BEIRUT, Lebanon, Sept. 13 (UPI) -- The leader of the Islamic militia Hezbollah lashed out at the United States Friday, accusing America of being "a complete partner" of Israel in its "crimes and massacres," and saying the group is not afraid of fighting the superpower.
"We are not afraid of combating any enemy, Satan or tyrant," Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah told supporters during a rally in Beirut's southern suburbs.
His remarks were apparently a response to recent comments by U.S. Deputy State of Secretary Richard Armitage, who told a Sept. conference in Washington, D.C. that Hezbollah "may be the 'A-Team' of terrorists," adding "maybe al Qaida is actually the 'B-team.'"
"They have a blood debt to us," Armitage said -- a reference to the group's bombing attacks on the U.S. embassy and marine barracks in Beirut in the 1980s that killed hundreds of Americans. "They're on the list and their time will come," Armitage said, "make no mistake about it."
Nasrallah said such threats were useless as Hezbollah would not change "its faith and path."
"This threat will have no impact. We are not worried," Nasrallah said. "We are sure that those stupid policies of the U.S. administration will only take away the United States and its place in the world."
He said the United States would not be "the first empire that has reached tyranny and fallen because of its rulers' stupid policies. Time changes and people change."
Nasrallah also gave a coded defense of the terror tactics used by his group at that time.
"What some Lebanese -- whether groups or parties -- did in the early 1980s was a natural response by oppressed and suppressed people," he said. "This is their natural right."
Nasrallah said the real terror threat in the region came from Israel -- and its American-supplied weapons.
"Every drop of blood spilled in this region was at the hand of the Zionists backed by U.S. warplanes," he said. "The United States is a complete partner of the crimes and massacres committed by Israel."
Nasrallah said he did not expect an imminent U.S. strike against Hezbollah "because the (U.S.) priority is Iraq and control of the region's oil."
