http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/05/ … index.html
I don't like this one bit. If Hezbollah succeeds in throwing out the government (which is what it seems like they're trying to do), what's stopping them from launching war on Israel (and possibly getting us dragged into it as well)?The violence erupted shortly after Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said the government's attempts to halt Hezbollah's use of a telecommunications system amounts to "a declaration of open war."
"We believe the war has started and we believe that we have the right to defend ourselves," Nasrallah said in a televised speech. "We will cut the hand that will reach out to the weapons of the resistance no matter if it comes from the inside or the outside."
At the same time, Nasrallah called for dialogue, saying, "We are ready, whoever wants a compromise, we are here and ready."
"Those who have taken decisions leading to war, let them withdraw their decisions and there would be no war," he said.
"Am I declaring war? Not at all. I am declaring oppression and self-defense."
Lebanese parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri on Thursday blamed Hezbollah's leader for "starting a new round of horror," and called on the army to intervene.
"Beirut is under siege -- its airport, downtown, center, the roads leading to the city are all under siege," said Hariri, the son of the late former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
Lebanese Communications Minister Marwan Hamadi said Nasrallah's speech "is a direct threat of assassinating us."
"We are not scared of the threat," Hamadi told al-Arabiya. " 'Cutting off the hands' is a direct threat of assassination.
"He says it is a new phase; we say it is a new phase, too. We are determined to keep what is left of the Lebanese government."
