McConnell Corrects the Record: Hizballah Is A Terrorist Organization

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding the terror group Hizballah:

"Since October 7th, the Israeli military has achieved remarkable success in destroying Hamas' capacity to wage war and in targeting Hizballah terrorists.

"But Israel's operations against the Iran-backed terrorists surrounding it have also succeeded in exposing some of the most malignant and persistent biases of Western media against the Jewish state of Israel.

"We need look no further than the astonishing willingness of the most prominent outlets in America to parrot the terrorists' preferred casualty figures, produced by Hamas' own health ministry… Or the haste of even the nation's so-called 'paper of record' to attribute to Israel a devastating rocket strike on a hospital that careful observation showed to be the work of the terrorists, themselves.

"To deny the role of careless coverage - and outright bias - in the groundswell of anti-Israel and anti-Semitic hate across the West is willful ignorance.

"Consider just this morning's example, courtesy of taxpayer-funded National Public Radio.

"In its coverage of an apparent Israeli operation to target Hizballah terrorists via their specialized communications networks, NPR described Hizballah as a 'Lebanese militant and political group'.

"The most accurate descriptor of Hizballah - a terrorist organization - was conspicuously absent. But NPR editors did manage to include a quote from a man on the street accusing Israel of terrorism.

"Well, as intrepid journalists so often remind us, context matters. And it matters especially in the work of an organization that takes federal government funding and whose CEO has declared that 'reverence for the truth might be a distraction…'

"So let's establish some context.

"Hizballah is arguably the world's most dangerous terrorist group. The U.S. government, and more than sixty other countries, recognize this essential characteristic.

"Hizballah is funded, trained, and equipped by Iran. And with Iran's help, Hizballah has conducted terror attacks around the world - from bombings in Argentina and Greece to backing the ghoulish Assad regime in the Syrian Civil War.

"Until 9/11, Hizballah was responsible for the deadliest terror attacks against the United States, killing 321 Americans in bombings of the U.S. Embassy, Marine barracks, and annex in Beirut in 1983 and 1984.

"They also coordinated with the IRGC and its master terrorist, Qassem Soleimani, to kill hundreds of U.S. servicemembers in Iraq. And of course, Hizballah continues to threaten U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria today.

"But of course, one of Hizballah's primary reasons for existence is the murder of Jews and the destruction of the Jewish state.

"To the extent that it is a political entity, it has corrupted and strangled Lebanon's fragile democracy. And it is Hizballah's efforts to threaten Israel with tens of thousands of rockets and missiles and its terror tunnels to facilitate infiltration of Israel that has put Lebanon in the spotlight.

"So it may be worth mentioning that perhaps the most carefully targeted series of simultaneous attacks against terrorist operatives in human history comes in response to this all-consuming campaign, which has turned Lebanon into the staging area for war on Israel's existence.

"How's that for context?

"It is my understanding that the senior Senator from Vermont has said he will introduce joint resolutions of disapproving of U.S. security assistance to Israel. Such a signal would only empower and embolden terrorists like Hamas and Hizballah.

"Each of our colleagues deserves the chance to go on the record right away to reject this extremism."

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