Hezbollah and Al-Qaeda -- Known

Hezbollah and Al-Qaeda -- Known Terrorist Organizations

Hezbollah

The group known as Hezbollah is a military, political and social organization in Lebanon which adheres to Shiite status in its Islamic religious / cultural ethnicity. Whereas Hezbollah was once a "…shadowy militant group" known only for its terror-related attacks, now Hezbollah has become the top political force in Lebanon (The New York Times, 2012). According to sources at the federal level of the U.S., Hezbollah receives strong financial and military backing from the rogue Islamic nation of Iran; it is said that Iran has kicked in up to $200 million annually although those figures may be out of date. Hezbollah also receives financial and military support from Syria.

Some of the main goals of Hezbollah have been achieved; that is, Hezbollah sought political and military power within the nation of Lebanon, and in 2008 Hezbollah emerged as a political force in Lebanon. In 2011, the existing coalition government in Lebanon was dissolved and the newest Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, put together a government that is dominated by Hezbollah members, the Times reports.

Another goal of Hezbollah is to drive Israeli troops out of southern Lebanon. The BBC reports that Hezbollah is in fact committed to the idea of destroying Israel because Hezbollah believes that the Jewish state is actually occupying "Muslim land." Hezbollah's philosophy is that Israel has no right to even exist, let alone occupy lands that Arabs also lay claims to, according to the BBC.

Al-Qaeda

Middle Eastern Affairs expert Kenneth Katzman reported to the U.S. Congress in 2005 that the origins of Al Qaeda can be traced to the time that Osama bin Laden served as volunteer battling against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. Later, in 1991, bin Laden began training militant Muslims to conduct terrorist acts against the West (including the U.S., the UK, and Israel among other nations). The goals of Al Qaeda are quite openly demonstrated based on the attacks they are accused of launching: they organized and carried out the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States; they bombed two American embassies (Kenya and Tanzania), killing 300 people; they were responsible for the attack on the U.S.S. Cole in 2000 in Yemen.

While in a general sense, the goals of Hezbollah and Al Qaeda are similar -- both groups wish to destroy Israel and they despise the United States, which of course is the main ally of Israel -- the two groups are very different in structure. Hezbollah is a political organization involved in government affairs in Lebanon. Hezbollah may be militant and violent, but it is a far cry from Al Qaeda because it is part of the establishment in Lebanon.

Meanwhile, Al Qaeda is very loosely organized and has splinter groups and radical cells in a number of places around the world. It is not known whether Al Qaeda or Hezbollah have access to WMD, but because Hezbollah is closely associated with Iran and Syria, this group could gain access to WMD. Al Qaeda has used suicide bombers in campaigns and has tried to bring down commercial airliners through creative bomb making, while Hezbollah has pretty much kept its focus on the political and military control it asserts in Lebanon (albeit Hezbollah has lobbed mortar shells into Israel inviting violent confrontations with the Jewish state).