10-Feb-13: Plain talk on what to do about the world's most dangerous charity

From the New York Times, August 6, 2006

A Jerusalem Post editorial today in the wake of the Bulgarian expose of Hezbollah points out that

Europe permits a dormant terrorist potential to thrive in its midst and it knows so, its denials notwithstanding... EU foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, equivocated and spoke about “the need for reflection over the outcome of the investigation.”

The incoming US Secretary of State John Kerry has exhorted the international community, and particularly European states, to take immediate action against Hezbollah. “We need to send an unequivocal message to this terrorist group that it can no longer engage in despicable actions with impunity,” he is quoted saying.

To which we add this quotation from an article in the latest edition of Foreign Policy magazine:

Some European lawmakers continue to argue that Hezbollah is primarily a social-services organization because it spends money on ordinary Lebanese citizens. This is like calling al Qaeda an urban-planning organization because of its desire to level tall buildings. Hezbollah uses its funds to purchase Iranian weaponry and transform the Lebanese state into an outpost for terror. Hezbollah's idea of investing in the next generation is to acquire 50,000 missiles -  more than many NATO members - and stockpile them in the immediate vicinity of schools and playgrounds. It doesn't take a Nobel Peace Prize laureate to realize that this isn't a selfless humanitarian organization. (Foreign Policy: February 8, 2013: "Bankrupting the World's Most Dangerous Charity: It's time to put Hezbollah out of business", by Ron Prosor, Israel's ambassador to the United Nations)