Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah Calls upon Arab Leaders to Promote Cease-Fire in Meetings with the Americans

Following are excerpts from an interview with Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, which aired on Al-Manar TV on August 3, 2006.

Hassan Nasrallah: I want to say to our Lebanese people, the peoples of our nation, and the world, and to be very clear: What has happened since the first day of this war, and is still happening, even today - the killing, massacres, destruction, brutality, and barbarism - the ones responsible for all this are, first and foremost, Bush and his administration. In our opinion, Olmert and his government are no more than tools in this war. I'd like to stress this by saying that the blood of the women and children in Qana and the blood of all the elderly and the innocent civilians that has been spilled in Lebanon stains the faces of Bush, Condoleezza Rice, Rumsfeld, and Cheney. This is the murderous, criminal, aggressive, and blood-shedding administration which continues to prevent the cessation of the aggression, by making conditions and trying to dictate them. This must be clear to every Lebanese, every Arab, to every Muslim, every Christian, and every honorable man in the world. I want to say things as they are, with no confusion. I say to the Lebanese: Today, there is a war, but when the war comes to an end, which will eventually happen, I want you never to forget that this is the same American administration, Lebanon's "friend," Lebanon's "ally," who "loves" Lebanon, whose heart bleeds for the Lebanese people, who wants the Lebanese people to live in an oasis of security and peace, and to become a model for democracy in the region. This is the same American administration on which some people pinned their hopes, and may still do so in the future. I hope we will not forget this in the days, months, and years to come. I want to emphasize that whatever the results of this war may be, Lebanon will never be American or Israeli. Lebanon will never be one of the posts of the New Middle East, which Bush and Condoleezza Rice desire.

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To those who love Lebanon and want to help it, I say: You should pay close attention and note that the homes destroyed in Lebanon were destroyed by Israel, not by an earthquake. The people who were displaced from their homes were not displaced by a tsunami, nor by a flood, or a volcano eruption. It was Israel that got them out of their homes. It killed their women and children. Armed with an American decision, with American weapons, and American missiles, Israel created in this country this blood-soaked, destructive, and saddening scene.

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We will not agree that anyone treat Lebanon like a miserable, humanitarian case - giving it medicine, rations of supplies, and some money. In any case, we are grateful to whoever gives this aid. But this does not express real love. In order to convey real love to Lebanon, you should make efforts to stop the aggression against it. You are capable of doing this. You can raise your voices, and more importantly, you can say in your private meetings with the Americans and others the same things you say in public. Today, the entire world knows - the Lebanese, the Arabs, the European countries, and the whole world - who prevents and thwarts the cessation of the Zionist aggression against Lebanon. It is Bush and his American administration.

Go, and prove your love to Lebanon over there. Raise your voice over there. Be real men, if only for a single day, over there, in order to save your thrones, and to save whatever is left of your honor. I'd like to say to the leaders of our Arab and Islamic countries that in the New Middle East there will be no place for your thrones. You have abandoned your moral and national responsibility, out of fear for your thrones. But in the New Middle East, you will have no thrones, and there is no certainty that you will even have countries. Your states will be divided, by the map of the New Middle East, into cantons and midget-states, on the basis of religion, sects, and race. That large country will not remain a large country, that rich country will not remain a rich country, thrones will not remain thrones, and seats will not remain seats. For your own sake, for the sake of your thrones, I say to you: Combine your humanity with your thrones, and act - even for a single day - to stop this aggression against Lebanon. From the first day, I said that I do not ask or call upon you to do anything. I still do not, but I want to protect you, our country, and our homeland. This is how those who want can help Lebanon.