Another montage showed John Bolton, the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. having a Nazi armband appear on his arm along with his trademark gray mustache morphing into a black Hitler-like model.
Other films show bombs raining down on innocent people with the words “Made in America” stamped on them.
Nasrallah’s speech was the culmination of propaganda by the Iranian-directed terror group that has expanded its already high level of anti-American and anti-Semitic rhetoric for several days, but this was the most blatant demarcation of the United States, not Israel, as the main enemy of Hizballah, and, hence, Iran.
Although Sheikh Nasrallah’s remarks were offered with his customary confident, even cocky style, there was evidence of mounting emotional stress. The Hizballah leader’s voice cracked and creaked several times.
“We are now in the fourth week in fighting, and he chooses not to appear in front of a live audience or in a forum where people ask questions,” observed Lt. Col. (Res.) Moshe Marzook, a former Israeli Army (IDF) intelligence analyst who specializes in Arab affairs.
“Notice that Nasrallah only appears in recorded announcements, and that he appears alone and doesn’t expose himself to journalists questions, to questions from the Lebanese people,” remarked Marzook, an analyst at the Herzliya Interdisciplinary Center.
“He relates only to what is convenient for him,” added Marzook.
Periodically during the speech, Nasrallah had trouble with his prepared text and pulled nervously at the tunic around his neck or rubbed his beard—signs that have appeared in a few of his wartime speeches.
Perhaps more importantly there were changes in content, as he also departed from his usual ritual of never referring to “Israel” or “Israelis” except as “the enemy” [al-’udu in Arabic] or “the Zionists” or “the Zionist entity.”
“If you decide at any time to stop your campaign against our cities, our civilians and our infrastructure, then we shall not shell with our rockets any Israeli colony or city,” said Nasserallah, offering a form of limited truce on his own terms.
After offering Israel a carrot, Nasrallah also threatened Israel, warning that expanded air attacks around Beirut would lead to the bombing of Tel Aviv.
Israel admits Hizballah still has a few long-range Iranian-made Zilzal missiles that can reach Tel Aviv, but Israel responded last night and today by continuing its bombing of Hizballah targets in the south Beirut neighborhoods of Al-Dahiya and Burg Al-Barajneh, near Beirut’s airport.
Israeli Army Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz and other Israeli officers also issued their own counter-threat, saying that any attack on Tel Aviv would prompt a counter-strike against Lebanon’s strategic infrastructure.
Still, Nasrallah has -- and as he has in the past -- tried to goad Israel into fighting a war or accepting diplomatic option on Hizballah’s terms.
“We prefer a war that is soldier against soldier and in the battlefield. We welcome it,” Nasrallah said, referring to Israel trying to uproot Hizballah fighters from deep concrete and metal-lined bunker complexes just north of the Israeli border.
“Remember, Zionists, you have only one choice—to stop the aggression and go for a diplomatic solution. And if you place any conditions, we refuse any conditions,” asserted the Hizballah leader.
But the tough talk from Nasrallah in part of his speech was belied by the increasing calls—in Hizballah’s propaganda broadcasts—for diplomatic or even military intervention on the part of Arab states on Hizballah’s behalf.
There has also been an increasing tendency to “tell tall tales” about Hizballah’s military accomplishments—serial destruction of Israeli tanks, planes, helicopters and war ships.
“He claimed that he had already sunk two Israeli ships, and to this day he has no pictures,” observed Lt. Col. (Res) Marzook, who has closely followed Nasrallah’s utterances.
“He [Nasrallah] has been lying, and he has escalated the lying in order to shore up morale of the fighting,” stated Marzook.
“One of the most important things, is the internal problems in Lebanon such as the one million refugees in Lebanon that he helped create. He does not want to answer questions about that,” Marzook concluded.
Nasrallah Declares Open War on U.S.
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