A U.S. civilian contractor was killed in a rocket attack on an Iraqi military base near the city of Kirkuk on Friday. The attack occurred in an area controlled by Kataib Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed Shiite militia.
U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell used the attack to urge the entire EU to ban Hezbollah.
Now would be a good time for our European allies to follow the lead of the German parliament and move to designate Hezbollah a terrorist organization. #diplomacy https://t.co/8O7s1dAYg5
— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) December 28, 2019
The German parliament recently passed a non-binding resolution urging the government to ban Hezbollah’s “political organization.” The motion urged Chancellor Angela Merkel’s administration, as well as the EU, to adopt a total ban of Hezbollah.
There are more than a thousand Hezbollah representatives in Germany alone.
The US, Canada, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Israel and Arab League have designated Hezbollah’s movement a terrorist organization, and Sudan reportedly will close Hezbollah’s office in North African country.
There are roughly 1,050 Hezbollah operatives in Germany who recruit new members, raise funds for their parent organization Beirut, and spread lethal antisemitic ideology in the federal republic.
It’s a convenient fiction that the Hezbollah “political organization” is any different than the militia. It’s all run out of the terrorist group’s headquarters in southern Lebanon. The terrorists are generous with the poverty-stricken Shiites in Lebanon, leading the EU to recognize the difference.
Grenell is just the man to bring that message to the EU.
Grenell’s counter-terrorism efforts have proved effective in Germany. The Post learned this year that in every meeting with German officials he urges a comprehensive ban of Hezbllah.
Hezbollah blew up an Israeli tour bus in Burgas, Bulgaria in 2012, murdering five Israelis and their Bulgarian-Muslim bus driver.
The US, Canada, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Israel, and Arab League have designated Hezbollah’s movement a terrorist organization, and Sudan reportedly will close Hezbollah’s office in North African country.
Every politician in Lebanon knows what happens if you make an enemy of the terrorists. Hezbollah may try to convince the world that its militia and its political party are separate, but if that’s true, why do so many anti-Syrian, anti-Hezbollah leaders end up with a bullet in their head or blown up in a car bomb?
Beyond that, there’s always the threat of Hezbollah’s guns being used in a political spat to stamp out any opposition to their strong-arm tactics that continue to endanger other political parties.
It’s long past time that the EU designate Hezbollah exactly what they are: a terrorist group dedicated to the destruction of the west.
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