AP Calls Terrorist Nasrallah a ‘Pragmatist’; Omits Hezbollah Murders of Americans

By Joel B. Pollak

The Associated Press published an obituary of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah that referred to him as a “pragmatist” and omitted Hezbollah’s role in murdering hundreds of Americans, among other terror victims.

As Breitbart News reported, Nasrallah was killed Friday evening in an Israeli airstrike; his death was confirmed Saturday.

The AP obituary declared: “Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah transformed the militant group into a potent regional force.” It described Nasrallah’s rise through the terrorist ranks, his wars against Israel, and his decline in popularity after bringing Hezbollah into the Syrian civil war. But it omitted essential facts about Nasrallah, including his role in mass murder throughout the Middle East, his targeting of civilians, and Hezbollah’s role in murdering Americans.

At one point, the AP’s obituary declared: “A fiery orator viewed as an extremist in the U.S. and much of the West, as well as in some oil-rich Gulf Arab countries, he was also considered a pragmatist compared with the firebrand militants who dominated Hezbollah after its founding in 1982, during Lebanon’s civil war.”

The obituary omitted the fact — noted in the White House response — that Hezbollah had been responsible for hundreds of American deaths, including the bombing of the U.S. Marines barracks in Beirut in 1983.

President Joe Biden noted in a statement:

Hassan Nasrallah and the terrorist group he led, Hezbollah, were responsible for killing hundreds of Americans over a four-decade reign of terror. His death from an Israeli airstrike is a measure of justice for his many victims, including thousands of Americans, Israelis, and Lebanese civilians.

(Biden closed his statement by reiterating his call for a ceasefire.)

Fifty-eight French soldiers were also murdered in the barracks attack, leading Louis Sarkozy, son of former French president Nicolas Sarkozy, to praise Israel for eliminating Nasrallah.

The mainstream media have a habit of praising terrorist leaders when they are killed. In 2019, the Washington Post called ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi an “austere religious scholar” after he was killed by U.S. special forces.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.