More than 100 suspects were arrested in Colombia and overseas on charges that they trafficked drugs and laundered cash for Colombia’s Norte del Valle cartel and outlawed paramilitaries, in a network that stretched from South America to Asia.
"The criminal organization used routes through Venezuela, Panama, Guatemala, the Middle East and Europe, bringing in cash from the sale of these substances," the statement said.
<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/22/world/americas/22colombia.html</ref><ref>http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/a-13-2008-10-22-voa37-66602227.html</ref>

From 'Inside Homeland Security' 2009: <blockquote>Muslim businessmen operating companies in Panama "for many years" have laundered funds for Hezbollah, Hamas and the PLO.<ref>http://www.insidehomelandsecurity.com/articles/news/59/15/The-Rise-of-Islamist-Extremism-in-Latin-America</ref></blockquote>

====U.S.====

The [[Washington Times]] had an editorial (2005) on 'Hezbollah in
America,' a 41-year-old businessman, was arrested at his Dearborn home on charges of smuggling funds to Hezbollah.<ref>http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20050519-092915-7312r.htm</ref>
In 2009, a grand jury in Philadelphia indicted four men in connection with a plot to support Hezbollah through schemes like buying machine guns.<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/25/us/25philly.html?_r=1</ref>

Al-Mabarrat has a U.S.-based branch headquartered in Dearborn, Mich. Founded in 1991, the Al-Mabarrat Charitable Organization-USA, Inc., has repeatedly changed its name over the past 15 years. Although Al-Mabarrat acknowledges on its Web site that it works in conjunction with the Al-Mabarrat Association in Lebanon (whose logo it shares), it omits the fact that Al-Mabarrat Lebanon is run by Sheikh Fadlallah. Despite Al- Mabarrat USA's direct link to a Fadlallah-controlled organization, the U.S. branch continues to operate unfettered.

Hezbollah's use of Al-Mabarrat as a fund-raising front is a savvy strategic move, mirroring a tactic long exploited by terrorist groups operating on U.S. soil. By utilizing charities, terrorists can generate popular support by providing some legitimate services, attract contributions from donors both unwitting and aware, and attempt to obscure financial trails. But such operations extend far beyond the United States.
<ref name=emerson>http://www.steveemerson.com/4281/blood-money-hezbollahs-revenue-stream-flows</ref>

In October 2011, it was revealed that a suspect in an Iranian plot to assassinate Saudi ambassador to the US, is linked to Hezbollah.<ref>Saudi ambassador assassination plot suspect linked to Hezbollah and Bahrain unrest
Al-Arabiya, 19 October 2011 http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/10/19/172590.html</ref>

====Europe====

There's a serious "Hezbollah's Terrorist Threat to the European Union" writes [[The Heritage]] (2007)
<ref>http://www.heritage.org/Research/Testimony/Hezbollahs-Terrorist-Threat-to-the-European-Union</ref>.
From a report on "Hezbollah Around the World" - Arabs, Muslims in [[Germany]] have been key fund raising center for Hezbollah. through crimes of: drug trafficking, weapons and people smuggling, document and currency fraud. <ref>http://www.adl.org/main_Terrorism/hezbollah_overview.htm?Multi_page_sections=sHeading_7</ref> From a May 2010 report: 'Hezbollah funded by drug trade in Europe,' German police arrested Lebanese men who transferred millions of Euros to family connected to Hezbollah.
<ref>http://www.haaretz.com/news/report-hezbollah-funded-by-drug-trade-in-europe-1.261091</ref><ref>http://www.thelocal.de/national/20100109-24465.html</ref>

Hezbollah has established several front charities, mainly operating from Great Britain and Germany, to raise funds earmarked to support the group's members in Lebanon . For example, the British-based Lebanese Welfare Committee, HELP Charity Association for Relief and Abrar Islamic Foundation are among the charities suspected of channeling funds to Sheikh Nasrallah and Hezbollah.
<ref name=emerson>http://www.steveemerson.com/4281/blood-money-hezbollahs-revenue-stream-flows </ref>

====U.S. Mexican border====

Hezbollah is also accused of using the same southern narcotics routes that Mexican drug kingpins use, that Hezbollah members have entered the U.S. border through drug cartel.
<ref>http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/mar/27/hezbollah-uses-mexican-drug-routes-into-us/print/</ref><ref>http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/hezbollah-using-drug-smuggling-routes/story.aspx?guid=%7BA14CB7E3-86EE-4ECE-A417-E31BF77E65FD%7D&dist=msr_2</ref>
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review wrote an article on ‎Apr 10, 2009, "The Hezbollah threat: It's here, now." <ref>http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/opinion/s_620146.html</ref>

===Blood diamonds===

The [[Associated Press]] reported on "Blood diamonds fund Hezbollah" (2004): that Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrilla movement is systematically siphoning profits from West Africa's multimillion-dollar diamond trade, in part by threatening the Lebanese merchants who long have handled much of the region's diamond business, US diplomats in West [[Africa]] charge.

The pervasive claim is wider --on organised and co-ercive Hezbollah profiteering from West Africa's diamond trade-- than most [[US]] officials have previously acknowledged.

"One thing that's incontrovertible is the financing of Hezbollah. It's not even an open secret; there is no secret," Larry Andre, deputy chief of mission for the [[US Embassy]] in diamond-rich [[Sierra Leone]], told The [[Associated Press]].
<ref>http://www.news24.com/Africa/News/Blood-diamonds-fund-Hezbollah-20040629</ref><ref>http://archive.wn.com/2004/07/02/1400/diamond/sale.html</ref>

T. Schure wrote in "Blood Diamonds: Still Bloody" (May 14, 2010) that West Africa is a well known transit center for smuggled diamonds, especially for Lebanese traders, with many sales funding criminal and terrorist groups including Hezbollah.
<ref>http://www.worldpress.org/Africa/3543.cfm</ref>

Douglas Farah in the [[Washington Post]]: "Digging Up Congo's Dirty Gems; Officials Say Diamond Trade Funds Radical Islamic Groups", that diamond dealers and intelligence sources said Hezbollah and other groups buy diamonds in. Congo -- sometimes through middlemen, sometimes directly.

European and American intelligence sources have long known that Hezbollah has raised significant amounts of money in West Africa through the largely Shiite Muslim Lebanese communities in Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Togo. There are an estimated 120,000 Lebanese in West Africa, mostly involved in import-export businesses.

"Hezbollah is active in all these countries and are deeply involved in many businesses across the region," said one European official tracking the movement. "It is only a small part of the Lebanese community that is sympathetic, but many people contribute to them just to keep Hezbollah off their backs."

For at least since the early 1980s, Hezbollah had also raised some cash through the sale of diamonds from Sierra Leone, intelligence sources said. Bah, they said, was long suspected of brokering diamond deals through buyers connected to Hezbollah, assisted by sympathetic Lebanese businessmen across the region.
<ref>D. Farah, ''Digging Up Congo's Dirty Gems; Officials Say Diamond Trade Funds Radical Islamic Groups'', Washington Post, 30 December, 2001 [http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A40026-2001Dec29&notFound=true ][http://www.globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/182/33794.html ] [http://www.kongo-kinshasa.de/dokumente/divers/wp12-01.pdf ]
qdt in:[http://books.google.com/books?id=luPNuThpx6QC&pg=PA86 ]</ref>

==Character, racism, fascism==

A writer in the [[Christian Science Monitor]] explains that "Hizbullah's real goal is racist: To free the Middle East holy lands of Jews... Hizbullah's goal is not the "liberation" of Palestine. Its members are not Palestinian. They are (Arab) Islamic extremists who want to "liberate" all Islamic land."<ref>http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0727/p09s01-coop.html</ref>

Its [[Al-Manar]] television is infamous for being [[racist]], several [[European]] countries, including [[France]], [[Spain]], [[Germany]] and the [[Netherlands]], as well as [[Australia]], have also taken measures to block Al-Manar. In March 2005, the broadcasting regulators in the [[European Union]] agreed to ban satellite broadcasting of Al-Manar on the basis that the channel carried racist material and incitement. As a result, several satellite service providers, most of them European, dropped Al-Manar, making it unavailable in North and South America, Asia and Australia. Al-Manar, is, however, still available in Europe through Arab satellite companies and its Web site offers English, French and Spanish translations of its material.
<ref>http://www.adl.org/main_terrorism/hezbollah_overview.htm?Multi_page_sections=sHeading_8 </ref>

On its TV, [[Jews]] are termed pigs and monkeys (stemming from radical Islamic teaching of "apes & pigs" - branding Christians as pigs, Jews as apes [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5426633 ][http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/christopher_howse/blog/2007/02/07/whats_this_about_apes_and_pigs ][http://www.onenewsnow.com/2007/02/pupils_aged_five_poisoned_at_i.php ][http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2007060106,00.html ][http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/06/25/wsaudi25.xml ][http://www.obsessionthemovie.com/ ]) and the [[Holocaust]] is denied. Participants in a network-sponsored symposium urge that Israel "be completely wiped out" and "just like [[Hitler]] fought the Jews" the "great Islamic nation of Jihad" should "fight the Jews and burn them."
<ref>http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2006/08/08/death_and_destruction_are_hezbollahs_goals/</ref>

It has been written in an article titled "Hezbollah's Nazi roots" that "Hezbollah's Nazi salute evokes memories of [[Hitler]]'s support for [[Arab]] agitators such as the Grand Mufti ([[al-Husayni]]) of Jerusalem and the leaders of a pro-[[Nazi]] coup."<ref>http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/issuesideas/story.html?id=e3157f0d-21ad-41e9-b26e-a3c06a460e73</ref>

From the book, 'Planting hatred, sowing pain: the psychology of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict':<blockquote>
Palestinians are constantly exposed to cultural products that expouse classical anti-Semitic ideas. Fir example, a television series produced by Hezbollah, the south Lebanon Shiite militia group, titled Al-Shatat. This series is focused oin the old middle-ages myth of the blood libel (in which Jews --supposedly-- need the blood of Christian children for the Passover matzoth).
<ref>''Planting hatred, sowing pain: the psychology of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict'', Moises F. Salinas, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007, p. 24 [http://books.google.com/books?id=9Tt9d6gnUkoC&pg=PR24]</ref></blockquote>

Related, from an [[ADL]] speech: <blockquote>In recent years, Jews were killed because they were Jews, something we have not witnessed since World War II, at the hands of jihadists. There was the Buenos Aires bombings of the Israeli embassy and the Jewish center; there was the kidnapping and murder of Daniel Pearl in Pakistan; there was the kidnapping and murder of Ilan Halimi in Paris; and there was the attack on the Seattle Jewish Federation. Hamas and Hezbollah do not want to kill for land, but to eliminate Jews and a Jewish presence.<ref>http://www.adl.org/main_Anti_Semitism_International/threat_islamic_extremism.htm</ref></blockquote>

===Nasrallah & the Jews===

Within a month of Nasrallah's taking over as leader, Hezbollah (with the help of Iranian intelligence) bombed the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires, killing 29 and injuring over 200. The next attack perpetrated by Hezbollah—again with Iranian help—was the bombing of the Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, killing 86 and injuring over 200.

The widening arena of Hezbollah's attacks stemmed from Nasrallah's perception that Jews anywhere are legitimate targets. In fact, Nasarallah has said:
<blockquote>
If they (Jews) all gather in Israel, it will save us the trouble of going after them worldwide. (Daily Star, Oct. 23, 2002)<ref>http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_ID=1&article_ID=38204&categ_id=2#axzz0pYls8Frn</ref><ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/23/books/the-enemy-within.html?sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2</ref><ref>http://www.adl.org/main_terrorism/hezbollah_overview.htm?Multi_page_sections=sHeading_7</ref><ref>http://www.ajc.org/atf/cf/%7B42D75369-D582-4380-8395-D25925B85EAF%7D/HIZBALLAH_SPEAKS_092006.PDF</ref></blockquote>

Shiite scholar Amal Saad-Ghorayeb analyzed the anti-Jewish roots of Hezbollah ideology in her book Hezbollah: Politics & Religion. In it, she quotes Hassan Nasrallah describing his antipathy toward Jews:

<blockquote>If we searched the entire world for a person more cowardly, despicable, weak and feeble in psyche, mind, ideology and religion, we would not find anyone like the Jew. Notice, I do not say the Israeli. (New Yorker, Oct. 14, 2002)<ref>''Nuclear logics: contrasting paths in East Asia and the Middle East'' by Etel Solingen, Princeton University Press, 2007 [http://books.google.com/books?id=dZc3udnvlbIC&pg=PA335]</ref></blockquote>

Nasrallah also incoroporates anti-Semitic rhetoric in speeches. For example, he has characterized Jews as the "grandsons of apes and pigs" and "Allah's most cowardly and greedy creatures." (MEMRI: Al- Manar, Feb. 3, 2006)
<ref>http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=7&x_issue=11&x_article=1158</ref><ref>http://www.jcpa.org/text/ahmadinejad2-words.pdf</ref>

In 1998, Ashura commemorations of Hessein's martyrdom coincided with Israel's fiftieth anniversary. Nasrallah used the occasion to lambaste Israelis as "the descendants of apes and pigs. "A few million vagabonds from all over the world, brought together..."
<ref>''Dreams and shadows: the future of the Middle East,'' Robin B. Wright, Penguin Group, 2008, ISBN 1594201110, 9781594201110, p. 180[http://books.google.com/books?id=nzXA7PZdO0AC&pg=PA180]</ref><ref>''Out of step: life-story of a politician : politics and religion in a world at war'', Jack Brian Bloom, Jack Bloom, 2005, p. 104 [http://books.google.com/books?id=Kr2gAAAAMAAJ&dq=hezbollah]</ref><ref>''The War Against the West: Crucial Conversations with the Most Informed Experts about Our Enemies, Our Defenses, Our Strategy and Our Leaders in the Long War Against Islamist Extremism'', Hugh Hewitt, Xulon Press, 2008, p. 200 [http://books.google.com/books?id=CFCHgaADriIC&pg=PA200]</ref>

==Iran's arm: "Big Satan, Little Satan"==

Israel and the United States as Portrayed in the Doctrine of Hezbollah:

1) Hatred of Israel ("that vile microbe") and the Jewish people, --As an arm of Iran it regards, <ref>http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2007/3/30/204228.shtml?s=lh</ref> <ref>http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/GC25Ak04.html</ref> <ref>http://www.ict.org.il/Articles/tabid/66/Articlsid/231/currentpage/10/Default.aspx</ref>
<ref>http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3272498,00.html</ref>
<ref>http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123093176783149767.html</ref>
<ref>http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/html/iran_hezbollah_e1b.htm</ref> and it seeks to-- Eradicating the 'Little Satan.'
2) Hatred of the [[United States]] ("the big Satan")
<ref>http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/html/hezbollah.htm</ref>

==Death cult, suicide missions, martyrdom philosophy, inventing 'mass casualty' bombing==

The doctrine of Hezbollah: Suicide attacks ("the shortest road to Allah") are of supreme value.
<ref>http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/html/hezbollah.htm</ref>

In May 2006, Nasrallah appeared on the network to explain that "our nation's willingness to sacrifice their blood, souls, children, fathers, and families" is an advantage over the Jews "who guard their lives."
<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/08/opinion/08iht-edlevin.2417146.html</ref>

The modern, high-casualty suicide attack, which has changed our lives irreversibly, was invented by Hezbollah in Lebanon in 1982.
<ref name=elieberman>''Radical, Religious, and Violent: The New Economics of Terrorism'', Eli Berman, MIT Press, 2009, p. 50 [http://books.google.com/books?id=R7jvDS3OiAUC&pg=PA50]</ref>

To attack the multinational forces, Hezbolah invented a terrible new weapon--the suicide truck bomb. The group loaded several hundred pounds of explosives into a truck. A member of the group--someone prepared to sacrifice his or her life--would drive the truck in front of an embassy or into a military base.
The driver then set off the explosives with a control switch in the truck's cab. The detonation would instantly destroy the driver, the truck, and any buildings or people standing within several hundred feet.
Sheikh Fadlallah and Hezbollah never took credit for these attacks. As a Shi'ite cleric, Fadlallah knew that Islam would get tarnished by terrorism and the killing of innocent civilians. Fadlallah also claimed to be running the Hezbollah as a political, not a military organization.
However, as Many Islamic nation have declared jihads against enemies. For this reason, an organization calling itself the "Islamic Jihad" publicly claimed responsibility for terrorists acts in Lebanon. For several years, the United States and other governments tried to find out who was running the Islamic Jihad. In fact, Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad were one and the same.
<ref>''International Terrorists'', profiles Series, profiles (Minneapolis, Minn.),
by Thomas Streissguth, The Oliver Press, Inc., 1993, ISBN 1881508072, 9781881508076, pp. 130-131 [http://books.google.com/books?id=vdKnY1vRKZkC&pg=PA130]</ref>

==Regional plans==

Amongst its stated objectives is the establishment of a Shiite theocracy in [[Lebanon]].
<ref>http://www.aph.gov.au/Library/pubs/rn/2002-03/03rn42.htm</ref>
Hezbollah's goal is the establishment of an Islamic state encompassing Lebanon and Israel.
<ref>http://www.adl.org/terrorism/symbols/hezbollah.asp</ref>
Many in the [[Lebanese]] [[Christian]] diaspora, beyond the reach of Hezbollah intimidation, speak out forcefully against turning Lebanon into a [[Shia]] [[theocracy]] emulating Iran.
<ref>http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2006/08/08/death_and_destruction_are_hezbollahs_goals/</ref>

==Global Plans==

The [[Associated Press]] reported in May, 2010, that a [[Muslim]] cleric calls for 'Greater Iran' - [[Shi'ite]] '''Islamic union''' would stretch from [[Afghanistan]] to [[Israel]]. Ayatollah Mohammad Bagher Kharrazi said the creation of what he termed an "Islamic United States" is a central aim of the political party he leads - called Hizbullah, or Party of God. He added that he hoped to make his vision a reality if the party won the next presidential election. "The Islamic United States will be an introduction to the formation of the global village of the oppressed and that will be a prelude to the single global rule of the Mahdi," the newspaper quoted him as saying. <ref>http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ixeFBxfLzaSjs8Mb8cuFmtPOT6-wD9FN9ING1</ref><ref>http://www.jpost.com/IranianThreat/News/Article.aspx?ID=175619 </ref>

==Violence, Bloodshed==

Their known spreading of violence & bloodshed includes:

===Regional: Lebanon, Israel===

====Kidnappings, torture====

Hezbollah's founding quickly resulted in a spate of kidnappings, torture.
<ref>http://article.nationalreview.com/300511/negotiate-with-iran/andrew-c-mccarthy</ref>
Westerners, including French, German and Americans were target of Hezbollah's kidnapping.<ref>Christopher C. Harmon, Andrew N. Pratt, Sebastian Gorka, ''Toward a Grand Strategy Against Terrorism,'' McGraw Hill Professional, (2010), [http://books.google.com/books?id=fYp2NlDbrb0C&pg=PA46 p. 46]</ref><ref>Tom Diaz, Barbara Newman, ''Lightning Out of Lebanon: Hezbollah Terrorists on American Soil,'' Random House Digital, Inc. (2006), [http://books.google.com/books?id=KXa6qOt86OwC&pg=PA64 p. 64]</ref><ref>"Does Human Rights Law Apply to Terrorists?" Middle East Quarterly by T Lapkin, 2004 http://www.meforum.org/651/does-human-rights-law-apply-to-terrorists</ref><ref>Mark Perry, ''Talking to terrorists: why America must engage with its enemies,'' Basic Books (2010), [http://books.google.com/books?id=HDRG-EYhyZ0C&pg=PA140 p. 140]</ref><ref>http://www.michaeltotten.com/archives/2009/03/hezbollah-scout.php</ref> including hijacking US personell.<ref>Newsweek: Volume 109, 1987, [http://books.google.com/books?id=1eQmAQAAIAAJ&q=The+fanatics+in+Beirut+can+kidnap+them,+torture+them,+hang+them+publicly+and+dump+their+bodies+on+the+streets p. 117]</ref><ref>http://books.google.com/books?id=b8k4rEPvq_8C&pg=PA130</ref><ref>http://books.google.com/books?id=vHrQGZ8lUgIC&pg=PA73</ref><ref>http://books.google.com/books?id=HNyv0N8cVE0C&pg=PA85</ref><ref>http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/162295/re-hezbollah-america/andy-mccarthy</ref><ref>http://books.google.com/books?id=m_ktBrZfuUYC&pg=PA118</ref><ref>http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article708342.ece</ref><ref>http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/myths/mf11.html</ref> An estimated kidnapping of 30 Westerners in that period are attributed to Hezbollah.<ref name="congress112">[http://books.google.com/books?id=W6gziQydtBwC&pg=RA2-PA112 Congressional Record - Page 112]</ref><ref>"Lebanon: Hezbollah's Kidnapping Plan," STRATFOR, Jan 22, 2008 http://www.stratfor.com/analysis/lebanon_hezbollahs_kidnapping_plan</ref><ref>Hizballah ("Party of God") http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Terrorism/hizbollah.html</ref><ref>Michael T. Kindt, Jerrold M. Post, Barry R. Schneider, ''The world's most threatening terrorist networks and criminal gangs,'' Macmillan, (2009) [http://books.google.com/books?id=WMZdR8XPzQoC&pg=PA129 p. 129]</ref>
Among the notorious victims were: William Francis Buckley, Terry Anderson, William Richard Higgins.

In March, 1984, Hezbollah operatives kidnapped William Francis Buckley, the CIA's station chief in [[Lebanon]]. He was whisked to [[Damascus]] and on to [[Tehran]], where, after 15 months of torture, he succumbed to a heart attack.
<ref>''Willful Blindness: A Memoir of the Jihad'' by Andrew C. McCarthy, Encounter Books, 2008, [http://books.google.com/books?&id=5dgoAQAAIAAJ&dq=buckley p. 97]</ref>

Feb. 17, 1988: The group kidnaps Col. William Higgins, a [[U.S.]] Marine serving with a [[United Nations]] truce monitoring group in Lebanon, and later murders him.

The [[United States]] asserts that top Hezbollah military commander who was one of America's most wanted men, accused of involvement in a string of bombings, hijackings and kidnappings during the 1980s and 1990s, [[Imad Mughniyeh]], was also behind the torture and murder of [[William Buckley]], the CIA station chief in Beirut, in 1984; the kidnapping, torture and murder of Lieutenant Colonel William Richard Higgins of the Marines, who was on peacekeeping duty in Lebanon in 1988; and, through the Islamic Jihad Organization, the seizure of Western hostages in Beirut during the 1980s.
<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/13/world/africa/13iht-syria.4.10025106.html?pagewanted=all</ref>
<ref>''Lightning out of Lebanon: Hezbollah terrorists on American soil'', Tom Diaz, Barbara Newman, [http://books.google.com/books?cd=4&id=waboAAAAIAAJ&dq=torture p. 64]</ref> <ref>http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2006/jul/20/20060720-081459-2509r/</ref>

From a legal claim against [[Iran]]:<blockquote> In the instant case the evidence once again discloses that Iran provided Hezbollah with funding, direction and training for its terrorist activities in Lebanon, including the kidnapping and torture of Terry Anderson hezbollah kidnapping torture and his imprisonment as a hostage for 2,454 days.
<ref>''Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act: Congressional Hearing'', Bill McCollum, DIANE Publishing, 2002, p. 24 [http://books.google.com/books?id=XB4lFqK_2SgC&pg=PA24]</ref></blockquote>

Dec. 31, 1986: Under the alias Organization of the Oppressed on Earth, Hezbollah announces it had kidnapped and murdered three Lebanese [[Jews]]. The organization previously had taken responsibility for killing four other Jews since 1984.
<ref>http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=2&x_outlet=118&x_article=1148</ref>

The 1985 Hezbollah torture-murder of Isaac Tarab, 63, and Chaim Halala Cohen, 39, the 1986 Hezbollah's torturing to death of Ibrahim Benesti, aged 54, of Beirut, and his elderly relatives, Yehudah and Yosef, Benesti's family – like many [[Lebanese]] [[Jews]] – had been in [[Lebanon]] since 2,000 B.C. (before the birth of [[Mohammed]]), [described as a charitable and kindly candy store owner who gave free candy to children of all religions]. All these crimes were motivated for no other reason than for the victims simply being Jewish.<ref>http://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=11798</ref> See: [[#Character, racism, fascism]].

7 Apr 2005 - Two [[Israeli-Arabs]] from the village of Rajar near the Israel-Lebanon border were kidnapped by Hezbollah operatives and held in captivity for four days. The men, identified as Muki Ben-Jamal and Nuef Maharj Ben-Ali, said they were interrogated by their captors who wanted information on [[Israel]].
<ref name=aijac-timeline>http://www.aijac.org.au/resources/hezb_00-06.html</ref>

The [[Time]] had a detailed piece by William Dowell in May 23, 1988 titled: "Three Years in the Belly of Beirut": <blockquote>"They weren't human or inhuman. They were nonhuman." That was how French Journalist Jean-Paul Kauffmann, quoting fellow hostage Michel Seurat, , described the pro-Iranian Islamic Jihad terrorists who held him hostage for three years. The wrenching account of his kidnaping, captivity and release appeared last week in L'Evenement du Jeudi, the French newsmagazine Kauffmann worked for when he and French Researcher Seurat were abducted in May 1985.
 
The two men became hostages by chance after missing a Beirut airport bus and deciding to take a taxi. When a Mercedes pulled alongside and ordered them to stop, they expected a robbery. Instead they were forced into the back of the gunmen's car. What followed was three years of intimidation and psychological torture.
 
For more than a year, the hostages never saw daylight. Their only diversion was reading the handful of books provided by their jailers; Kauffmann read War and Peace more than 20 times. At one point, he and Seurat listened while their Shi'ite captors spent eight days torturing an Arab suspected of being a spy. When it was over, Kauffmann's jailer joked, "I damaged him a little. He had two broken ribs. We broke both his legs. Finally he talked, and we set him free." Freedom, Kauffmann learned, was a euphemism for death.
 
In one of the most bizarre episodes, Seurat was allowed a brief visit in August 1985 with his wife and daughters in Beirut, and then returned to the cell loaded down with sociology books. It was the last time he saw his family. A month later, he was deathly ill with hepatitis. A Lebanese Jewish doctor, Elie Hallat, who was also a hostage, pleaded in vain for Seurat's release. As his condition worsened, a Shi'ite commander volunteered a transfusion. "You are becoming a Shi'ite," joked a captor after Seurat was given blood. In fact, the researcher was dying. By then French Hostages Marcel Carton and Marcel Fontaine had been added to the group. "So I am going to die," Seurat told his friends.
 
In March 1986, the Islamic Jihad announced that it had "executed" Seurat. It seems likely, however, that he succumbed, at 39, to his disease. But the jailers told the hostages he was alive and recovering in a hospital. Kauffmann later learned from a radio newscast that Hallat, doomed by his captors' rabid anti-Semitism, had been executed. Kauffmann, Carton and Fontaine were continually moved from apartment to apartment. At one point Kauffmann was wrapped in bandages like a mummy, sealed in a metal box and bolted under the chassis of a truck. When he banged on the side, he was told he would be shot. "Kill me," he snapped back. "It doesn't make any difference."
 
At another point Kauffmann and Fontaine were tied together and placed in a coffin. When they were let out for a moment, Fontaine peered under his blindfold and saw that they were near a cement factory. "They're going to kill us here, put our bodies in cement and dump us in the sea," said Fontaine. Later Kauffmann and Fontaine were put in a new cell and chained like animals to a spike in the floor.
<ref>Time, Volume 131, Issues 18-26 By Henry Robinson Luce, Time Inc., 1988, p. iv [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,967469,00.html]</ref></blockquote>

At a 2008 proisoner swap-deal, Israel was forced to make with Hezbollah, Bradley Burston wrote "The pleasure that Hezbollah takes in torture."<blockquote>

Few innocent people have been tortured like the loved ones of the people murdered by Samir Kuntar, the [[Palestine Liberation Front]] monster convicted of a crime so brutal that even the designation terrorist is too good for him.

This week, the loved ones will know that Kuntar will be feted to a hero's welcome staged by Hezbollah, whose claims to being a religious organization, stain the word religious with a level of sadism that is astonishing, reaching new levels with every gloat by the torture master who calls himself a spiritual leader, [[Hassan Nasrallah]].

But that will be only one aspect of the glee with which Hezbollah will likely take explicit pride and claim exultant victory.
 
Not satisfied with keeping the families of kidnapped IDF soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev in the dark for two years as to their fate, a Lebanese report which appears to have been leaked by Hezbollah two days before the prisoner swap, stated that one of the soldiers had survived the kidnapping attack, but that the other was surely dead.
 
Then, to torture the families further, the report refrained from revealing which of the two had been killed, or whether the other was still alive.

But for sheer gratuitous sadism, the case of [[Samir Kuntar]] has few rivals. Consider the survivors of Kuntar's acts of murder.

Consider Smadar Haran, a survivor of the 1979 attack led by Kuntar. Kuntar burst into Haran's apartment building in the dead of night, seizing Smadar Haran's husband Danny and their daughter Einat, 4 years old.

Desperate to save their two-year-old girl Yael, Smadar Haran huddled with her in a crawl space in the attic. "I will never forget the joy and the hatred in the voices [of Kuntar and his men] as they swaggered about hunting for us, firing their guns and throwing grenades," she later recalled in the Washington Post.

"I knew that if Yael cried out, the terrorists would toss a grenade into the crawl space and we would be killed," she wrote in 2003. "So I kept my hand over her mouth, hoping she could breathe. As I lay there, I remembered my mother telling me how she had hidden from the Nazis during the Holocaust. 'This is just like what happened to my mother,' I thought."

Smadar Haran's personal torture had only begun. She would later learn that Kuntar had dragged her husband Danny and older daughter to the beach nearby, where he shot Danny execution style, making sure that her father's death would be the last sight her little girl would ever see.

Kuntar then took the butt of his assault rifle and brought in down on Einat's head, crushing it against a rock.

Smadar Haran would later recall, "By the time we were rescued from the crawl space, hours later, Yael, too, was dead. In trying to save all our lives, I had smothered her."

Two weeks ago, in an act of heroism that is beyond imagination, Smadar Haran spoke publicly of coming to terms with the impending release of the monster who turned her life into a waking nightmare. "Samir Kuntar isn't, nor has he ever been, my private prisoner," she told a news conference. "His fate must be decided now according to Israel's needs and ethical interests." ...Kuntar... his elevation to the status of hero and martyr to the Palestinian struggle or the Lebanese resistance.
 
For Israelis, even after all these years, the release of Kuntar is a form of self-inflicted torture. So heinous, so unpardonable were his crimes, that American Jewish author and journalist Jeffrey Goldberg, himself a veteran of the [[IDF]], wrote on The [[Atlantic Monthly]]'s Website... "As unbelievable as this sounds, Israel is actually thinking of swapping Samir Kuntar in a prisoner exchange with Hezbollah. Kuntar is perhaps the most terrible person held in an Israeli prison, a man who crushed the skull of a Jewish child against a rock."
<ref>http://www.haaretz.com/news/bradley-burston-the-pleasure-that-hezbollah-takes-in-torture-1.249790</ref></blockquote>

====Terror attack on US embassy====

'''The attack on the [[U.S.]] Embassy in [[Beirut]], [[Lebanon]] on April 18, 1983 .'''
The bombing was carried out via a stolen van, carrying 2000 pounds of explosives, slamming into the embassy, killing 63 people.
<ref>http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/usmnf.htm</ref>
<ref>http://www.iranfocus.com/en/terrorism/victims-of-1983-bombing-of-u.s.-embassy-in-beirut-recalled.html</ref>
<ref>http://www.americanmemorialsite.com/beirutembassy.html</ref><ref>http://www.beirut-memorial.org/history/index.html</ref><ref>http://www.americans-working-together.com/american_veterans/id93.html</ref>

====Terror attack on peacekeeping US marine====

'''The attack on [[U.S.]] Marine Barracks in Oct. 1983.'''
<ref>http://blog.heritage.org/2009/10/23/the-1983-marine-barracks-bombing-connecting-the-dots/</ref>
Hezbollah conducted simultaneous suicide truck bombings against the two buildings housing U.S. Marines and French paratroopers in Beirut, killing 241 Marines and 58 French soldiers who were in Lebanon as part of a multinational peacekeeping mission.
<ref>http://www.stratfor.com/hezbollah_irans_ace_hole</ref>
<ref>http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/textual/topics/marinesleb.htm</ref>
<ref>http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/10/23/world/main579638.shtml</ref>
<ref>http://www.nydailynews.com/news/us_world/2008/02/14/2008-02-14_hezbollah_terror_thug_behind_83_lebanon_.html</ref>
A US federal judge found (in 2003) Iran liable for the 1983 bombing of a US marine barracks. <ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2951938.stm</ref> <ref>http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/05/30/iran.barracks.bombing/</ref>

The Beirut mission started out as an effort to stabilize a fragile peace in a war-torn country. Lebanon had been in turmoil since the Palestine Liberation Organization, having been expelled from Jordan, took refuge there in the 1970s. In 1975, a panoply of Christian and Muslim militias, turned what had been a Middle East oasis into a no-man's land of urban warfare.
The situation fell apart quickly. Islamic Militia leaders began to view the [[United States]] and its allies as favoring the Christian-led forces of the Lebanese government. <ref>http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/terror.htm</ref>

====Targeting Israeli civilians====

Hezbollah has been '''targeting Israeli civilians, for years.''' since the 1980s, (Which prompted Israel in 1996 to conduct a defensive operation "Grapes of Wrath." <ref>http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=2&x_outlet=118&x_article=1148</ref>) its main weapon - firing rockets, missiles into residential areas<ref>http://www.haaretz.com/news/barak-to-un-hezbollah-arms-target-israeli-civilians-1.266260</ref><ref>http://www.ynet.co.il/english/articles/0,7340,L-3275609,00.html</ref>
<ref>http://www.haaretz.com/news/eight-hurt-as-record-number-of-rockets-hits-northern-israel-1.194063</ref>
<ref>http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=37034</ref>
<ref>http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Terrorism/hizattacks1.html</ref>
<ref>http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2006/7/24/154609.shtml</ref>
<ref>http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/8956/hezbollah-rocket-attacks-hurt-19-israelis-in-kiryat-shmona/</ref>
<ref>http://www.mfa.gov.il/NR/exeres/9EE216D7-82EF-4274-B80D-6BBD1803E8A7,frameless.htm?NRMODE=Published</ref>.
For example, in 24 Jul 2006 - Hezbollah fired more than 70 Katyusha rockets into Israel, several of which landed in Nahariya, Safed, and Kiryat Shmona. Medics treated at least 49 people who were lightly to moderately wounded. More than 2200 rockets have been fired at Israeli cities since July 12, killing 17 Israelis, all of them civilians. 20 Israeli soldiers were killed in other incidents.
<ref name=aijac-timeline>http://www.aijac.org.au/resources/hezb_00-06.html</ref>. Though there were also other methods like in Apr 2001 – A 42 year-old Israeli woman was stabbed to death in Haifa. Her murder was the initiation rite of a terrorist cell, whose members were apprehended in July. Six members of a Hezbollah-linked Palestinian terrorist cell responsible for the murder, originally thought to be criminally motivated, were arrested in July. The murder was the initiation rite of one of the terrorists into the organization.
<ref>''Chronologies of modern terrorism'', Barry Rubin, Barry M. Rubin, Judith Colp Rubin, M.E. Sharpe, 2008, ISBN 0765620472, 9780765620477, p. 218</ref><ref>http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-+Obstacle+to+Peace/Palestinian+terror+since+2000/Victims+of+Palestinian+Violence+and+Terrorism+sinc.htm</ref>

====Use of its civilian population in war====

'''Use of Lebanese as human shields''' <ref>http://www.standwithus.com/pdfs/flyers/humanshield.pdf</ref> <ref>http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/issuesideas/story.html?id=439dbdcc-167c-423c-9d52-b14a90605440</ref>
<ref>http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/special-reports/photos-that-damn-hezbollah/story-e6frf7r6-1111112144002</ref>
<ref>http://abcnews.go.com/International/video?id=2702658</ref>
<ref>http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/12/05/D8LQVLHG2.html</ref>
<ref>http://washingtontimes.com/op-ed/20060730-093558-9976r.htm</ref>,
(copying the Arab-Palestinian tactics routine [http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-+Obstacle+to+Peace/Hamas+war+against+Israel/Hamas+exploitation+of+civilians+as+human+shields+-+Photographic+evidence.htm ]
[http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2006Nov22/0,4670,PalestiniansHumanShields,00.html ] [http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,227222,00.html ][http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0901/04/sm.03.html ][http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/6166998.stm ][http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/01/05/israel.gaza/index.html ][http://www.pmw.org.il/latestBulletins.htm ][http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jan/08/hamas-palestinian-victims/print/ ][http://article.wn.com/view/2010/03/15/Israeli_report_Hamas_used_civilians_as_human_shields_in_Gaza/][http://www.iris.org.il/blog/archives/2102-Palestinians-Brag-About-Using-Human-Shields-for-Terrorists.html ][http://www.peacewithrealism.org/headline/gaza02.htm ][http://www.peacewithrealism.org/headline/admit.htm ][http://www.palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=157&doc_id=1304 ][http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=23431&only&rss ]), especially was publicized, in their initiated war with Israel, Hezbollah's use of "Christian villages as shields in missile attacks." witnesses: "If Israel does nothing Hezbollah will continue to fire rockets from inside Lebanon shockingly using Christians as human shields actually." "Hezbollah is hiding among civilian populations and launching attacks behind human shields." <ref>http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/17528670.html</ref>
<ref>http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/hezbollah_uses_christian_villages_as_shields_in_missile_attacks/</ref>, this crime has been categorized as a "Hezbollah specialty" <ref>http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/krauthammer072806.php3</ref>, even using the [[U.N.]]<ref>http://www.drudge.com/archive/83811/hezbollah-used-un-human-shields</ref>, A.) to cause casualties among their own Arab population, especially among children, in order to generate sympathy and an outcry in the Arab world. B.) Hated Israelis' image get tarnished, an "important" goal in it of itself to make the Zionists look as "killers." C.) To cripple Israel's humane army to respond, thus enables them to come out as "heroes." <ref>http://www.telospress.com/main/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=112</ref> & saviours against the Zionist enemy."

====Subjugation, persecution====

Hezbollah has a long history of persecuting Christians, decries a Lebanese author.<ref>http://www.independentconservative.com/2006/08/02/hezbollah_kills_christians_part2/</ref>

The writer W. Phares explains on the suffering of civilians, especially since Hezbollah's take over in 2000: <blockquote>Such takeover by the Jihadist militia was expected to provoke an exodus by thousands of civilians who would have been subjected to Hezbollah’s persecution. However suddenly on May 23, the Israeli Government then under Prime Minister Ehud Barak ordered a quick pull out from the security zone without waiting for the local force, at the time known as ‘South Lebanon Army’ (SLA) to be transferred under the United Nations or to operate as a local force to stop Hezbollah until the UN would decide what to do.

The population of the "security zone" was about 150,000 counting the district of Jezzine; and its local forces were about 3,000 strong. the make up of the population was Christian, Shia and Druse with some Sunni villages to the East. To their north Hezbollah had massed its forces backed by Iranian Pasdaran advisors. Between 1984 and 2000 Hezbollah launched several offensives against the SLA positions but was unable to overrun them permanently.
<ref>http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/id.6309/pub_detail.asp</ref></blockquote>

====Civil war====

Some of '''civil war/clashes waged on the Lebanese''' by the Hezbollah:

In Jan. 2007, clash pits Hezbollah against rule in Lebanon. The police said at least three people died and 100 more were wounded throughout the country in the violence.
<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/24/world/middleeast/24lebanon.html</ref>
<ref>http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16806540/</ref>

"Rival factions return to arms as Lebanon stares into the abyss" in Nov 2007.<ref>http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article2926154.ece</ref>

In May 8, 2008 Clashes erupted as Hezbollah chief [[Hassan Nasrallah]] claims 'War' <ref>http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/middle_east/jan-june08/lebanon_0508.html</ref>, clashes between Hezbollah and Druze continued in Lebanon for the 5th day, it erupted in Lebanon's northern port city of Tripoli, as fighting between the Hezbollah militia and its rivals grew. <ref>http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/middleeast/news/article_1404713.php/17_dead_in_Lebanon_-_Druze-Hezbollah_clashes_break_out__2nd_Lead_</ref><ref>http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/05/12/lebanon.violence/index.html</ref> The Lebanese army said it will intervene, it will use force from to stop fighting, which brough the overall toll to 81 dead and about 250 wounded.
<ref>http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSL12505038200805</ref>
<ref>http://www.mg.co.za/article/2008-05-12-clashes-bring-lebanon-death-toll-to-81</ref>

In July 2008, fighting among Lebanese government and the Islamic Hezbollah terrrorists categorized as "Sectarian battles," the battles killed six, wounded 50.
<ref>http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iLbRHS1sn11z7Yw3qRkPMqnqF_xw</ref><ref>http://www.reuters.com/article/homepageCrisis/idUSL5690185._CH_.2400 </ref><ref>http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2008/07/26/sectarian_fighting_kills_6_in_lebanon/</ref>

In 28 Aug 2008, Hezbollah has "brazenly attacked the Lebanese Army" – in its shooting-attack on an army helicopter, killing 1st Lt. Samer Hanna and wounding several others – so say the leaders of Lebanon’s pro-democracy movement.
This is not the first time Hezbollah has attacked the Lebanese government. But it is one of the boldest attacks to date against the army. Hezbollah kills Lebanese Army Officer.
<ref>http://www.analyst-network.com/article.php?art_id=2389</ref>

===Global violence===
Hezbollah is another example (like Al Qaeda) of an Islamist insurgency that is both local and transnational.
<ref>''Heads we win: the cognitive side of counterinsurgency (COIN)'', David C. Gompert, RAND Corporation, 2007, p. 27 [http://books.google.com/books?id=xLDuAAAAMAAJ&q=hezbollah]</ref>

====Attack on US, French embassies in Kuwait====
Hezbollah's responsible for [[U.S.]] and [[French]] embassies attacks in [[Kuwait]] in 1983
<ref>http://books.google.com/books?id=yMnAlqo47sgC&pg=PA96</ref>.
The American embassy in Kuwait was bombed in a series of attacks whose targets also included the French embassy, the control tower at the airport, the country's main oil refinery, and a residential area for employees of the American corporation Raytheon. Six people were killed, including a suicide truck bomber, and more than 80 others were injured.
In Kuwait, 17 people were arrested and convicted for participating in the attacks. One of those convicted was Mustafa Youssef Badreddin, a cousin and brother-in-law of one of Hezbollah's senior officers, [[Imad Mughniyah]]. After a six-week trial in Kuwait, Badreddin was sentenced to death for his role in the bombings.<ref>http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/target/etc/cron.html</ref>

====Hijacking Kuwaiti planes====
A year after the 1983 attacks (on US, French targets), Kuwait Airways flight 221 was hijacked wherein the hijackers demanded the release of Islamic militant: 'Al-Dawa 17.' Two US passengers were killed and Iranian police freed the hijackers in [[Iran]] where the plane had been diverted. Imad Mugniyah and Hezbollah were accused by US authorities in the hijacking and killings.

In 1988, militants hijacked a second plane, Kuwait Airways Flight 422, with 110 passengers for 16 days. At one point during the hijacking, the plane was diverted to Iran where multiple survivors reportedly believed the original hijackers deplaned and were replaced by a fresh crew of hijackers who were armed with increased gun power.

During the ordeal, the hijackers met with reporters who quoted one as saying upon requesting the refueling of the plane in order to enable the plane to leave Algeria, "We will liquidate our account with Kuwait elsewhere. We don't want to have the massacre in a friendly country." A hijacker was quoted as saying, "Kuwait has to know that we do not fear death." The hijackers demands included the release of Al-Dawa 17.

The plane was diverted to Cyprus where two young [[Kuwait]]is aged 20 and 25 were tortured and then shot. Their dead bodies were dumped on the tarmac of the [[Cyprus]] airport.<ref>http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php?newsid=MTM4NTY5MTEwMA==</ref><ref>http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/html/ct_130208e.htm</ref><ref>http://www.esisc.org/documents/pdf/en/note-hezbollah-eng.pdf</ref>

====Iraq====
Already in November 24, 2003, The [[New York Times]] elaborated in an article: "A region inflamed, the hand of Tehran," Hezbollah, in Iraq, that Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Shiite group, has established a significant presence in Iraq.<ref>http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DEFDE113BF937A15752C1A9659C8B63</ref>

In 2006. U.S. Officials said: "Hezbollah Training Iraqi Shiite Militia Group." <ref>http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,232262,00.html</ref><ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/28/world/middleeast/28military.html</ref>

The [[Wall Street Journal]] wrote (2007) on Iran's Proxy War, The
involvement of Hezbollah in Iraq. <ref>http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118368904375158857.html?mod=googlenews_wsj</ref>

The [[BBC]] reported on additional proof, US officials had in 2007 of the link. <ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6260690.stm</ref>
In an article on Iran in Iraq, the [[Washington Post]] wrote on [[Iran]]'s Hezbollah soldiers and methods in the war in [[Iraq]].<ref>http://blog.washingtonpost.com/earlywarning/2007/07/iran_in_iraq.html?nav=rss_blog</ref>
the [[CNN]] reported on a Hezbollah agent played deaf before confessing, the
top special operations officer with Lebanon's Hezbollah militia pretended to be
deaf and mute when he was captured in Iraq.<ref>http://us.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/07/02/iraq.hezbollah/index.html</ref>

In 2008, there were reports on Hezbollah training Iraqis in Iran<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/05/world/middleeast/05iran.htm</ref>
Iraqi president [[Jalal Talabani]] charged (May, 2008) Hezbollah interference, in a Baghdad interview, he accused the leader of the Lebanon-based Hezbollah of meddling in Iraq's
affairs.<ref>http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/05/30/Talabani_charges_Hezbollah_interference/UPI-44791212150201/</ref>

In May, 2010, the [[US]] said that [[Syria]] must curb arm shipments to Hezbollah, top US diplomat has urged [[Syria]] to do more to prevent arms shipments to the militant [[Lebanese]] Hezbollah and stem the flow of militants into [[Iraq]].<ref>http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h9Pa9-v36WUhm6_Mqn4inXf_J8iAD9FQL82O0</ref>

In July 2011, U.S. official charged that militias are using Iranian weapons to target U.S. troops in Iraq.<ref>"Official: Militias Using Iranian Weapons to Target U.S. in Iraq." [[CNN]], July 3, 2011 http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/07/03/iraq.us.militia.attacks/</ref>

====Somalia====
The [[New York Times]] reported on Hezbollah in [[Somalia]]. <ref>"U.N. Says Somalis Helped Hezbollah Fighters," [[New York Times]] 15 Nov 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/15/world/middleeast/15nations.html</ref>
From [[NPR]] (November 15, 2006), the "[[U.N.]] Report ties [[Somali]] Islamists to Hezbollah," in an alarming report about the situation in Somalia.
<ref>"U.N. Report Ties Somali Islamists to Hezbollah," [[NPR]], November 15, 2006 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6493083</ref>
More than 700 Somali fighters are said to have gone to support and get training from Hezbollah..
<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6154690.stm</ref> The [[Time]] reported in 2010, on the Somali al-Shabab getting aid from Syria and Iran and is "believed to have formed direct alliances with militant groups elsewhere, including Lebanon's Hizballah."<ref>"Somalia's al-Shabab Wants to Join Terror's Big League," [[Time]],
14 Jul 2010 http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2003837,00.html</ref>

====Namibia====
There were reports by a human rights organisation in 2011, of jihadists-terrorists: Hezbollah and al-Shabab operating in Namibia.<ref>"Terrorists operate in Namibia: NamRights‎," Informante, Nov 2, 2011 http://www.informante.web.na/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9000&Itemid=1</ref>

====Gambia====
Freedom Newspaper (2011): "There is a Hezbollah cartel in Gambia."
Explaining: There is a Hezbollah cartel in Banjul [the Gambian capital], who are acting in concert with the country's President Yahya Jammeh to sell arms to the terrorist group's main base in Lebanon, a source reaching the Freedom Newspaper has alleged.
The arms deal goes like this: Gambia procures the arms from Iran, and in turn sells these deadly weapons to Hezbollah. Worst part is, that the "Gambian President has been accused of acting in concert with Lebanese alleged Hezbollah supporters."
<ref>Breaking News - Gambia "DID JAMMEH SELLS IRANIAN ARMS TO HEZBOLLA," Freedom Newspaper http://www.freedomnewspaper.com/Homepage/tabid/36/mid/367/newsid367/5960/Breaking-News-Gambia--DID-JAMMEH-SELLS-IRANIAN-ARMS-TO-HEZBOLLAH-/Default.aspx</ref><ref>http://www.hudson-ny.org/1989/iran-charm-offensive-in-africa-part-ii</ref><ref>"Hezbollah buying Iranian arms from Gambia, paper reports," NOW Lebanon, 28 Feb 2011
http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=245299</ref> This despite a [[BBC]] report in 2010 of Gambia cutting ties with the Islamic Republic.<ref>"Gambia cuts ties with Iran and orders diplomats to go." [[BBC]], November 23, 2010 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-11819143</ref>

====Senegal====
Senegal has long been a favorite 'fund0raising' hub for the terrorist organization Hezbollah.<ref>http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/ENGLISH/IRAN/PD=
F/JULY_03.PDF</ref><ref>http://www.justice.gov.il/NR/rdonlyres/E7CC31EF-A384-46A9-8E92-6B3416FA6299/0/feb05.htm</ref> Worth mentioning that Senegal accused Iran in Feb. 2011 for supplying weapons to separatist rebels that killed its soldiers.<ref>http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE71M01A20110223</ref>

====Afghanistan====
Hezbollah Link in the war in Afghanistan have been found in 2007, as NATO Finds Copy of Hizbullah's Explosives in Afghanistan. <ref>http://web.archive.org/web/20080126073425/http://yalibnan.com/site/archives/2007/07/copy_of_hezboll.php [http://www.lebanonews.net/mainra.asp?raid=2268] [http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=116544]</ref> And in 2011 the Wall Street Journal wrote: "Iran Funnels New Weapons to Iraq and Afghanistan."<ref>"Iran Funnels New Weapons to Iraq and Afghanistan," [[WSJ]]
Solomon, Jay, July 2, 2011 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303763404576420080640167182.html</ref>

====Sudan====
The Hezbollah, reportedly, is very supportive of Al-Bashir's genocide in the [[Sudan]].
<ref>http://www.istockanalyst.com/article/viewiStockNews+articleid_2432545&title=Lebanese_Hezbollah_Holds.html</ref> From a March 2009 report: "Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah leaders offer support for Sudan's chief."<ref>http://lubbockonline.com/stories/030709/wor_406280388.shtml</ref>

====Egypt====
In 2009, the [[BBC]] reported that [[Egypt]] was 'hunting Hezbollah suspects'<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7996665.stm</ref>, prosecutor accused Hezbollah of plotting attacks in Egypt, of sending operatives to [[Egypt]] to carry out attacks in the country and to smuggle weapons.<ref>http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/middleeast/news/article_1469836.php/Prosecutor_accuses_Hezbollah_of_plotting_attacks_in_Egypt__Roundup</ref>
<ref>http://uk.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUKL8213444</ref>
<ref>http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-04-08-voa48.cfm</ref>
On Apr 2010 An Egyptian court convicted 26 men of belonging to a Hezbollah cell.
<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/29/world/middleeast/29cairo.html</ref>
The Hezbollah Plot exposed Egypt's shared interests with Israel.<ref>http://www.forward.com/articles/104793/</ref>
Analysts said that the Egypt-Hezbollah standoff dents Egypt-Iran relations.<ref>http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-04/13/content_11180887.htm</ref>

====Azerbaijan====
Hezbollah plotted embassy attack' in Azerbaijan - was revealed in 2009. A trial under way in Azerbaijan of two Hezbollah members and four Azeris, where prosecutors drew a link between Iranian-backed Hezbollah terror missions.
<ref>http://www.ijn.com/ijn-news/international/1017-iran-hezbollah-plotted-embassy-attack-in-azerbaijan</ref><ref>http://jta.org/news/article/2009/05/31/1005514/hezbollah-plot-to-bomb-azerbaijan-embassy-foiled</ref>

====Syria====
In March, 2011, at the height of the so-called "Arab spring," Hizbullah and Iran were helping [[Bashar al-Assad]] kill protesters.<ref>INN, March 2011, http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/143155</ref>In May 2011, a report came out: "Hezbollah forces helping Syria in crackdown on protesters." A Lebanese parliament member said "Syrian forces have breached the border with Lebanon; notes fear that Syrian forces will kidnap refugees who fled the government crackdown in Syria."<ref>Report: Hezbollah forces helping Syria in crackdown on protesters," Haaretz, May 29, 2011 http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/report-hezbollah-forces-helping-syria-in-crackdown-on-protesters-1.36471</ref> In August 2011, Syria's youth coalition accused Hezbollah of role in Assad's brutal crackdown.<ref>"Syria's youth coalition accuses Hezbollah of role in Assad's brutal crackdown." AlArabiya, August 26, 2011
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/08/26/164222.html</ref> Indeed, The [[AP]] reported (Oct 24, 2011) "Since the uprising.. Syrians have unleashed their anger at Hezbollah over its blunt support for the regime. Some protesters have set fire to the yellow flag of Hezbollah and pictures of Nasrallah."<ref>"Hezbollah leader: Syria largely out of 'danger zone' " Star Tribune,
24 Oct 2011 http://www.startribune.com/world/132481743.html</ref><ref>"Hezbollah: Syria largely out of 'danger zone' ", CBS News, 24 Oct 2011
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501713_162-20124862.html</ref>

In November 2011, activists charged Hezbollah in abduction of Syrian activists in [[Lebanon]].<ref>"Activist says Hezbollah involved in abduction of Syrian opposition in Lebanon," The Daily Star, November 08, 2011, http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Politics/2011/Nov-08/153373-activist-says-hezbollah-involved-in-abduction-of-syrian-opposition-in-lebanon.ashx</ref> The persecution caused fear for those seeking exile in Lebanon.<ref>"Syrian Exiles Find Fear Rather Than Refuge in Lebanon‎," Jakarta Globe, November 15, 2011
http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/international/syrian-exiles-find-fear-rather-than-refuge-in-lebanon/478562</ref>

In March 2014, Hezbollah and Syrian Army drove out Islamist Syrian rebels from the ancient Christian town of Ma'aloula<ref>http://www.mintpressnews.com/christians-in-northern-lebanon-and-hezbollah-unite-over-shared-isis-threat/196663/</ref>

====Bahrain====
In June 1996, the Bahraini government said it has uncovered a coup plot by an Iranian-backed group, Hezbollah-Bahrain.<ref>BBC News - Timeline: Bahrain, Jun 4, 2011 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/817505.stm</ref>

In April 2011, Bahrain government accused Hezbollah of aiding opposition groups.<ref>''Bahrain government accuses Hezbollah of aiding opposition groups,'' [[CNN]], Apr 25, 2011 http://articles.cnn.com/2011-04-25/world/bahrain.hezbollah_1_wefaq-hezbollah-camps-hassan-nasrallah?_s=PM:WORLD</ref> Indeed, ''Tehran has been seeking to destabilize and annex Bahrain for decades.'' It ''established a military wing for Hezbollah in Bahrain,'' and in 2011, its thugs incited "protests" in that country.<ref>"Iran's Bahraini Ambitions‎," [[Wall Street Journal]], Mitchell A. Belfer, Oct 5, 2011
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204612504576608852457881450.html</ref>

In November 2011, Bahrain linked terror suspects to Iran.<ref>"Bahrain terrorist suspects had links with Iran," ABC Online, November 14, 2011
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-11-14/bahrain-terrorist-suspects-had-links-with-iran/3663812</ref><ref>"Bahrain says terror suspects linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guard,"‎ The Guardian, 14 November 14, 2011 http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/14/bahrain-terror-iran-revolutionary-guard?newsfeed=true</ref> Al Arabiya TV reported that Bahraini MP said "Hezbollah, Iran behind the terrorist cell" which planned to murder prominent Gulf figures.<ref>"Bahraini MP: Hezbollah, Iran behind the terrorist cell," November 14, 2011
http://www.yalibnan.com/2011/11/14/bahraini-mp-hezbollah-iran-behind-the-terrorist-cell/</ref>

====Europe====

=====Hijacking TWA flight=====
Among the highlighted terror crimes of the Hezbollah is the: [[TWA]] Hijacking, June 14, 1985: A Trans-World Airlines flight '847' was hijacked en route to [[Rome]] from [[Athens]] by two Lebanese Hizballah terrorists, and forced to fly to Beirut. The eight crew members and 145 passengers were held for seventeen days, during which one American hostage, a [[U.S.]] Navy sailor, was murdered. After being flown twice to [[Algiers]], the aircraft was returned to [[Beirut]] after Israel released 435 Lebanese and [[Palestinian]] prisoners.
<ref>http://www.fas.org/irp/threat/terror_chron.html</ref><ref>http://www.fbi.gov/page2/jan06/longarm010506.htm</ref><ref>http://army.mil/terrorism/1989-1980/index.html</ref><ref>http://terrorism.grady.uga.edu/history/analysistwa.html</ref> <ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/30/newsid_2527000/2527337.stm</ref><ref>http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/10/20011010-1.html</ref>

The plane was on a scheduled flight from Cairo to Athens. Hijackers --the two terrorists were brandishing grenades and pistols-- forced it to Beirut and twice went to Algiers before returning to Beirut releasing most of the (non-American) 152 passengers along the way, and murdering U.S. Navy diver Robert Stethem, one of the passengers—beating him, torturing, shooting him in the temple and dumping his body on the tarmac of Beirut International Airport (June 15).

On June 30, Hezbollah released 39 American passengers they held captive for 17 days.

German authorities arrested [[Mohammed Ali Hammadi]] and convicted him of Stethem’s murder in 1987. Hammadi was paroled in 2005 and returned to Beirut, where he is believed to be living today (2009). <ref>http://middleeast.about.com/b/2009/07/01/robert-stethems-murder-on-twa-flight-847.htm</ref><ref>http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1994-07-17/news/1994198059_1_stethem-lebanon-officer-2nd-class</ref>
<ref>http://michellemalkin.com/2008/02/13/justice-for-robert-dean-stethem-the-marines-in-beirut-and-other-american-victims-of-hezbollah/</ref>

From a letter, Robert's brother Kenneth has sent to president George W. Bush in 2006 as Robert's murderer was released by the German government (and fled to Lebanon) in an apparent exchange for a [[German]] hostage in [[Iraq]]:<blockquote>While Robert was being dragged to the door, he knew that all he had to do in order to live was to cry into that transmitter, but he wouldn't do it. He would not give in to the demands of the terrorists. He would not allow the honor and dignity of America to be intimidated by the fear and pain that Hammadi and terrorists everywhere represent. Robert sacrificed his life in order to protect our liberty and defend our way of life.<ref>http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/01/09/opinion/main1190219.shtml </ref></blockquote>

=====Dowining of a French airline=====
The [[Los Angeles Times]] wrote in November 1, 1989 that a Palestinian group allied with Hezbollah is linked to a plane crash.<blockquote>
Specialists have linked a terrorist bomb that destroyed a French airliner last month (Oct, 1989) in Africa to a Palestinian group allied with the pro-Iranian Hezbollah, the newspaper Figaro said... Working with fragments of a suitcase found in the wreckage of the airliner, specialists in Paris' central police laboratory found similarities to a terrorist bomb that exploded at a Paris department store almost five years ago. The February 1985 attack at the department store resulted in the arrest of Habib Maammar, a Tunisian member of a group directed by the Palestinian bomb maker Abu Ibrahim.
<ref>http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1989-11-01/news/8911013269_1_hezbollah-bomb-police-in-paris</ref></blockquote>

=====Terror attack on French department stores=====
Paris' Boulevard Haussmann was targeted in 1985 and 1986 during attacks on [[Paris]] department stores, many of them claimed by the Lebanese Hezbollah militants, which left 13 dead and 303 injured.
Terrorists from Hezbollah, set off bombs in both Printemps and Galeries Lafayette in December 1985, injuring 43 people.<ref>http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article5351735.ece</ref>
<ref>http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hVze0Fn4iyxmce-rEhgNsHQOLRiw</ref>

Workers at [[Printemps]] in December 1985 when Hezbollah bombs exploded on the ground floor there and in the Galeries Lafayette department store, recalled the attack which led to a bomb scare in Dec. 2008, when explosives were found there.
<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/17/world/europe/17paris.html</ref> <ref>http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601100&sid=aB8Ct9mWIdhw&refer=germany</ref>

=====Network=====
Although Europe has recently been exempt from Hezbollah attacks, numerous intelligence experts and officials assert that the group's operatives maintain cells across the continent. German authorities, in particular, have expressed concern about the presence of several hundred Hezbollah members in their country.

Reports of an increase in Hezbollah recruiting have emerged in eastern European countries, specifically Slovakia, Bosnia and Russia . And over the past few years, Hezbollah has sent operatives with European identification papers to Israel in order to collect intelligence for future attacks. Efforts by European authorities to curtail Hezbollah's influence have included France 's 2004 ban of Hezbollah's television station and chief propaganda machine, Al- Manar, from that nation's satellite television providers. Spain and the United States have made similar moves.
<ref name=emerson>http://www.steveemerson.com/4281/blood-money-hezbollahs-revenue-stream-flows </ref>

=====Attempts of attacks between 1988-1996=====
Other attacks researchers have attributed to Hezbollah include an unsuccessful attempt to carry out attacks in Cyprus in 1988; a plot, foiled by Spanish police, to carry out attacks against Jewish targets in Europe in 1989; an unsuccessful attempt to detonate a car bomb outside a Jewish community building in Romania in 1992; and a planned 1996 attack, also foiled by police, on an Israeli institution in Paris.
<ref>http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=40451</ref>

=====Attempts of 'massive-attacks' in 2009=====
In 2009, there was a report of a "Massive Hezbollah Terror Attack Against Israeli Target In Europe," that has been thwarted. <ref>http://www.nationalterroralert.com/updates/2009/01/28/report-massive-hezbollah-terror-attack-against-israeli-target-in-europe-thwarted/</ref>

====Latin America====
From a US statement in 1995 titled "Latin American Terrorism backed by Iran" <blockquote>"We believe that Hizballah activities, which include narcotics and smuggling as well as terrorism, are supported in the tri-border area of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. The organization is known to have cells in Colombia and Venezuela as well. Hizballah cells are concealed amidst the large Shia' Muslim population of Lebanese origin which has settled in the tri-border area."
<ref>http://www.globalsecurity.org/security/library/congress/1995_h/h950928w.htm</ref></blockquote>

=====Venezuela=====
US designated two Hezbollah operatives in [[Venezuela]] as terrorists- Hezbollah has used the tri-border region between Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay to recruit, train, raise and launder money, and plot attacks.
<ref>http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/hp1036.htm</ref>

[[Venezuela]]'s [[Hugo Chavez]] (Called a dictator <ref>http://www.securityaffairs.org/issues/2006/11/fleischman.php</ref>
<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/americas/3341771.stm</ref><ref>http://www.davidbruceallen.com/strategyoped/2007/05/hugo_chavezs_fi.html</ref> & his regime a dictatorship <ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/04/AR2006080401768.html</ref>, and has close ties with the Mullahcracy theocracy dictatorship of the Islamic Republic of [[Iran]] <ref>http://www.doublex.com/blog/xxfactor/adios-democracy</ref> <ref>http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2010/03/08/sean-penn-wants-reporters-jailed-calling-chavez-dictator/</ref>) has publicly supported a Hezbollah candidate for the Lebanese government, he was a supporter of Hezbollah during the 2006 war in Lebanon; afterward, the group placed signs in Lebanon proclaiming "Gracias, Chavez!" He openly invited Hezbollah members to live in Venezuela. Venezuela's embassies in the Middle East have been used to launder Hezbollah's dirty money, per investigation by the U.S. Treasury Dept
In January 2010, Israeli intelligence released information that Chavez shipped heavy arms to Hezbollah the year before; the ship originated in Venezuela, stopped in Iran and docked in Lebanon.
<ref>http://www.israeltoday.co.il/default.aspx?tabid=178&nid=20408</ref>

Chavez has a close relationship with Iran's President Ahmedinejad. The two leaders regularly visit each other. In 2007, they instituted weekly flights between Tehran and Caracas. Interestingly, the aircraft stops one place - Damascus, Syria. Journalists and others have tried to book a seat on the aircraft and have been denied. The passenger and cargo manifests are kept secret.

In an article (2009) in Forbes Magazine it was discussed how an attack by Israel against Gaza could be fought asymmetrically by Hezbollah - with help from Venezuela and Chavez.
<ref>http://www.forbes.com/2009/01/21/venezuela-iran-terror-oped-cx_mr_des_0121rowanschoen.html</ref>

(Worth mentioning [asides from Chavez's "personal" war with "imperialist" US] that Venezuela, has a large Lebanese-Arab community <ref>http://www.dawn.com/2005/05/14/int14.htm</ref>, many of them supported, financed Chavez's presidency.
There's also a significant concentration of this community in the area bordering with Colombia (Macau).
Jews have been attacked<ref>http://www.laht.com/article.asp?CategoryId=10717&

Talk:Hezbollah

2015-08-18T21:13:38Z

Scatach:

Hezbollah

2015-08-18T21:08:45Z

Scatach: "Islamic Jihad" is the name of an Egyptian terrorist organization

[[Image:800px-Flag of Hezbollah svg.png|right|thumb|200px|Flag of Hezbollah.]]
'''Hezbollah''' (حزب الله, "Party of [[Allah]]"; sometimes spelled ''Hizbullah'', ''Hezbullah'', or ''Hezballah'') is a Shi'a [[Islam|Islamic]] [[terrorist]] organization based in [[Lebanon]] and supported by [[Syria]]<ref>It has been declared a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada, Israel, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Australia. See:
*[http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/fs/37191.htm United States Department of State]
*[http://www.osfi-bsif.gc.ca/eng/documents/advisories/docs/entstld.txt Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions Canada]
*[http://www.psepc.gc.ca/prg/ns/le/cle-en.asp Listed entities pursuant to the Anti-Terrorism Act (2001, c. 41)]
*[http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/2000_2009/2005/Summary+of+Terrorist+Activity+2004.htm Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs]
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5262484.stm BBC news]
*[http://www.minbuza.nl/nl/actueel/brievenparlement,2003/12/beantwoording_toezegging_inzake_de_positie_van_hezbollah.html The Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs]
*[http://www.nationalsecurity.gov.au/agd/www/nationalsecurity.nsf/AllDocs/7986D1536C0FFD5FCA256FCD001BE859?OpenDocument Australian National Security]</ref> and [[Iran]].

The Radical Shia group is dedicated to creation of Iranian-style Islamic republic in Lebanon and removal of all non-Islamic influences from the area. Strongly anti-West and anti-Israel.<ref>[[U.S. Department of State]], ''Background Information on Foreign Terrorist Organizations,'' Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism, October 8, 1999 http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/rpt/fto/2801.htm</ref>

Founded in 1982, its primary goal is the elimination of the state of Israel. Its current Secretary General, Hassan Nasrallah, has publicly stated a clear genocidal goal: "''if Jews all gather in Israel, it will save us the trouble of going after them worldwide.''"<ref>''The Daily Star'' (Beirut) October 23, 2002, http://web.archive.org/web/20021024133755/http://www.dailystar.com.lb/23_10_02/art5.asp, http://tenc.net/a/graduation.htm, http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/774649/posts</ref><ref>"The Enemy Within," Elena Lappin, the New York Times, May 23, 2004 http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/23/books/the-enemy-within.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm</ref><ref>HuffingtonPost, Alan Dershowitz: Hezbollah's Goal: "Going After [the Jews] Worldwide," Aug 10, 2006 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alan-dershowitz/hezbollahs-goal-going-aft_b_26983.html</ref><ref>''CAMERA: Hassan Nasrallah: In His Own Words,'' Jul 26, 2006 http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=7&x_issue=11&x_article=1158</ref><ref>Joseph Telushkin, ''Jewish Literacy Revised Ed: The Most Important Things to Know About the Jewish Religion, Its People, and Its History,'' HarperCollins (2008), p. 376, "On one noted occasion, Nasrallah had even encouraged Jews throughout the world to move to Israel on the grounds that 'If [Jews] all gather in Israel, it will save us the trouble of going after them worldwide.' " http://books.google.com/books?id=bIHtJzYCkqEC&pg=PA376</ref><ref>Arthur Ledeen, ''Accomplice to evil: Iran and the war against the West,'' Macmillan (2009), p. 108 http://books.google.com/books?id=LOmDsgYzS7gC&pg=PA108</ref><ref>Robert S. Wistrich, ''A lethal obsession: anti-semitism from antiquity to the global Jihad,'' Random House Digital, Inc. (2010) http://books.google.com/books?id=Lzs48d3tudsC&pg=PT989</ref> The organization's privately controlled TV broadcast station ''Al-Manar'' was banned in [[France]], [[Germany]], [[Spain]] and the [[US]]<ref>"Hezbollah TV comes to Australia," Barney Zwartz, The Age, August 1, 2009. http://www.theage.com.au/national/hezbollah-tv-comes-to-australia-20090731-e4ja.html</ref> for inciting racial hatred and [[Holocaust denial]].

=Iranian founded, Iranian/Syrian Backed: Arab Islamic Hezbollah Global Terrorists=

Author explains that the "Impetus for the founding of the Lebanese Hezbollah came from the Hezbollah Party formed in Iran in 1978 by Hadi Ghaffary, a cleric with close ties to Ayatollah," and that "Khomeini decided to export his Islamic revolution and to form a Hezbollah group among the Shi'ites of Lebanon."<ref>Stephen E. Atkins, "Encyclopedia of modern worldwide extremists and extremist groups," p. 130. (Greenwood Publishing Group, 2004) 404 pp. http://books.google.com/books?id=b8k4rEPvq_8C&pg=PA130</ref>

Huzbollah is a radical Shi’a Muslim organization fighting against Israel and "western imperialism" in Lebanon, and has advocated since its beginning (1982) for an Islamic State, Tehran style<ref>http://www.analyst-network.com/article.php?art_id=2082</ref>. The group does not recognize the legitimacy of the State of Israel. Hezbollah refers to itself with multiple titles including the "Organization of the Oppressed on Earth" and the "Revolutionary Justice Organization." Its main goal is the establishment of an Islamic government across the Arab world that will "liberate" Jerusalem and the entire area of the present-day State of Israel.

It is financed and armed by Iran,<ref>"Iran Arming Hezbollah In Lebanon, Us Says", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Apr 18, 1996 http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=sPFRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=DnADAAAAIBAJ&pg=4686,1073300</ref> it acts as its proxy<ref>Written Testimony of Ambassador Roger F. Noriega...
Before a Hearing of the Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence
Committee on Homeland Security, U.S. House of Representatives, Thursday, July 7, 2011, http://homeland.house.gov/sites/homeland.house.gov/files/Testimony%20Noriega.pdf</ref> and enjoys full backing from Syria. Hezbollah was founded with the help of Iranian Revolutionary Guards.

Syria backs Hizballah morally and has also supplied it with money and arms. In return, Hizballah protects Syria’s political and military interests in Lebanon.
<ref>http://www.adl.org/israel/advocacy/glossary/hezbollah.asp</ref><ref>http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Terrorism/hizbollah.html</ref>

The two major leaders of Hezbollah are Secretary General Sheikh Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and the organization's spiritual chief, Sheikh Muhammad Husayn Fadlallah, both named "specially designated global terrorists" by the U.S. government.
<ref name=emerson>http://www.steveemerson.com/4281/blood-money-hezbollahs-revenue-stream-flows</ref>

It was founded and continued, and still is marked by violence, locally and worldwide, though, recently, it tries to portray itself as a mere "political" party.
It has been said that: "The very year Hezbollah was founded it became the most lethal terrorist organization in Lebanon" & "neither had ever managed to spill so much blood in a single incident."
<ref name=elieberman>''Radical, Religious, and Violent: The New Economics of Terrorism'', Eli Berman, MIT Press, 2009, p. 50 [http://books.google.com/books?id=R7jvDS3OiAUC&pg=PA50]</ref>

==Funding==

''Dirty Money, Blood Money''

===Criminal funding===

The Lebanese Shiite Terrorist Organization has been highlighted as a profile in "Crime and Terrorism" - Hezbollah's Criminal activity is widely in Lebanon and worldwide <ref>http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/html/hezbollah.htm</ref>, or what researches call: "various criminal enterprises to raise funds for Hezbollah."
<ref>http://www.amazon.com/Lightning-Out-Lebanon-Hezbollah-Terrorists/dp/0345475682</ref>
Among the illegal, criminal methods of the Islamic group is wide fraud, drug trafficking, credit card fraud & cigarette smuggling, it has been known that "Cigarette Smuggling Funds Terrorism." <ref>http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2005/2/13/135754.shtml</ref>
<ref>http://www.goofigure.com/UserGoofigureDetail.asp?gooID=5094</ref>
In a 2009 report on "Hezbollah: narco-Islamism Middle East Strategy at Harvard" researchers have found that: 'more than any other Islamist group, Hezbollah has a long record of engaging in criminal activity to support its activities.'
<ref>http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/mesh/2009/03/hezbollah-narco-islamism/</ref>
<ref>http://counterterrorismblog.org/2007/11/hezbollah_financing_through_cr.php</ref>

====Latin America====

The 'Hezbollah's global finance network' includes "The Triple Frontier" (in South America) - "Argentina, Brasil & Paraguay." <ref>http://www.meib.org/articles/0201_l2.htm</ref>, <ref>http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Front_Page/HH03Aa01.html</ref>

There's an extensive report on "Hezbollah and the Drug Trade in South America" - Hezbollah is active in the drug trade in Colombia, a web of criminality that extends from Lebanon to Africa to South America.
<ref>http://www.investigativeproject.org/documents/testimony/313.pdf</ref>

Douglas Farah wrote in 2006 on "Hezbollah’s External Support Network in West Africa and Latin America" that Hezbollah, has the largest financial structure in Latin America and it is similar to that in of the organization’s Africa structure, that is to say, structured along family/clan lines. These clans have family members across the continent’s main free trade zones of Panama, (Venezuela's) Isla Margarita and the TBA (tri-border area), allowing for multiple opportunities to launder funds by over invoicing stocks, under invoicing merchandise and thtough the use of little-monitored electronic money transfer systems and bulk money smuggling. The first study of this overlapping clan structure spread across broad geographic areas was not undertaken until 2004.

The TBA has for years drawn attention as a center for contraband smuggling, drug trafficking and large-scale money laundering, in part because all of the countries whose borders are involved profit from the illicit trade. It is also an easy place to hide and move money. Estimates of the amount of drug money alone laundered through the two main urban centers in the TBA, Foz do Iguacu and Ciudad del Este, range as high as $12 billion a year.
<ref>http://www.strategycenter.net/research/pubID.118/pub_detail.asp</ref>

From a 2003 research on Hezbollah "Hezbollah: A Case Study of Global Reach":
Hezbollah is also active in Chile, Venezuela, Cuba, Panama and Ecuador.
<ref>http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/print.php?template=C07&CID=132</ref>

Counter terrorism expert Steven Emerson wrote in 2007 in an article titled "Blood Money: Hezbollah's revenue stream flows through the Americas":<blockquote>A New Front. Hezbollah operatives have frequently sought out sympathetic members of the Lebanese Diaspora to assist them, several of whom have owned and operated Lebanese restaurants. Salim Boughader Mucharrafille, owner of Cafe La Libanesa in Tijuana, Mexico, was arrested in December 2002 for running a ring that allegedly smuggled at least 200 Lebanese compatriots into the United States , including an employee of Al- Manar, Hezbollah's television station. Although it was never confirmed, Boughader was suspected of having helped Kourani to slip over the border. Last May, a Mexican judge sentenced Boughader to 14 years in prison for organized crime and human smuggling.
 
The case of Rady Zaiter, a.k.a. David Assi Alvarez, is an example of drug-running activities designed to benefit Hezbollah, using a restaurant as a front. In June 2005, Ecuadorian police broke up an international drug-trafficking ring led by the owners of El Turco restaurant: Zaiter and his partner, Maher Hamajo. The restaurant in Quito served as the logistical center for the ring's activities. Drug mules carried cocaine in double bottomed suitcases bound for other countries in South America, as well as Europe and the Middle East. According to investigating authorities, Hezbollah received at least 70 percent of the drug money. Additionally, officials confiscated more than $150,000 and 2,000 euros. Further arrests were made in Brazil, Syria and the Dutch Antilles, bringing the total apprehended to 19 people. El Turco, like the Detroit-area restaurant La Shish that was recently allegedly linked to Hezbollah, was a very popular restaurant, appreciated by the locals.
<ref name=emerson>http://www.steveemerson.com/4281/blood-money-hezbollahs-revenue-stream-flows</ref></blockquote>

In 2008, Colombia smashed a drug ring tied to Hezbollah, Colombian authorities said that they had broken up a drug and money-laundering ring in an international operation that included the capture of three suspects from the Middle East who used profits from the drug trade to fund Hezbollah.

More than 100 suspects were arrested in Colombia and overseas on charges that they trafficked drugs and laundered cash for Colombia’s Norte del Valle cartel and outlawed paramilitaries, in a network that stretched from South America to Asia.
"The criminal organization used routes through Venezuela, Panama, Guatemala, the Middle East and Europe, bringing in cash from the sale of these substances," the statement said.
<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/22/world/americas/22colombia.html</ref><ref>http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/a-13-2008-10-22-voa37-66602227.html</ref>

From 'Inside Homeland Security' 2009: <blockquote>Muslim businessmen operating companies in Panama "for many years" have laundered funds for Hezbollah, Hamas and the PLO.<ref>http://www.insidehomelandsecurity.com/articles/news/59/15/The-Rise-of-Islamist-Extremism-in-Latin-America</ref></blockquote>

====U.S.====

The [[Washington Times]] had an editorial (2005) on 'Hezbollah in
America,' a 41-year-old businessman, was arrested at his Dearborn home on charges of smuggling funds to Hezbollah.<ref>http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20050519-092915-7312r.htm</ref>
In 2009, a grand jury in Philadelphia indicted four men in connection with a plot to support Hezbollah through schemes like buying machine guns.<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/25/us/25philly.html?_r=1</ref>

Al-Mabarrat has a U.S.-based branch headquartered in Dearborn, Mich. Founded in 1991, the Al-Mabarrat Charitable Organization-USA, Inc., has repeatedly changed its name over the past 15 years. Although Al-Mabarrat acknowledges on its Web site that it works in conjunction with the Al-Mabarrat Association in Lebanon (whose logo it shares), it omits the fact that Al-Mabarrat Lebanon is run by Sheikh Fadlallah. Despite Al- Mabarrat USA's direct link to a Fadlallah-controlled organization, the U.S. branch continues to operate unfettered.

Hezbollah's use of Al-Mabarrat as a fund-raising front is a savvy strategic move, mirroring a tactic long exploited by terrorist groups operating on U.S. soil. By utilizing charities, terrorists can generate popular support by providing some legitimate services, attract contributions from donors both unwitting and aware, and attempt to obscure financial trails. But such operations extend far beyond the United States.
<ref name=emerson>http://www.steveemerson.com/4281/blood-money-hezbollahs-revenue-stream-flows</ref>

In October 2011, it was revealed that a suspect in an Iranian plot to assassinate Saudi ambassador to the US, is linked to Hezbollah.<ref>Saudi ambassador assassination plot suspect linked to Hezbollah and Bahrain unrest
Al-Arabiya, 19 October 2011 http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/10/19/172590.html</ref>

====Europe====

There's a serious "Hezbollah's Terrorist Threat to the European Union" writes [[The Heritage]] (2007)
<ref>http://www.heritage.org/Research/Testimony/Hezbollahs-Terrorist-Threat-to-the-European-Union</ref>.
From a report on "Hezbollah Around the World" - Arabs, Muslims in [[Germany]] have been key fund raising center for Hezbollah. through crimes of: drug trafficking, weapons and people smuggling, document and currency fraud. <ref>http://www.adl.org/main_Terrorism/hezbollah_overview.htm?Multi_page_sections=sHeading_7</ref> From a May 2010 report: 'Hezbollah funded by drug trade in Europe,' German police arrested Lebanese men who transferred millions of Euros to family connected to Hezbollah.
<ref>http://www.haaretz.com/news/report-hezbollah-funded-by-drug-trade-in-europe-1.261091</ref><ref>http://www.thelocal.de/national/20100109-24465.html</ref>

Hezbollah has established several front charities, mainly operating from Great Britain and Germany, to raise funds earmarked to support the group's members in Lebanon . For example, the British-based Lebanese Welfare Committee, HELP Charity Association for Relief and Abrar Islamic Foundation are among the charities suspected of channeling funds to Sheikh Nasrallah and Hezbollah.
<ref name=emerson>http://www.steveemerson.com/4281/blood-money-hezbollahs-revenue-stream-flows </ref>

====U.S. Mexican border====

Hezbollah is also accused of using the same southern narcotics routes that Mexican drug kingpins use, that Hezbollah members have entered the U.S. border through drug cartel.
<ref>http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/mar/27/hezbollah-uses-mexican-drug-routes-into-us/print/</ref><ref>http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/hezbollah-using-drug-smuggling-routes/story.aspx?guid=%7BA14CB7E3-86EE-4ECE-A417-E31BF77E65FD%7D&dist=msr_2</ref>
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review wrote an article on ‎Apr 10, 2009, "The Hezbollah threat: It's here, now." <ref>http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/opinion/s_620146.html</ref>

===Blood diamonds===

The [[Associated Press]] reported on "Blood diamonds fund Hezbollah" (2004): that Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrilla movement is systematically siphoning profits from West Africa's multimillion-dollar diamond trade, in part by threatening the Lebanese merchants who long have handled much of the region's diamond business, US diplomats in West [[Africa]] charge.

The pervasive claim is wider --on organised and co-ercive Hezbollah profiteering from West Africa's diamond trade-- than most [[US]] officials have previously acknowledged.

"One thing that's incontrovertible is the financing of Hezbollah. It's not even an open secret; there is no secret," Larry Andre, deputy chief of mission for the [[US Embassy]] in diamond-rich [[Sierra Leone]], told The [[Associated Press]].
<ref>http://www.news24.com/Africa/News/Blood-diamonds-fund-Hezbollah-20040629</ref><ref>http://archive.wn.com/2004/07/02/1400/diamond/sale.html</ref>

T. Schure wrote in "Blood Diamonds: Still Bloody" (May 14, 2010) that West Africa is a well known transit center for smuggled diamonds, especially for Lebanese traders, with many sales funding criminal and terrorist groups including Hezbollah.
<ref>http://www.worldpress.org/Africa/3543.cfm</ref>

Douglas Farah in the [[Washington Post]]: "Digging Up Congo's Dirty Gems; Officials Say Diamond Trade Funds Radical Islamic Groups", that diamond dealers and intelligence sources said Hezbollah and other groups buy diamonds in. Congo -- sometimes through middlemen, sometimes directly.

European and American intelligence sources have long known that Hezbollah has raised significant amounts of money in West Africa through the largely Shiite Muslim Lebanese communities in Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Togo. There are an estimated 120,000 Lebanese in West Africa, mostly involved in import-export businesses.

"Hezbollah is active in all these countries and are deeply involved in many businesses across the region," said one European official tracking the movement. "It is only a small part of the Lebanese community that is sympathetic, but many people contribute to them just to keep Hezbollah off their backs."

For at least since the early 1980s, Hezbollah had also raised some cash through the sale of diamonds from Sierra Leone, intelligence sources said. Bah, they said, was long suspected of brokering diamond deals through buyers connected to Hezbollah, assisted by sympathetic Lebanese businessmen across the region.
<ref>D. Farah, ''Digging Up Congo's Dirty Gems; Officials Say Diamond Trade Funds Radical Islamic Groups'', Washington Post, 30 December, 2001 [http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A40026-2001Dec29&notFound=true ][http://www.globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/182/33794.html ] [http://www.kongo-kinshasa.de/dokumente/divers/wp12-01.pdf ]
qdt in:[http://books.google.com/books?id=luPNuThpx6QC&pg=PA86 ]</ref>

==Character, racism, fascism==

A writer in the [[Christian Science Monitor]] explains that "Hizbullah's real goal is racist: To free the Middle East holy lands of Jews... Hizbullah's goal is not the "liberation" of Palestine. Its members are not Palestinian. They are (Arab) Islamic extremists who want to "liberate" all Islamic land."<ref>http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0727/p09s01-coop.html</ref>

Its [[Al-Manar]] television is infamous for being [[racist]], several [[European]] countries, including [[France]], [[Spain]], [[Germany]] and the [[Netherlands]], as well as [[Australia]], have also taken measures to block Al-Manar. In March 2005, the broadcasting regulators in the [[European Union]] agreed to ban satellite broadcasting of Al-Manar on the basis that the channel carried racist material and incitement. As a result, several satellite service providers, most of them European, dropped Al-Manar, making it unavailable in North and South America, Asia and Australia. Al-Manar, is, however, still available in Europe through Arab satellite companies and its Web site offers English, French and Spanish translations of its material.
<ref>http://www.adl.org/main_terrorism/hezbollah_overview.htm?Multi_page_sections=sHeading_8 </ref>

On its TV, [[Jews]] are termed pigs and monkeys (stemming from radical Islamic teaching of "apes & pigs" - branding Christians as pigs, Jews as apes [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5426633 ][http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/christopher_howse/blog/2007/02/07/whats_this_about_apes_and_pigs ][http://www.onenewsnow.com/2007/02/pupils_aged_five_poisoned_at_i.php ][http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2007060106,00.html ][http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/06/25/wsaudi25.xml ][http://www.obsessionthemovie.com/ ]) and the [[Holocaust]] is denied. Participants in a network-sponsored symposium urge that Israel "be completely wiped out" and "just like [[Hitler]] fought the Jews" the "great Islamic nation of Jihad" should "fight the Jews and burn them."
<ref>http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2006/08/08/death_and_destruction_are_hezbollahs_goals/</ref>

It has been written in an article titled "Hezbollah's Nazi roots" that "Hezbollah's Nazi salute evokes memories of [[Hitler]]'s support for [[Arab]] agitators such as the Grand Mufti ([[al-Husayni]]) of Jerusalem and the leaders of a pro-[[Nazi]] coup."<ref>http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/issuesideas/story.html?id=e3157f0d-21ad-41e9-b26e-a3c06a460e73</ref>

From the book, 'Planting hatred, sowing pain: the psychology of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict':<blockquote>
Palestinians are constantly exposed to cultural products that expouse classical anti-Semitic ideas. Fir example, a television series produced by Hezbollah, the south Lebanon Shiite militia group, titled Al-Shatat. This series is focused oin the old middle-ages myth of the blood libel (in which Jews --supposedly-- need the blood of Christian children for the Passover matzoth).
<ref>''Planting hatred, sowing pain: the psychology of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict'', Moises F. Salinas, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007, p. 24 [http://books.google.com/books?id=9Tt9d6gnUkoC&pg=PR24]</ref></blockquote>

Related, from an [[ADL]] speech: <blockquote>In recent years, Jews were killed because they were Jews, something we have not witnessed since World War II, at the hands of jihadists. There was the Buenos Aires bombings of the Israeli embassy and the Jewish center; there was the kidnapping and murder of Daniel Pearl in Pakistan; there was the kidnapping and murder of Ilan Halimi in Paris; and there was the attack on the Seattle Jewish Federation. Hamas and Hezbollah do not want to kill for land, but to eliminate Jews and a Jewish presence.<ref>http://www.adl.org/main_Anti_Semitism_International/threat_islamic_extremism.htm</ref></blockquote>

===Nasrallah & the Jews===

Within a month of Nasrallah's taking over as leader, Hezbollah (with the help of Iranian intelligence) bombed the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires, killing 29 and injuring over 200. The next attack perpetrated by Hezbollah—again with Iranian help—was the bombing of the Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, killing 86 and injuring over 200.

The widening arena of Hezbollah's attacks stemmed from Nasrallah's perception that Jews anywhere are legitimate targets. In fact, Nasarallah has said:
<blockquote>
If they (Jews) all gather in Israel, it will save us the trouble of going after them worldwide. (Daily Star, Oct. 23, 2002)<ref>http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_ID=1&article_ID=38204&categ_id=2#axzz0pYls8Frn</ref><ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/23/books/the-enemy-within.html?sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2</ref><ref>http://www.adl.org/main_terrorism/hezbollah_overview.htm?Multi_page_sections=sHeading_7</ref><ref>http://www.ajc.org/atf/cf/%7B42D75369-D582-4380-8395-D25925B85EAF%7D/HIZBALLAH_SPEAKS_092006.PDF</ref></blockquote>

Shiite scholar Amal Saad-Ghorayeb analyzed the anti-Jewish roots of Hezbollah ideology in her book Hezbollah: Politics & Religion. In it, she quotes Hassan Nasrallah describing his antipathy toward Jews:

<blockquote>If we searched the entire world for a person more cowardly, despicable, weak and feeble in psyche, mind, ideology and religion, we would not find anyone like the Jew. Notice, I do not say the Israeli. (New Yorker, Oct. 14, 2002)<ref>''Nuclear logics: contrasting paths in East Asia and the Middle East'' by Etel Solingen, Princeton University Press, 2007 [http://books.google.com/books?id=dZc3udnvlbIC&pg=PA335]</ref></blockquote>

Nasrallah also incoroporates anti-Semitic rhetoric in speeches. For example, he has characterized Jews as the "grandsons of apes and pigs" and "Allah's most cowardly and greedy creatures." (MEMRI: Al- Manar, Feb. 3, 2006)
<ref>http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=7&x_issue=11&x_article=1158</ref><ref>http://www.jcpa.org/text/ahmadinejad2-words.pdf</ref>

In 1998, Ashura commemorations of Hessein's martyrdom coincided with Israel's fiftieth anniversary. Nasrallah used the occasion to lambaste Israelis as "the descendants of apes and pigs. "A few million vagabonds from all over the world, brought together..."
<ref>''Dreams and shadows: the future of the Middle East,'' Robin B. Wright, Penguin Group, 2008, ISBN 1594201110, 9781594201110, p. 180[http://books.google.com/books?id=nzXA7PZdO0AC&pg=PA180]</ref><ref>''Out of step: life-story of a politician : politics and religion in a world at war'', Jack Brian Bloom, Jack Bloom, 2005, p. 104 [http://books.google.com/books?id=Kr2gAAAAMAAJ&dq=hezbollah]</ref><ref>''The War Against the West: Crucial Conversations with the Most Informed Experts about Our Enemies, Our Defenses, Our Strategy and Our Leaders in the Long War Against Islamist Extremism'', Hugh Hewitt, Xulon Press, 2008, p. 200 [http://books.google.com/books?id=CFCHgaADriIC&pg=PA200]</ref>

==Iran's arm: "Big Satan, Little Satan"==

Israel and the United States as Portrayed in the Doctrine of Hezbollah:

1) Hatred of Israel ("that vile microbe") and the Jewish people, --As an arm of Iran it regards, <ref>http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2007/3/30/204228.shtml?s=lh</ref> <ref>http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/GC25Ak04.html</ref> <ref>http://www.ict.org.il/Articles/tabid/66/Articlsid/231/currentpage/10/Default.aspx</ref>
<ref>http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3272498,00.html</ref>
<ref>http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123093176783149767.html</ref>
<ref>http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/html/iran_hezbollah_e1b.htm</ref> and it seeks to-- Eradicating the 'Little Satan.'
2) Hatred of the [[United States]] ("the big Satan")
<ref>http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/html/hezbollah.htm</ref>

==Death cult, suicide missions, martyrdom philosophy, inventing 'mass casualty' bombing==

The doctrine of Hezbollah: Suicide attacks ("the shortest road to Allah") are of supreme value.
<ref>http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/html/hezbollah.htm</ref>

In May 2006, Nasrallah appeared on the network to explain that "our nation's willingness to sacrifice their blood, souls, children, fathers, and families" is an advantage over the Jews "who guard their lives."
<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/08/opinion/08iht-edlevin.2417146.html</ref>

The modern, high-casualty suicide attack, which has changed our lives irreversibly, was invented by Hezbollah in Lebanon in 1982.
<ref name=elieberman>''Radical, Religious, and Violent: The New Economics of Terrorism'', Eli Berman, MIT Press, 2009, p. 50 [http://books.google.com/books?id=R7jvDS3OiAUC&pg=PA50]</ref>

To attack the multinational forces, Hezbolah invented a terrible new weapon--the suicide truck bomb. The group loaded several hundred pounds of explosives into a truck. A member of the group--someone prepared to sacrifice his or her life--would drive the truck in front of an embassy or into a military base.
The driver then set off the explosives with a control switch in the truck's cab. The detonation would instantly destroy the driver, the truck, and any buildings or people standing within several hundred feet.
Sheikh Fadlallah and Hezbollah never took credit for these attacks. As a Shi'ite cleric, Fadlallah knew that Islam would get tarnished by terrorism and the killing of innocent civilians. Fadlallah also claimed to be running the Hezbollah as a political, not a military organization.
However, as Many Islamic nation have declared jihads against enemies. For this reason, an organization calling itself the "Islamic Jihad" publicly claimed responsibility for terrorists acts in Lebanon. For several years, the United States and other governments tried to find out who was running the Islamic Jihad. In fact, Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad were one and the same.
<ref>''International Terrorists'', profiles Series, profiles (Minneapolis, Minn.),
by Thomas Streissguth, The Oliver Press, Inc., 1993, ISBN 1881508072, 9781881508076, pp. 130-131 [http://books.google.com/books?id=vdKnY1vRKZkC&pg=PA130]</ref>

==Regional plans==

Amongst its stated objectives is the establishment of a Shiite theocracy in [[Lebanon]].
<ref>http://www.aph.gov.au/Library/pubs/rn/2002-03/03rn42.htm</ref>
Hezbollah's goal is the establishment of an Islamic state encompassing Lebanon and Israel.
<ref>http://www.adl.org/terrorism/symbols/hezbollah.asp</ref>
Many in the [[Lebanese]] [[Christian]] diaspora, beyond the reach of Hezbollah intimidation, speak out forcefully against turning Lebanon into a [[Shia]] [[theocracy]] emulating Iran.
<ref>http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2006/08/08/death_and_destruction_are_hezbollahs_goals/</ref>

==Global Plans==

The [[Associated Press]] reported in May, 2010, that a [[Muslim]] cleric calls for 'Greater Iran' - [[Shi'ite]] '''Islamic union''' would stretch from [[Afghanistan]] to [[Israel]]. Ayatollah Mohammad Bagher Kharrazi said the creation of what he termed an "Islamic United States" is a central aim of the political party he leads - called Hizbullah, or Party of God. He added that he hoped to make his vision a reality if the party won the next presidential election. "The Islamic United States will be an introduction to the formation of the global village of the oppressed and that will be a prelude to the single global rule of the Mahdi," the newspaper quoted him as saying. <ref>http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ixeFBxfLzaSjs8Mb8cuFmtPOT6-wD9FN9ING1</ref><ref>http://www.jpost.com/IranianThreat/News/Article.aspx?ID=175619 </ref>

==Violence, Bloodshed==

Their known spreading of violence & bloodshed includes:

===Regional: Lebanon, Israel===

====Kidnappings, torture====

Hezbollah's founding quickly resulted in a spate of kidnappings, torture.
<ref>http://article.nationalreview.com/300511/negotiate-with-iran/andrew-c-mccarthy</ref>
Westerners, including French, German and Americans were target of Hezbollah's kidnapping.<ref>Christopher C. Harmon, Andrew N. Pratt, Sebastian Gorka, ''Toward a Grand Strategy Against Terrorism,'' McGraw Hill Professional, (2010), [http://books.google.com/books?id=fYp2NlDbrb0C&pg=PA46 p. 46]</ref><ref>Tom Diaz, Barbara Newman, ''Lightning Out of Lebanon: Hezbollah Terrorists on American Soil,'' Random House Digital, Inc. (2006), [http://books.google.com/books?id=KXa6qOt86OwC&pg=PA64 p. 64]</ref><ref>"Does Human Rights Law Apply to Terrorists?" Middle East Quarterly by T Lapkin, 2004 http://www.meforum.org/651/does-human-rights-law-apply-to-terrorists</ref><ref>Mark Perry, ''Talking to terrorists: why America must engage with its enemies,'' Basic Books (2010), [http://books.google.com/books?id=HDRG-EYhyZ0C&pg=PA140 p. 140]</ref><ref>http://www.michaeltotten.com/archives/2009/03/hezbollah-scout.php</ref> including hijacking US personell.<ref>Newsweek: Volume 109, 1987, [http://books.google.com/books?id=1eQmAQAAIAAJ&q=The+fanatics+in+Beirut+can+kidnap+them,+torture+them,+hang+them+publicly+and+dump+their+bodies+on+the+streets p. 117]</ref><ref>http://books.google.com/books?id=b8k4rEPvq_8C&pg=PA130</ref><ref>http://books.google.com/books?id=vHrQGZ8lUgIC&pg=PA73</ref><ref>http://books.google.com/books?id=HNyv0N8cVE0C&pg=PA85</ref><ref>http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/162295/re-hezbollah-america/andy-mccarthy</ref><ref>http://books.google.com/books?id=m_ktBrZfuUYC&pg=PA118</ref><ref>http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article708342.ece</ref><ref>http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/myths/mf11.html</ref> An estimated kidnapping of 30 Westerners in that period are attributed to Hezbollah.<ref name="congress112">[http://books.google.com/books?id=W6gziQydtBwC&pg=RA2-PA112 Congressional Record - Page 112]</ref><ref>"Lebanon: Hezbollah's Kidnapping Plan," STRATFOR, Jan 22, 2008 http://www.stratfor.com/analysis/lebanon_hezbollahs_kidnapping_plan</ref><ref>Hizballah ("Party of God") http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Terrorism/hizbollah.html</ref><ref>Michael T. Kindt, Jerrold M. Post, Barry R. Schneider, ''The world's most threatening terrorist networks and criminal gangs,'' Macmillan, (2009) [http://books.google.com/books?id=WMZdR8XPzQoC&pg=PA129 p. 129]</ref>
Among the notorious victims were: William Francis Buckley, Terry Anderson, William Richard Higgins.

In March, 1984, Hezbollah operatives kidnapped William Francis Buckley, the CIA's station chief in [[Lebanon]]. He was whisked to [[Damascus]] and on to [[Tehran]], where, after 15 months of torture, he succumbed to a heart attack.
<ref>''Willful Blindness: A Memoir of the Jihad'' by Andrew C. McCarthy, Encounter Books, 2008, [http://books.google.com/books?&id=5dgoAQAAIAAJ&dq=buckley p. 97]</ref>

Feb. 17, 1988: The group kidnaps Col. William Higgins, a [[U.S.]] Marine serving with a [[United Nations]] truce monitoring group in Lebanon, and later murders him.

The [[United States]] asserts that top Hezbollah military commander who was one of America's most wanted men, accused of involvement in a string of bombings, hijackings and kidnappings during the 1980s and 1990s, [[Imad Mughniyeh]], was also behind the torture and murder of [[William Buckley]], the CIA station chief in Beirut, in 1984; the kidnapping, torture and murder of Lieutenant Colonel William Richard Higgins of the Marines, who was on peacekeeping duty in Lebanon in 1988; and, through the Islamic Jihad Organization, the seizure of Western hostages in Beirut during the 1980s.
<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/13/world/africa/13iht-syria.4.10025106.html?pagewanted=all</ref>
<ref>''Lightning out of Lebanon: Hezbollah terrorists on American soil'', Tom Diaz, Barbara Newman, [http://books.google.com/books?cd=4&id=waboAAAAIAAJ&dq=torture p. 64]</ref> <ref>http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2006/jul/20/20060720-081459-2509r/</ref>

From a legal claim against [[Iran]]:<blockquote> In the instant case the evidence once again discloses that Iran provided Hezbollah with funding, direction and training for its terrorist activities in Lebanon, including the kidnapping and torture of Terry Anderson hezbollah kidnapping torture and his imprisonment as a hostage for 2,454 days.
<ref>''Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act: Congressional Hearing'', Bill McCollum, DIANE Publishing, 2002, p. 24 [http://books.google.com/books?id=XB4lFqK_2SgC&pg=PA24]</ref></blockquote>

Dec. 31, 1986: Under the alias Organization of the Oppressed on Earth, Hezbollah announces it had kidnapped and murdered three Lebanese [[Jews]]. The organization previously had taken responsibility for killing four other Jews since 1984.
<ref>http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=2&x_outlet=118&x_article=1148</ref>

The 1985 Hezbollah torture-murder of Isaac Tarab, 63, and Chaim Halala Cohen, 39, the 1986 Hezbollah's torturing to death of Ibrahim Benesti, aged 54, of Beirut, and his elderly relatives, Yehudah and Yosef, Benesti's family – like many [[Lebanese]] [[Jews]] – had been in [[Lebanon]] since 2,000 B.C. (before the birth of [[Mohammed]]), [described as a charitable and kindly candy store owner who gave free candy to children of all religions]. All these crimes were motivated for no other reason than for the victims simply being Jewish.<ref>http://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=11798</ref> See: [[#Character, racism, fascism]].

7 Apr 2005 - Two [[Israeli-Arabs]] from the village of Rajar near the Israel-Lebanon border were kidnapped by Hezbollah operatives and held in captivity for four days. The men, identified as Muki Ben-Jamal and Nuef Maharj Ben-Ali, said they were interrogated by their captors who wanted information on [[Israel]].
<ref name=aijac-timeline>http://www.aijac.org.au/resources/hezb_00-06.html</ref>

The [[Time]] had a detailed piece by William Dowell in May 23, 1988 titled: "Three Years in the Belly of Beirut": <blockquote>"They weren't human or inhuman. They were nonhuman." That was how French Journalist Jean-Paul Kauffmann, quoting fellow hostage Michel Seurat, , described the pro-Iranian Islamic Jihad terrorists who held him hostage for three years. The wrenching account of his kidnaping, captivity and release appeared last week in L'Evenement du Jeudi, the French newsmagazine Kauffmann worked for when he and French Researcher Seurat were abducted in May 1985.
 
The two men became hostages by chance after missing a Beirut airport bus and deciding to take a taxi. When a Mercedes pulled alongside and ordered them to stop, they expected a robbery. Instead they were forced into the back of the gunmen's car. What followed was three years of intimidation and psychological torture.
 
For more than a year, the hostages never saw daylight. Their only diversion was reading the handful of books provided by their jailers; Kauffmann read War and Peace more than 20 times. At one point, he and Seurat listened while their Shi'ite captors spent eight days torturing an Arab suspected of being a spy. When it was over, Kauffmann's jailer joked, "I damaged him a little. He had two broken ribs. We broke both his legs. Finally he talked, and we set him free." Freedom, Kauffmann learned, was a euphemism for death.
 
In one of the most bizarre episodes, Seurat was allowed a brief visit in August 1985 with his wife and daughters in Beirut, and then returned to the cell loaded down with sociology books. It was the last time he saw his family. A month later, he was deathly ill with hepatitis. A Lebanese Jewish doctor, Elie Hallat, who was also a hostage, pleaded in vain for Seurat's release. As his condition worsened, a Shi'ite commander volunteered a transfusion. "You are becoming a Shi'ite," joked a captor after Seurat was given blood. In fact, the researcher was dying. By then French Hostages Marcel Carton and Marcel Fontaine had been added to the group. "So I am going to die," Seurat told his friends.
 
In March 1986, the Islamic Jihad announced that it had "executed" Seurat. It seems likely, however, that he succumbed, at 39, to his disease. But the jailers told the hostages he was alive and recovering in a hospital. Kauffmann later learned from a radio newscast that Hallat, doomed by his captors' rabid anti-Semitism, had been executed. Kauffmann, Carton and Fontaine were continually moved from apartment to apartment. At one point Kauffmann was wrapped in bandages like a mummy, sealed in a metal box and bolted under the chassis of a truck. When he banged on the side, he was told he would be shot. "Kill me," he snapped back. "It doesn't make any difference."
 
At another point Kauffmann and Fontaine were tied together and placed in a coffin. When they were let out for a moment, Fontaine peered under his blindfold and saw that they were near a cement factory. "They're going to kill us here, put our bodies in cement and dump us in the sea," said Fontaine. Later Kauffmann and Fontaine were put in a new cell and chained like animals to a spike in the floor.
<ref>Time, Volume 131, Issues 18-26 By Henry Robinson Luce, Time Inc., 1988, p. iv [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,967469,00.html]</ref></blockquote>

At a 2008 proisoner swap-deal, Israel was forced to make with Hezbollah, Bradley Burston wrote "The pleasure that Hezbollah takes in torture."<blockquote>

Few innocent people have been tortured like the loved ones of the people murdered by Samir Kuntar, the [[Palestine Liberation Front]] monster convicted of a crime so brutal that even the designation terrorist is too good for him.

This week, the loved ones will know that Kuntar will be feted to a hero's welcome staged by Hezbollah, whose claims to being a religious organization, stain the word religious with a level of sadism that is astonishing, reaching new levels with every gloat by the torture master who calls himself a spiritual leader, [[Hassan Nasrallah]].

But that will be only one aspect of the glee with which Hezbollah will likely take explicit pride and claim exultant victory.
 
Not satisfied with keeping the families of kidnapped IDF soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev in the dark for two years as to their fate, a Lebanese report which appears to have been leaked by Hezbollah two days before the prisoner swap, stated that one of the soldiers had survived the kidnapping attack, but that the other was surely dead.
 
Then, to torture the families further, the report refrained from revealing which of the two had been killed, or whether the other was still alive.

But for sheer gratuitous sadism, the case of [[Samir Kuntar]] has few rivals. Consider the survivors of Kuntar's acts of murder.

Consider Smadar Haran, a survivor of the 1979 attack led by Kuntar. Kuntar burst into Haran's apartment building in the dead of night, seizing Smadar Haran's husband Danny and their daughter Einat, 4 years old.

Desperate to save their two-year-old girl Yael, Smadar Haran huddled with her in a crawl space in the attic. "I will never forget the joy and the hatred in the voices [of Kuntar and his men] as they swaggered about hunting for us, firing their guns and throwing grenades," she later recalled in the Washington Post.

"I knew that if Yael cried out, the terrorists would toss a grenade into the crawl space and we would be killed," she wrote in 2003. "So I kept my hand over her mouth, hoping she could breathe. As I lay there, I remembered my mother telling me how she had hidden from the Nazis during the Holocaust. 'This is just like what happened to my mother,' I thought."

Smadar Haran's personal torture had only begun. She would later learn that Kuntar had dragged her husband Danny and older daughter to the beach nearby, where he shot Danny execution style, making sure that her father's death would be the last sight her little girl would ever see.

Kuntar then took the butt of his assault rifle and brought in down on Einat's head, crushing it against a rock.

Smadar Haran would later recall, "By the time we were rescued from the crawl space, hours later, Yael, too, was dead. In trying to save all our lives, I had smothered her."

Two weeks ago, in an act of heroism that is beyond imagination, Smadar Haran spoke publicly of coming to terms with the impending release of the monster who turned her life into a waking nightmare. "Samir Kuntar isn't, nor has he ever been, my private prisoner," she told a news conference. "His fate must be decided now according to Israel's needs and ethical interests." ...Kuntar... his elevation to the status of hero and martyr to the Palestinian struggle or the Lebanese resistance.
 
For Israelis, even after all these years, the release of Kuntar is a form of self-inflicted torture. So heinous, so unpardonable were his crimes, that American Jewish author and journalist Jeffrey Goldberg, himself a veteran of the [[IDF]], wrote on The [[Atlantic Monthly]]'s Website... "As unbelievable as this sounds, Israel is actually thinking of swapping Samir Kuntar in a prisoner exchange with Hezbollah. Kuntar is perhaps the most terrible person held in an Israeli prison, a man who crushed the skull of a Jewish child against a rock."
<ref>http://www.haaretz.com/news/bradley-burston-the-pleasure-that-hezbollah-takes-in-torture-1.249790</ref></blockquote>

====Terror attack on US embassy====

'''The attack on the [[U.S.]] Embassy in [[Beirut]], [[Lebanon]] on April 18, 1983 .'''
The bombing was carried out via a stolen van, carrying 2000 pounds of explosives, slamming into the embassy, killing 63 people.
<ref>http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/usmnf.htm</ref>
<ref>http://www.iranfocus.com/en/terrorism/victims-of-1983-bombing-of-u.s.-embassy-in-beirut-recalled.html</ref>
<ref>http://www.americanmemorialsite.com/beirutembassy.html</ref><ref>http://www.beirut-memorial.org/history/index.html</ref><ref>http://www.americans-working-together.com/american_veterans/id93.html</ref>

====Terror attack on peacekeeping US marine====

'''The attack on [[U.S.]] Marine Barracks in Oct. 1983.'''
<ref>http://blog.heritage.org/2009/10/23/the-1983-marine-barracks-bombing-connecting-the-dots/</ref>
Hezbollah conducted simultaneous suicide truck bombings against the two buildings housing U.S. Marines and French paratroopers in Beirut, killing 241 Marines and 58 French soldiers who were in Lebanon as part of a multinational peacekeeping mission.
<ref>http://www.stratfor.com/hezbollah_irans_ace_hole</ref>
<ref>http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/textual/topics/marinesleb.htm</ref>
<ref>http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/10/23/world/main579638.shtml</ref>
<ref>http://www.nydailynews.com/news/us_world/2008/02/14/2008-02-14_hezbollah_terror_thug_behind_83_lebanon_.html</ref>
A US federal judge found (in 2003) Iran liable for the 1983 bombing of a US marine barracks. <ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2951938.stm</ref> <ref>http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/05/30/iran.barracks.bombing/</ref>

The Beirut mission started out as an effort to stabilize a fragile peace in a war-torn country. Lebanon had been in turmoil since the Palestine Liberation Organization, having been expelled from Jordan, took refuge there in the 1970s. In 1975, a panoply of Christian and Muslim militias, turned what had been a Middle East oasis into a no-man's land of urban warfare.
The situation fell apart quickly. Islamic Militia leaders began to view the [[United States]] and its allies as favoring the Christian-led forces of the Lebanese government. <ref>http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/terror.htm</ref>

====Targeting Israeli civilians====

Hezbollah has been '''targeting Israeli civilians, for years.''' since the 1980s, (Which prompted Israel in 1996 to conduct a defensive operation "Grapes of Wrath." <ref>http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=2&x_outlet=118&x_article=1148</ref>) its main weapon - firing rockets, missiles into residential areas<ref>http://www.haaretz.com/news/barak-to-un-hezbollah-arms-target-israeli-civilians-1.266260</ref><ref>http://www.ynet.co.il/english/articles/0,7340,L-3275609,00.html</ref>
<ref>http://www.haaretz.com/news/eight-hurt-as-record-number-of-rockets-hits-northern-israel-1.194063</ref>
<ref>http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=37034</ref>
<ref>http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Terrorism/hizattacks1.html</ref>
<ref>http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2006/7/24/154609.shtml</ref>
<ref>http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/8956/hezbollah-rocket-attacks-hurt-19-israelis-in-kiryat-shmona/</ref>
<ref>http://www.mfa.gov.il/NR/exeres/9EE216D7-82EF-4274-B80D-6BBD1803E8A7,frameless.htm?NRMODE=Published</ref>.
For example, in 24 Jul 2006 - Hezbollah fired more than 70 Katyusha rockets into Israel, several of which landed in Nahariya, Safed, and Kiryat Shmona. Medics treated at least 49 people who were lightly to moderately wounded. More than 2200 rockets have been fired at Israeli cities since July 12, killing 17 Israelis, all of them civilians. 20 Israeli soldiers were killed in other incidents.
<ref name=aijac-timeline>http://www.aijac.org.au/resources/hezb_00-06.html</ref>. Though there were also other methods like in Apr 2001 – A 42 year-old Israeli woman was stabbed to death in Haifa. Her murder was the initiation rite of a terrorist cell, whose members were apprehended in July. Six members of a Hezbollah-linked Palestinian terrorist cell responsible for the murder, originally thought to be criminally motivated, were arrested in July. The murder was the initiation rite of one of the terrorists into the organization.
<ref>''Chronologies of modern terrorism'', Barry Rubin, Barry M. Rubin, Judith Colp Rubin, M.E. Sharpe, 2008, ISBN 0765620472, 9780765620477, p. 218</ref><ref>http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-+Obstacle+to+Peace/Palestinian+terror+since+2000/Victims+of+Palestinian+Violence+and+Terrorism+sinc.htm</ref>

====Use of its civilian population in war====

'''Use of Lebanese as human shields''' <ref>http://www.standwithus.com/pdfs/flyers/humanshield.pdf</ref> <ref>http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/issuesideas/story.html?id=439dbdcc-167c-423c-9d52-b14a90605440</ref>
<ref>http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/special-reports/photos-that-damn-hezbollah/story-e6frf7r6-1111112144002</ref>
<ref>http://abcnews.go.com/International/video?id=2702658</ref>
<ref>http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/12/05/D8LQVLHG2.html</ref>
<ref>http://washingtontimes.com/op-ed/20060730-093558-9976r.htm</ref>,
(copying the Arab-Palestinian tactics routine [http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-+Obstacle+to+Peace/Hamas+war+against+Israel/Hamas+exploitation+of+civilians+as+human+shields+-+Photographic+evidence.htm ]
[http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2006Nov22/0,4670,PalestiniansHumanShields,00.html ] [http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,227222,00.html ][http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0901/04/sm.03.html ][http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/6166998.stm ][http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/01/05/israel.gaza/index.html ][http://www.pmw.org.il/latestBulletins.htm ][http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jan/08/hamas-palestinian-victims/print/ ][http://article.wn.com/view/2010/03/15/Israeli_report_Hamas_used_civilians_as_human_shields_in_Gaza/][http://www.iris.org.il/blog/archives/2102-Palestinians-Brag-About-Using-Human-Shields-for-Terrorists.html ][http://www.peacewithrealism.org/headline/gaza02.htm ][http://www.peacewithrealism.org/headline/admit.htm ][http://www.palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=157&doc_id=1304 ][http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=23431&only&rss ]), especially was publicized, in their initiated war with Israel, Hezbollah's use of "Christian villages as shields in missile attacks." witnesses: "If Israel does nothing Hezbollah will continue to fire rockets from inside Lebanon shockingly using Christians as human shields actually." "Hezbollah is hiding among civilian populations and launching attacks behind human shields." <ref>http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/17528670.html</ref>
<ref>http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/hezbollah_uses_christian_villages_as_shields_in_missile_attacks/</ref>, this crime has been categorized as a "Hezbollah specialty" <ref>http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/krauthammer072806.php3</ref>, even using the [[U.N.]]<ref>http://www.drudge.com/archive/83811/hezbollah-used-un-human-shields</ref>, A.) to cause casualties among their own Arab population, especially among children, in order to generate sympathy and an outcry in the Arab world. B.) Hated Israelis' image get tarnished, an "important" goal in it of itself to make the Zionists look as "killers." C.) To cripple Israel's humane army to respond, thus enables them to come out as "heroes." <ref>http://www.telospress.com/main/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=112</ref> & saviours against the Zionist enemy."

====Subjugation, persecution====

Hezbollah has a long history of persecuting Christians, decries a Lebanese author.<ref>http://www.independentconservative.com/2006/08/02/hezbollah_kills_christians_part2/</ref>

The writer W. Phares explains on the suffering of civilians, especially since Hezbollah's take over in 2000: <blockquote>Such takeover by the Jihadist militia was expected to provoke an exodus by thousands of civilians who would have been subjected to Hezbollah’s persecution. However suddenly on May 23, the Israeli Government then under Prime Minister Ehud Barak ordered a quick pull out from the security zone without waiting for the local force, at the time known as ‘South Lebanon Army’ (SLA) to be transferred under the United Nations or to operate as a local force to stop Hezbollah until the UN would decide what to do.

The population of the "security zone" was about 150,000 counting the district of Jezzine; and its local forces were about 3,000 strong. the make up of the population was Christian, Shia and Druse with some Sunni villages to the East. To their north Hezbollah had massed its forces backed by Iranian Pasdaran advisors. Between 1984 and 2000 Hezbollah launched several offensives against the SLA positions but was unable to overrun them permanently.
<ref>http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/id.6309/pub_detail.asp</ref></blockquote>

====Civil war====

Some of '''civil war/clashes waged on the Lebanese''' by the Hezbollah:

In Jan. 2007, clash pits Hezbollah against rule in Lebanon. The police said at least three people died and 100 more were wounded throughout the country in the violence.
<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/24/world/middleeast/24lebanon.html</ref>
<ref>http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16806540/</ref>

"Rival factions return to arms as Lebanon stares into the abyss" in Nov 2007.<ref>http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article2926154.ece</ref>

In May 8, 2008 Clashes erupted as Hezbollah chief [[Hassan Nasrallah]] claims 'War' <ref>http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/middle_east/jan-june08/lebanon_0508.html</ref>, clashes between Hezbollah and Druze continued in Lebanon for the 5th day, it erupted in Lebanon's northern port city of Tripoli, as fighting between the Hezbollah militia and its rivals grew. <ref>http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/middleeast/news/article_1404713.php/17_dead_in_Lebanon_-_Druze-Hezbollah_clashes_break_out__2nd_Lead_</ref><ref>http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/05/12/lebanon.violence/index.html</ref> The Lebanese army said it will intervene, it will use force from to stop fighting, which brough the overall toll to 81 dead and about 250 wounded.
<ref>http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSL12505038200805</ref>
<ref>http://www.mg.co.za/article/2008-05-12-clashes-bring-lebanon-death-toll-to-81</ref>

In July 2008, fighting among Lebanese government and the Islamic Hezbollah terrrorists categorized as "Sectarian battles," the battles killed six, wounded 50.
<ref>http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iLbRHS1sn11z7Yw3qRkPMqnqF_xw</ref><ref>http://www.reuters.com/article/homepageCrisis/idUSL5690185._CH_.2400 </ref><ref>http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2008/07/26/sectarian_fighting_kills_6_in_lebanon/</ref>

In 28 Aug 2008, Hezbollah has "brazenly attacked the Lebanese Army" – in its shooting-attack on an army helicopter, killing 1st Lt. Samer Hanna and wounding several others – so say the leaders of Lebanon’s pro-democracy movement.
This is not the first time Hezbollah has attacked the Lebanese government. But it is one of the boldest attacks to date against the army. Hezbollah kills Lebanese Army Officer.
<ref>http://www.analyst-network.com/article.php?art_id=2389</ref>

===Global violence===
Hezbollah is another example (like Al Qaeda) of an Islamist insurgency that is both local and transnational.
<ref>''Heads we win: the cognitive side of counterinsurgency (COIN)'', David C. Gompert, RAND Corporation, 2007, p. 27 [http://books.google.com/books?id=xLDuAAAAMAAJ&q=hezbollah]</ref>

====Attack on US, French embassies in Kuwait====
Hezbollah's responsible for [[U.S.]] and [[French]] embassies attacks in [[Kuwait]] in 1983
<ref>http://books.google.com/books?id=yMnAlqo47sgC&pg=PA96</ref>.
The American embassy in Kuwait was bombed in a series of attacks whose targets also included the French embassy, the control tower at the airport, the country's main oil refinery, and a residential area for employees of the American corporation Raytheon. Six people were killed, including a suicide truck bomber, and more than 80 others were injured.
In Kuwait, 17 people were arrested and convicted for participating in the attacks. One of those convicted was Mustafa Youssef Badreddin, a cousin and brother-in-law of one of Hezbollah's senior officers, [[Imad Mughniyah]]. After a six-week trial in Kuwait, Badreddin was sentenced to death for his role in the bombings.<ref>http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/target/etc/cron.html</ref>

====Hijacking Kuwaiti planes====
A year after the 1983 attacks (on US, French targets), Kuwait Airways flight 221 was hijacked wherein the hijackers demanded the release of Islamic militant: 'Al-Dawa 17.' Two US passengers were killed and Iranian police freed the hijackers in [[Iran]] where the plane had been diverted. Imad Mugniyah and Hezbollah were accused by US authorities in the hijacking and killings.

In 1988, militants hijacked a second plane, Kuwait Airways Flight 422, with 110 passengers for 16 days. At one point during the hijacking, the plane was diverted to Iran where multiple survivors reportedly believed the original hijackers deplaned and were replaced by a fresh crew of hijackers who were armed with increased gun power.

During the ordeal, the hijackers met with reporters who quoted one as saying upon requesting the refueling of the plane in order to enable the plane to leave Algeria, "We will liquidate our account with Kuwait elsewhere. We don't want to have the massacre in a friendly country." A hijacker was quoted as saying, "Kuwait has to know that we do not fear death." The hijackers demands included the release of Al-Dawa 17.

The plane was diverted to Cyprus where two young [[Kuwait]]is aged 20 and 25 were tortured and then shot. Their dead bodies were dumped on the tarmac of the [[Cyprus]] airport.<ref>http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php?newsid=MTM4NTY5MTEwMA==</ref><ref>http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/html/ct_130208e.htm</ref><ref>http://www.esisc.org/documents/pdf/en/note-hezbollah-eng.pdf</ref>

====Iraq====
Already in November 24, 2003, The [[New York Times]] elaborated in an article: "A region inflamed, the hand of Tehran," Hezbollah, in Iraq, that Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Shiite group, has established a significant presence in Iraq.<ref>http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DEFDE113BF937A15752C1A9659C8B63</ref>

In 2006. U.S. Officials said: "Hezbollah Training Iraqi Shiite Militia Group." <ref>http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,232262,00.html</ref><ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/28/world/middleeast/28military.html</ref>

The [[Wall Street Journal]] wrote (2007) on Iran's Proxy War, The
involvement of Hezbollah in Iraq. <ref>http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118368904375158857.html?mod=googlenews_wsj</ref>

The [[BBC]] reported on additional proof, US officials had in 2007 of the link. <ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6260690.stm</ref>
In an article on Iran in Iraq, the [[Washington Post]] wrote on [[Iran]]'s Hezbollah soldiers and methods in the war in [[Iraq]].<ref>http://blog.washingtonpost.com/earlywarning/2007/07/iran_in_iraq.html?nav=rss_blog</ref>
the [[CNN]] reported on a Hezbollah agent played deaf before confessing, the
top special operations officer with Lebanon's Hezbollah militia pretended to be
deaf and mute when he was captured in Iraq.<ref>http://us.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/07/02/iraq.hezbollah/index.html</ref>

In 2008, there were reports on Hezbollah training Iraqis in Iran<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/05/world/middleeast/05iran.htm</ref>
Iraqi president [[Jalal Talabani]] charged (May, 2008) Hezbollah interference, in a Baghdad interview, he accused the leader of the Lebanon-based Hezbollah of meddling in Iraq's
affairs.<ref>http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/05/30/Talabani_charges_Hezbollah_interference/UPI-44791212150201/</ref>

In May, 2010, the [[US]] said that [[Syria]] must curb arm shipments to Hezbollah, top US diplomat has urged [[Syria]] to do more to prevent arms shipments to the militant [[Lebanese]] Hezbollah and stem the flow of militants into [[Iraq]].<ref>http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h9Pa9-v36WUhm6_Mqn4inXf_J8iAD9FQL82O0</ref>

In July 2011, U.S. official charged that militias are using Iranian weapons to target U.S. troops in Iraq.<ref>"Official: Militias Using Iranian Weapons to Target U.S. in Iraq." [[CNN]], July 3, 2011 http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/07/03/iraq.us.militia.attacks/</ref>

====Somalia====
The [[New York Times]] reported on Hezbollah in [[Somalia]]. <ref>"U.N. Says Somalis Helped Hezbollah Fighters," [[New York Times]] 15 Nov 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/15/world/middleeast/15nations.html</ref>
From [[NPR]] (November 15, 2006), the "[[U.N.]] Report ties [[Somali]] Islamists to Hezbollah," in an alarming report about the situation in Somalia.
<ref>"U.N. Report Ties Somali Islamists to Hezbollah," [[NPR]], November 15, 2006 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6493083</ref>
More than 700 Somali fighters are said to have gone to support and get training from Hezbollah..
<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6154690.stm</ref> The [[Time]] reported in 2010, on the Somali al-Shabab getting aid from Syria and Iran and is "believed to have formed direct alliances with militant groups elsewhere, including Lebanon's Hizballah."<ref>"Somalia's al-Shabab Wants to Join Terror's Big League," [[Time]],
14 Jul 2010 http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2003837,00.html</ref>

====Namibia====
There were reports by a human rights organisation in 2011, of jihadists-terrorists: Hezbollah and al-Shabab operating in Namibia.<ref>"Terrorists operate in Namibia: NamRights‎," Informante, Nov 2, 2011 http://www.informante.web.na/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9000&Itemid=1</ref>

====Gambia====
Freedom Newspaper (2011): "There is a Hezbollah cartel in Gambia."
Explaining: There is a Hezbollah cartel in Banjul [the Gambian capital], who are acting in concert with the country's President Yahya Jammeh to sell arms to the terrorist group's main base in Lebanon, a source reaching the Freedom Newspaper has alleged.
The arms deal goes like this: Gambia procures the arms from Iran, and in turn sells these deadly weapons to Hezbollah. Worst part is, that the "Gambian President has been accused of acting in concert with Lebanese alleged Hezbollah supporters."
<ref>Breaking News - Gambia "DID JAMMEH SELLS IRANIAN ARMS TO HEZBOLLA," Freedom Newspaper http://www.freedomnewspaper.com/Homepage/tabid/36/mid/367/newsid367/5960/Breaking-News-Gambia--DID-JAMMEH-SELLS-IRANIAN-ARMS-TO-HEZBOLLAH-/Default.aspx</ref><ref>http://www.hudson-ny.org/1989/iran-charm-offensive-in-africa-part-ii</ref><ref>"Hezbollah buying Iranian arms from Gambia, paper reports," NOW Lebanon, 28 Feb 2011
http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=245299</ref> This despite a [[BBC]] report in 2010 of Gambia cutting ties with the Islamic Republic.<ref>"Gambia cuts ties with Iran and orders diplomats to go." [[BBC]], November 23, 2010 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-11819143</ref>

====Senegal====
Senegal has long been a favorite 'fund0raising' hub for the terrorist organization Hezbollah.<ref>http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/ENGLISH/IRAN/PD=
F/JULY_03.PDF</ref><ref>http://www.justice.gov.il/NR/rdonlyres/E7CC31EF-A384-46A9-8E92-6B3416FA6299/0/feb05.htm</ref> Worth mentioning that Senegal accused Iran in Feb. 2011 for supplying weapons to separatist rebels that killed its soldiers.<ref>http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE71M01A20110223</ref>

====Afghanistan====
Hezbollah Link in the war in Afghanistan have been found in 2007, as NATO Finds Copy of Hizbullah's Explosives in Afghanistan. <ref>http://web.archive.org/web/20080126073425/http://yalibnan.com/site/archives/2007/07/copy_of_hezboll.php [http://www.lebanonews.net/mainra.asp?raid=2268] [http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=116544]</ref> And in 2011 the Wall Street Journal wrote: "Iran Funnels New Weapons to Iraq and Afghanistan."<ref>"Iran Funnels New Weapons to Iraq and Afghanistan," [[WSJ]]
Solomon, Jay, July 2, 2011 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303763404576420080640167182.html</ref>

====Sudan====
The Hezbollah, reportedly, is very supportive of Al-Bashir's genocide in the [[Sudan]].
<ref>http://www.istockanalyst.com/article/viewiStockNews+articleid_2432545&title=Lebanese_Hezbollah_Holds.html</ref> From a March 2009 report: "Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah leaders offer support for Sudan's chief."<ref>http://lubbockonline.com/stories/030709/wor_406280388.shtml</ref>

====Egypt====
In 2009, the [[BBC]] reported that [[Egypt]] was 'hunting Hezbollah suspects'<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7996665.stm</ref>, prosecutor accused Hezbollah of plotting attacks in Egypt, of sending operatives to [[Egypt]] to carry out attacks in the country and to smuggle weapons.<ref>http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/middleeast/news/article_1469836.php/Prosecutor_accuses_Hezbollah_of_plotting_attacks_in_Egypt__Roundup</ref>
<ref>http://uk.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUKL8213444</ref>
<ref>http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-04-08-voa48.cfm</ref>
On Apr 2010 An Egyptian court convicted 26 men of belonging to a Hezbollah cell.
<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/29/world/middleeast/29cairo.html</ref>
The Hezbollah Plot exposed Egypt's shared interests with Israel.<ref>http://www.forward.com/articles/104793/</ref>
Analysts said that the Egypt-Hezbollah standoff dents Egypt-Iran relations.<ref>http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-04/13/content_11180887.htm</ref>

====Azerbaijan====
Hezbollah plotted embassy attack' in Azerbaijan - was revealed in 2009. A trial under way in Azerbaijan of two Hezbollah members and four Azeris, where prosecutors drew a link between Iranian-backed Hezbollah terror missions.
<ref>http://www.ijn.com/ijn-news/international/1017-iran-hezbollah-plotted-embassy-attack-in-azerbaijan</ref><ref>http://jta.org/news/article/2009/05/31/1005514/hezbollah-plot-to-bomb-azerbaijan-embassy-foiled</ref>

====Syria====
In March, 2011, at the height of the so-called "Arab spring," Hizbullah and Iran were helping [[Bashar al-Assad]] kill protesters.<ref>INN, March 2011, http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/143155</ref>In May 2011, a report came out: "Hezbollah forces helping Syria in crackdown on protesters." A Lebanese parliament member said "Syrian forces have breached the border with Lebanon; notes fear that Syrian forces will kidnap refugees who fled the government crackdown in Syria."<ref>Report: Hezbollah forces helping Syria in crackdown on protesters," Haaretz, May 29, 2011 http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/report-hezbollah-forces-helping-syria-in-crackdown-on-protesters-1.36471</ref> In August 2011, Syria's youth coalition accused Hezbollah of role in Assad's brutal crackdown.<ref>"Syria's youth coalition accuses Hezbollah of role in Assad's brutal crackdown." AlArabiya, August 26, 2011
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/08/26/164222.html</ref> Indeed, The [[AP]] reported (Oct 24, 2011) "Since the uprising.. Syrians have unleashed their anger at Hezbollah over its blunt support for the regime. Some protesters have set fire to the yellow flag of Hezbollah and pictures of Nasrallah."<ref>"Hezbollah leader: Syria largely out of 'danger zone' " Star Tribune,
24 Oct 2011 http://www.startribune.com/world/132481743.html</ref><ref>"Hezbollah: Syria largely out of 'danger zone' ", CBS News, 24 Oct 2011
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501713_162-20124862.html</ref>

In November 2011, activists charged Hezbollah in abduction of Syrian activists in [[Lebanon]].<ref>"Activist says Hezbollah involved in abduction of Syrian opposition in Lebanon," The Daily Star, November 08, 2011, http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Politics/2011/Nov-08/153373-activist-says-hezbollah-involved-in-abduction-of-syrian-opposition-in-lebanon.ashx</ref> The persecution caused fear for those seeking exile in Lebanon.<ref>"Syrian Exiles Find Fear Rather Than Refuge in Lebanon‎," Jakarta Globe, November 15, 2011
http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/international/syrian-exiles-find-fear-rather-than-refuge-in-lebanon/478562</ref>

====Bahrain====
In June 1996, the Bahraini government said it has uncovered a coup plot by an Iranian-backed group, Hezbollah-Bahrain.<ref>BBC News - Timeline: Bahrain, Jun 4, 2011 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/817505.stm</ref>

In April 2011, Bahrain government accused Hezbollah of aiding opposition groups.<ref>''Bahrain government accuses Hezbollah of aiding opposition groups,'' [[CNN]], Apr 25, 2011 http://articles.cnn.com/2011-04-25/world/bahrain.hezbollah_1_wefaq-hezbollah-camps-hassan-nasrallah?_s=PM:WORLD</ref> Indeed, ''Tehran has been seeking to destabilize and annex Bahrain for decades.'' It ''established a military wing for Hezbollah in Bahrain,'' and in 2011, its thugs incited "protests" in that country.<ref>"Iran's Bahraini Ambitions‎," [[Wall Street Journal]], Mitchell A. Belfer, Oct 5, 2011
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204612504576608852457881450.html</ref>

In November 2011, Bahrain linked terror suspects to Iran.<ref>"Bahrain terrorist suspects had links with Iran," ABC Online, November 14, 2011
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-11-14/bahrain-terrorist-suspects-had-links-with-iran/3663812</ref><ref>"Bahrain says terror suspects linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guard,"‎ The Guardian, 14 November 14, 2011 http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/14/bahrain-terror-iran-revolutionary-guard?newsfeed=true</ref> Al Arabiya TV reported that Bahraini MP said "Hezbollah, Iran behind the terrorist cell" which planned to murder prominent Gulf figures.<ref>"Bahraini MP: Hezbollah, Iran behind the terrorist cell," November 14, 2011
http://www.yalibnan.com/2011/11/14/bahraini-mp-hezbollah-iran-behind-the-terrorist-cell/</ref>

====Europe====

=====Hijacking TWA flight=====
Among the highlighted terror crimes of the Hezbollah is the: [[TWA]] Hijacking, June 14, 1985: A Trans-World Airlines flight '847' was hijacked en route to [[Rome]] from [[Athens]] by two Lebanese Hizballah terrorists, and forced to fly to Beirut. The eight crew members and 145 passengers were held for seventeen days, during which one American hostage, a [[U.S.]] Navy sailor, was murdered. After being flown twice to [[Algiers]], the aircraft was returned to [[Beirut]] after Israel released 435 Lebanese and [[Palestinian]] prisoners.
<ref>http://www.fas.org/irp/threat/terror_chron.html</ref><ref>http://www.fbi.gov/page2/jan06/longarm010506.htm</ref><ref>http://army.mil/terrorism/1989-1980/index.html</ref><ref>http://terrorism.grady.uga.edu/history/analysistwa.html</ref> <ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/30/newsid_2527000/2527337.stm</ref><ref>http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/10/20011010-1.html</ref>

The plane was on a scheduled flight from Cairo to Athens. Hijackers --the two terrorists were brandishing grenades and pistols-- forced it to Beirut and twice went to Algiers before returning to Beirut releasing most of the (non-American) 152 passengers along the way, and murdering U.S. Navy diver Robert Stethem, one of the passengers—beating him, torturing, shooting him in the temple and dumping his body on the tarmac of Beirut International Airport (June 15).

On June 30, Hezbollah released 39 American passengers they held captive for 17 days.

German authorities arrested [[Mohammed Ali Hammadi]] and convicted him of Stethem’s murder in 1987. Hammadi was paroled in 2005 and returned to Beirut, where he is believed to be living today (2009). <ref>http://middleeast.about.com/b/2009/07/01/robert-stethems-murder-on-twa-flight-847.htm</ref><ref>http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1994-07-17/news/1994198059_1_stethem-lebanon-officer-2nd-class</ref>
<ref>http://michellemalkin.com/2008/02/13/justice-for-robert-dean-stethem-the-marines-in-beirut-and-other-american-victims-of-hezbollah/</ref>

From a letter, Robert's brother Kenneth has sent to president George W. Bush in 2006 as Robert's murderer was released by the German government (and fled to Lebanon) in an apparent exchange for a [[German]] hostage in [[Iraq]]:<blockquote>While Robert was being dragged to the door, he knew that all he had to do in order to live was to cry into that transmitter, but he wouldn't do it. He would not give in to the demands of the terrorists. He would not allow the honor and dignity of America to be intimidated by the fear and pain that Hammadi and terrorists everywhere represent. Robert sacrificed his life in order to protect our liberty and defend our way of life.<ref>http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/01/09/opinion/main1190219.shtml </ref></blockquote>

=====Dowining of a French airline=====
The [[Los Angeles Times]] wrote in November 1, 1989 that a Palestinian group allied with Hezbollah is linked to a plane crash.<blockquote>
Specialists have linked a terrorist bomb that destroyed a French airliner last month (Oct, 1989) in Africa to a Palestinian group allied with the pro-Iranian Hezbollah, the newspaper Figaro said... Working with fragments of a suitcase found in the wreckage of the airliner, specialists in Paris' central police laboratory found similarities to a terrorist bomb that exploded at a Paris department store almost five years ago. The February 1985 attack at the department store resulted in the arrest of Habib Maammar, a Tunisian member of a group directed by the Palestinian bomb maker Abu Ibrahim.
<ref>http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1989-11-01/news/8911013269_1_hezbollah-bomb-police-in-paris</ref></blockquote>

=====Terror attack on French department stores=====
Paris' Boulevard Haussmann was targeted in 1985 and 1986 during attacks on [[Paris]] department stores, many of them claimed by the Lebanese Hezbollah militants, which left 13 dead and 303 injured.
Terrorists from Hezbollah, set off bombs in both Printemps and Galeries Lafayette in December 1985, injuring 43 people.<ref>http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article5351735.ece</ref>
<ref>http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hVze0Fn4iyxmce-rEhgNsHQOLRiw</ref>

Workers at [[Printemps]] in December 1985 when Hezbollah bombs exploded on the ground floor there and in the Galeries Lafayette department store, recalled the attack which led to a bomb scare in Dec. 2008, when explosives were found there.
<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/17/world/europe/17paris.html</ref> <ref>http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601100&sid=aB8Ct9mWIdhw&refer=germany</ref>

=====Network=====
Although Europe has recently been exempt from Hezbollah attacks, numerous intelligence experts and officials assert that the group's operatives maintain cells across the continent. German authorities, in particular, have expressed concern about the presence of several hundred Hezbollah members in their country.

Reports of an increase in Hezbollah recruiting have emerged in eastern European countries, specifically Slovakia, Bosnia and Russia . And over the past few years, Hezbollah has sent operatives with European identification papers to Israel in order to collect intelligence for future attacks. Efforts by European authorities to curtail Hezbollah's influence have included France 's 2004 ban of Hezbollah's television station and chief propaganda machine, Al- Manar, from that nation's satellite television providers. Spain and the United States have made similar moves.
<ref name=emerson>http://www.steveemerson.com/4281/blood-money-hezbollahs-revenue-stream-flows </ref>

=====Attempts of attacks between 1988-1996=====
Other attacks researchers have attributed to Hezbollah include an unsuccessful attempt to carry out attacks in Cyprus in 1988; a plot, foiled by Spanish police, to carry out attacks against Jewish targets in Europe in 1989; an unsuccessful attempt to detonate a car bomb outside a Jewish community building in Romania in 1992; and a planned 1996 attack, also foiled by police, on an Israeli institution in Paris.
<ref>http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=40451</ref>

=====Attempts of 'massive-attacks' in 2009=====
In 2009, there was a report of a "Massive Hezbollah Terror Attack Against Israeli Target In Europe," that has been thwarted. <ref>http://www.nationalterroralert.com/updates/2009/01/28/report-massive-hezbollah-terror-attack-against-israeli-target-in-europe-thwarted/</ref>

====Latin America====
From a US statement in 1995 titled "Latin American Terrorism backed by Iran" <blockquote>"We believe that Hizballah activities, which include narcotics and smuggling as well as terrorism, are supported in the tri-border area of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. The organization is known to have cells in Colombia and Venezuela as well. Hizballah cells are concealed amidst the large Shia' Muslim population of Lebanese origin which has settled in the tri-border area."
<ref>http://www.globalsecurity.org/security/library/congress/1995_h/h950928w.htm</ref></blockquote>

=====Venezuela=====
US designated two Hezbollah operatives in [[Venezuela]] as terrorists- Hezbollah has used the tri-border region between Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay to recruit, train, raise and launder money, and plot attacks.
<ref>http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/hp1036.htm</ref>

[[Venezuela]]'s [[Hugo Chavez]] (Called a dictator <ref>http://www.securityaffairs.org/issues/2006/11/fleischman.php</ref>
<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/americas/3341771.stm</ref><ref>http://www.davidbruceallen.com/strategyoped/2007/05/hugo_chavezs_fi.html</ref> & his regime a dictatorship <ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/04/AR2006080401768.html</ref>, and has close ties with the Mullahcracy theocracy dictatorship of the Islamic Republic of [[Iran]] <ref>http://www.doublex.com/blog/xxfactor/adios-democracy</ref> <ref>http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2010/03/08/sean-penn-wants-reporters-jailed-calling-chavez-dictator/</ref>) has publicly supported a Hezbollah candidate for the Lebanese government, he was a supporter of Hezbollah during the 2006 war in Lebanon; afterward, the group placed signs in Lebanon proclaiming "Gracias, Chavez!" He openly invited Hezbollah members to live in Venezuela. Venezuela's embassies in the Middle East have been used to launder Hezbollah's dirty money, per investigation by the U.S. Treasury Dept
In January 2010, Israeli intelligence released information that Chavez shipped heavy arms to Hezbollah the year before; the ship originated in Venezuela, stopped in Iran and docked in Lebanon.
<ref>http://www.israeltoday.co.il/default.aspx?tabid=178&nid=20408</ref>

Chavez has a close relationship with Iran's President Ahmedinejad. The two leaders regularly visit each other. In 2007, they instituted weekly flights between Tehran and Caracas. Interestingly, the aircraft stops one place - Damascus, Syria. Journalists and others have tried to book a seat on the aircraft and have been denied. The passenger and cargo manifests are kept secret.

In an article (2009) in Forbes Magazine it was discussed how an attack by Israel against Gaza could be fought asymmetrically by Hezbollah - with help from Venezuela and Chavez.
<ref>http://www.forbes.com/2009/01/21/venezuela-iran-terror-oped-cx_mr_des_0121rowanschoen.html</ref>

(Worth mentioning [asides from Chavez's "personal" war with "imperialist" US] that Venezuela, has a large Lebanese-Arab community <ref>http://www.dawn.com/2005/05/14/int14.htm</ref>, many of them supported, financed Chavez's presidency.
There's also a significant concentration of this community in the area bordering with Colombia (Macau).
Jews have been attacked<ref>http://www.laht.com/article.asp?CategoryId=10717&