Hezbollah militant group could stage an attack on the United States if it believed the U.S. poses a direct threat to the group or to its alleged backer Iran, chief U.S. spy Michael McConnell warned on Monday. "We assess Lebanese Hezbollah, which has conducted anti-U.S. attacks outside the United States in the past, may be more likely to consider attacking the homeland over the next three years if it perceives the United States as posing a direct threat to the group or Iran," he said in written testimony to Congress.The Lebanese Shiite militant and political organization is considered a "terrorist" group by the United States. Iran, which is at loggerheads with the United States over its nuclear ambitions, is a vocal supporter of the Lebanese militant group and rejoiced over its resistance to the Israeli army last year. Tehran, however, denies Western charges that it provides arms to Hezbollah.
The armed conflict led to the reinforcement of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and the deployment of the Lebanese army along the tense border zone with Israel for the first time in decades, but Hezbollah was not disarmed.
McConnell, the director of national intelligence, also warned that the United States would "face a persistent and evolving terrorist threat over the next three years." He expressed concern that international cooperation that had constrained the ability of Al-Qaida to attack the United States since the September 11, 2001 attacks could fizzle out. "We are concerned however that this level of international cooperation may wane as 9/11 becomes a more distant memory and perceptions of the threat diverge," he told a Senate hearing on confronting the terrorism threat ahead of the sixth anniversary of the September 11 mayhem in the United States.
In a video tape last week, Al-Qaida leader Osama bin laden called for an escalation of the insurgency in Iraq. U.S. President George Bush said Saturday that the new video showed how dangerous the world remains and how the United States must show resolve in Iraq.