Hezbollah Terrorist Organization

Introduction  

The historiography of terror, terrorism, and terror organization is extremely complicated and sometimes borders on philosophy. This is because some individuals are considered as terrorist by others while in other quarters they are considered to be freedom fighters, aggressive activists or even pacifists. Some terror organization and their followers have even accused their enemies, including the USA to be the actual terrorist (Byman, 2016) . One of the organizations who engage in this form of propaganda is the organization known as Hezbollah. Indeed, the organization fashions itself as a political party that is also involved in fighting for freedom in Lebanon (Sadiki, 2011) . On this basis, it has seats both in parliament and even in the Lebanese cabinet. However, several nations including the USA consider Hezbollah to be purely a terror organization. There is, however, no absolute consensus on this with some countries like Russia considering it as a legitimate political outfit (Byman, 2016) . A careful analysis will show that the organization couples as both a seemingly legitimate political outfit but like the mafia, its main power lies in its dangerous military and terror capabilities. It is the nature and essence of this organization from all perspective that forms the focus of the instant research paper. 

Historical Background 

It can be said definitively and without the possibility of contradiction that Hezbollah was formed not based on a love for Lebanon but rather out of hatred for Israel and its ally the United States of America (Childs, 2014) . Indeed, the roots of Hezbollah can be traced back to 1982 when Israel attacked and occupied parts of Lebanon as part of its strategy of defense through offense. Sayyid Ruhollah Mūsavi Khomeini, commonly known simply as Ayatollah Khomeini decided to organize a force with international backing to fight against the Israelis (El Zein, 2015) . With the permission and support of Syria, which was then in occupation of Lebanon, Ayatollah sent over a thousand of his soldiers to train and prepare Lebanese extremists to fight against Israel. These trainees can be considered as the initial seed that was to bloom into the modern day Hezbollah over the course of three decades (Childs, 2014) . 

By 1985, Hezbollah had started establishing itself as an independent entity. Within its manifesto, it indicated part of its goals as the absolute expulsion of Americans and the French from the Middle East using any means necessary. In the 1990s, Hezbollah began to change its approach, but not its main objectives. It began to fashion itself as a political outfit, now under the patronage of Ali Khamenei, supreme leader of Iran (El Zein, 2015) . Under these auspices, it sponsored parliamentary candidates for twelve seats and won all of them. From then onwards, Hezbollah passed itself as a political outfit, yet most of its effort is invested in being a militant terror organization. Many governments, however, including the Lebanese, Russian, Iranian and Syrian governments have recognized Hezbollah’s legitimacy (El Zein, 2015) . 

Strengths

Hezbollah is perhaps one of the strongest terror organization both from a military and influence perspective. Most terror organizations suffer near global bans and are made up of criminal-like individuals who spend most of their time and resources on the run. However, due to its seemingly recognized political faction, Hezbollah leaders do not have to hide (CIA, 2014) . They travel freely with their own security details as government leaders in Lebanon and even across some borders. These is one of the major strengths of the organization. The second strength lies in the nature of patronage that Hezbollah has, including support from some of the powerful dictatorships in the world. Hezbollah is fighting ISIS alongside Syria and Russia within Syria (Harb, 2016) . 

This gives the organization some very powerful allies and a source of intelligence and sophisticated weaponry. This is over and above its initial supporter, Iran, which is also a formidable enemy. Finally, another strength found in Hezbollah lies in their military capacity, resilience, and ruthlessness (El Zein, 2015) . Few organizations have had a direct confrontation with Israel and survived for long. Hezbollah has been fighting with Israel intermittently since 1982 and survived. Hezbollah not only has thousands of well trained and armed soldiers but also the cruel tactics of using the innocent as human shields (Murphy, 2009) . When attacked, there is always bound to be civilian casualties which the organization will then use as part of their propaganda tools (Sadiki, 2011) . So good is Hezbollah in propaganda that in 2016, it is suspected to have killed one of its top leaders; Mustafa Badreddine and blame it on Israel to bolster support (Moore, 2017) . 

Weaknesses  

Today, one of the biggest weaknesses that Hezbollah has suffered is the loss of popular opinion. By indicating itself as an anti-Israel and the West champion for and on behalf of the Arabs, Hezbollah received dizzying and fanatical support from the Arab world. Some analysts indicate that since the reign of Gama Abdel Nasser no any Arab entity has gotten the simultaneous support of both Shias and Sunnis like Hezbollah had (El Zein, 2015) . The war in Syria has, however, changed all that, due to the support of the cruel and unpopular Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Working alongside Russia, another perceived enemy of Islam has also not helped their cause with the populace (Harb, 2016) . Losing popular support can be considered as the greatest of Hezbollah weaknesses. Another weakness that cannot be overstated is having the USA, France, and Israel for an enemy. These are three massive military and intelligence powers that have been involved in a form of conflict for the better part of the last century (CIA, 2014) . The kind of force they bring to bear has had a major adverse impact on Hezbollah’s activities. 

Composition  

Hezbollah has two primary factions to wit the political outfit and the military wing. At the epitome of both is the supreme leader, the Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah. However, according to the popular propaganda fielded by the organization, its Supreme Leader is Allah himself, seconded by Prophet Mohamed and a series of councils comprised of clerics (CIA, 2014) . Nasrallah, however, carries most clout within the organization, albeit the Supreme Leader of Iran Ali Khamenei also has a major say in how the organization carries its activities, being the main financier thereof. 

Impact on the USA 

One of the direct impacts of Hezbollah against the US entails involvement in the war in Iraq through the training and arming of Shia insurgents to fight against American troops (Byman, 2016) . It is because of such insurgencies that the war in Iraq has been going on indefinitely. This has cost the USA a lot of credibilities, human life, and finances. Hezbollah has also been directly involved in terror attacks against Americans and American interests. The bombing of the US embassy in Beirut in 1983 is a prime example, leading to the loss of 63 lives (CIA, 2014) . Another bombing in an annex of the same building in 1984 led to 24 more deaths (Kifner, 1984) . Security agents also report that Hezbollah has consistently tried to lodge terror attacks on US soil, more so through the US of planes. Hezbollah is believed to have several powerful sleeper cells within the USA as well as Latin America which could strike if ever US relations with Iran deteriorate (Keshavarz, 2015) . 

Conclusion  

The power and capacity of Hezbollah, more so from the perspective of popular support in the Arab world may be fading, but the organization is still extremely dangerous. Like the mafia, the organization fashions itself as a political faction in Lebanon whose only interest is to protect the region from Israel and the western world. From a practical perspective, behind the political charade is a dangerous terror group that has wreaked havoc in the Arab world for over three decades. The group is well organized, has a disciplined, well trained, and well-armed military force well funded and also has great intelligence capabilities. Among its key enemies is the US, which the organization is trying to fight in Iraq and also through direct terror attack on US soil. In spite of the political cloak, Hezbollah is an actual terror organization and ought to be considered as such. 

References

Byman, D. L. (2016, July 28). Hezbollah’s growing threat against U.S. national security interests in the Middle East . Retrieved July 25, 2017, from https://www.brookings.edu/testimonies/hezbollahs-growing-threat-against-u-s-national-security-interests-in-the-middle-east/  

Childs, S. J. (2014). Hezbollah: A History of the “Party of God.” Journal of Church and State, 56 (1), 166-167  

CIA. (2014, July 10). Flashback: April 18, 1983: U.S. Embassy attacked in Beirut. Retrieved July 25, 2017, from https://www.cia.gov/news-information/featured-story-archive/2014-featured-story-archive/flashback-april-18-1983-u-s-embassy-bombed-in-beirut.html 

El Zein, H. (2015).  The Military Media of The Islamic Resistance-the Military Arm of Hezbollah: History, Messages, and Objectives  (Doctoral dissertation, Central Queensland University, School of Education and the Arts (2013-)) 

Harb, I. K. (2016). The Hezbollah-Iran Pivot: The controlling agencies behind Lebanon’s sectarian politics. International Australia, 1-8. 

Keshavarz, A. (2015). Iran and Hezbollah in the tri-border areas of Latin America: A look at the “Old TBA” and the “New TBA.”  Small Wall Journal 

Kifner, J. (1984, September 20). Blast kills driver. Retrieved July 25, 2017, from http://www.nytimes.com/1984/09/21/world/23-die-including-2-americans-terrorist-car-bomb-attack-us-embassy-beirut-blast.html?pagewanted=all 

Moore, J. (2017, March 26). Top Hezbollah commander Mustafa Badreddine assassinated by own group, Israeli military says . Retrieved July 25, 2017, from http://www.newsweek.com/hezbollah-commander-mustafa-badreddine-assassinated-group-israel-military-571536 

Murphy, R. (2009, April 06). A doctrine of cruelty and folly . Retrieved July 25, 2017, from https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/a-doctrine-of-cruelty-and-folly/article1101337/ 

Sadiki, L. (2011, December 12). Hezbollah’s hypocritical resistance. Retrieved July 25, 2017, from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/13/opinion/hezbollahs-hypocritical-resistance.html