BEIRUT: Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah renewed his support Wednesday for the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad and called on Syrians to move swiftly to a stage of dialogue.

“We renew our call for the protection of Syria, its people and army and the only solution is through the acceptance of dialogue and that this done swiftly,” Nasrallah said. […]

He said the unrest in Lebanon’s neighbor comforted the Jewish state.

“Israel is happy today because there are pillars in the Syrian army that have been targeted and killed,” he said.

Nasrallah said Israel’s objective was for Syria to remain without a capable army.

He voiced confidence that the Syrian army would persevere.

“We are confident that the Syrian army, which has had to cope with the intolerable, has the ability, determination and consistency to continue,” he said.

The Hezbollah chief placed the Syrian crisis within the context of what he described as a long-term policy by the U.S. and Israel to strip Arab states of real military capabilities.

“They just want a police,” he said, noting that one of the U.S. military’s first acts in Iraq following the conquest of Baghdad was to disband the military.

He said this plan served only to protect Israel at all costs.