Jihad for Kerry

Ha’aretz reports that for the first time since the start of the war in Iraq, the leader of a large and recognized Shi’ite religious organization has publicly called for a jihad against the U.S. forces.
Ha’aretz notes that neither the Shi’ite leadership in Iraq, which contains fierce opponents to the United States, or even the Shi’ite leaders in Iran, have dared to say what Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah did in precise terms, pulling no punches, and in public before a crowd of thousands of his followers: “The resistance movement [against the U.S. in Iraq] may not be able to remove the U.S. from Iraq within a year, but it will be able to remove Bush, Rumsfeld and Condoleezza Rice, together with their Zionist friends, from the White House,” Nasrallah assured his listeners.
Ha’aretz helpfully interprets the call for jihad against American forces: “Nasrallah’s scenario requires no deep understanding: Suicide attacks and sabotage operations against the American forces in Iraq will cause American public opinion to turn against the president and not re-elect him, thus bringing about the disappearance of this group of leaders from the White House.” (Courtesy of Malcolm Smordin.)
Sheik Nasrallah decisively answers the rhetorical questions posed by James Lileks yesterday: “I