U.S. Intelligence Chief Says Hizbullah Remains Threat
The new U.S. intelligence chief has said that Hizbullah anticipates a future armed conflict with Israel and might consider attacking American interests in case of a perceived U.S. threat to the group.
In an annual threat assessment to Congress, director of national intelligence Dennis Blair said: "We judge armed struggle, particularly against Israel, remains central to Hizbullah”s ideology and strategy."
Blair said that Hizbullah "anticipates a future conflict with Israel and probably continues to implement lessons learned from the conflict in the summer of 2006," referring to the July 2006 Israel war on Lebanon. Any future conflict, he said, would put Israel against a "better prepared and more capable" Hizbullah.
While he did not rule out an attack on American interests, Blair said that such a move would be carefully weighed by Hizbullah and would be linked to its perception of "a direct U.S. threat to the group”s survival, leadership, or infrastructure or to Iran."
In the wide ranging assessment, Blair also highlighted growing Al-Qaeda threats in Yemen, East Africa and North Africa.
Blair described Hizbullah as being a "multifaceted and disciplined" organization combining "political, social, paramilitary, and terrorist elements."
On Iran, Blair said the Islamic Republic has focused its efforts on solidifying its influence in Lebanon through continuing support of groups such as Hizbullah.
The Lebanese group remains the "largest recipient of Iranian financial aid, training, and weaponry," Blair said, assessing that Iran has continued to provide Hizbullah with "significant amounts of funding, training, and weapons” since the 2006 war "increasing the group”s capabilities to pressure other Lebanese factions and to threaten Israel."
"Iran”s ambitions combined with unresolved conflicts in Iraq, Lebanon, and the Palestinian Territories represent the principal flashpoints for intensified conflict in the region," he said.
He linked the slow progress in a Palestinian-Israeli peace accord to the growing influence of Hamas in Gaza and Hizbullah in Lebanon.