Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah claimed the United States, under former President George W. Bush, offered the Lebanon-based, Iran-backed Shi’ite terrorist group money to end its violent resistance against Israel.
“Following the 2000 victory, the Israeli enemy, along with the U.S., had realized that Lebanon’s real power lies within its resistance, which has managed to force the Israeli occupation out of Lebanon without any condition,” Nasrallah said during an electoral rally in the town of Nabatiye on Sunday, according to Iran’s state-run Press TV.
“We were offered money and to be part of the authority in Lebanon on condition that we cede resistance,” Nasrallah said adding, that it was “My fault at that time was that I didn’t accept to take his paper, so that it would be a proof now.”
He claimed that former Vice President Dick Cheney assigned American-Lebanese journalist and adviser to the UAE George Nader to offer Hezbollah a deal to get them to stop.
According to Al Jazeera, Nasrallah said the deal also included removing Hezbollah from international terror watch lists and providing funding to help rebuild southern Lebanon.
“We thought he was a Lebanese journalist, but he turned out to be an American citizen with a message from Dick Cheney,” Nasrallah reportedly said.
Bush took on a softer stance towards the terrorist organization during his presidency and expressed hope that they might reform themselves.
In 2005, CNN reported:
President Bush on Tuesday expressed the hope that Hezbollah—which the U.S. State Department has long regarded as a terrorist group—could enter the political mainstream in Lebanon.
“We view Hezbollah as a terrorist organization,” Bush said at a news conference with Jordan’s King Abdullah II after the two met in the Oval Office.
“I would hope that Hezbollah would prove that they’re not, by laying down arms and not threatening peace.”
Nasrallah reportedly also stirred up another conspiracy theory in which he claimed that the U.S., Israel, and some Persian Gulf Arab states are still seeking to stir up a conflict between the Lebanese Army and Hezbollah.
During Bush’s presidency, Nasrallah stated, “This American administration is an enemy. Our motto, which we are not afraid to repeat year after year, is: ‘Death to America.'” He also said, “Israel is our enemy. This is an aggressive, illegal, and illegitimate entity, which has no future in our land. Its destiny is manifested in our motto: ‘Death to Israel.'”
In August, Nasrallah quoted then-candidate for President Donald Trump at a rally in Lebanon saying of his statements that the Obama administration helped create the Islamic State, “This is an American presidential candidate who is saying this. What he says is based on facts and documents.”
In November, Nasrallah said Sunni-majority Saudi Arabia had forced Lebanon’s Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri, who had an assassination plot against him, to resign. “The resignation was a Saudi decision dictated to prime minister Saad al-Hariri and forced on him,” Nasrallah said, according to Reuters.
Nasrallah also said of Hariri’s resignation was “illegal.”
Adelle Nazarian is a politics and national security reporter for Breitbart News. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter.
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