The Terrorist Dictionary

There are a few confusing (and similar sounding) terms that are being mentioned in many news stories about the conflict in the Israel and Lebanon, so I thought it would be useful to explain the differences between Hamas and Hezbollah and also between a Qassam rocket and a Katyusha rocket.

Hamas and Hezbollah are VERY different organizations: Hamas is based in the Palestinian Territories (mainly the Gaza Strip) and it is composed of Sunni Muslims. Hezbollah is a Shi'ite organization based in Lebanon and Syria.

A Qassam rocket is a homemade device with a very short range and absolutely no accuracy, and it is the favorite weapon of Hamas. Katyusha rockets, preferred by Hezbollah, are more sophisticated devices built for conventional militaries. The original Katyusha was built by the USSR ("Katyusha" is an old Russian folk song), but the term is now applied to many similar rockets built in other countries. I think Hezbollah's are Iranian in origin. The Katyusha is a short range rocket and not very accurate by conventional military standards, but it is FAR superior to the primitive Qassam in both range and accuracy.

So, hopefully a few of you will understand the conflict better now that I have posted this dictionary of destruction. Good luck to Israel in their quest to eliminate all of the four terms defined in this post.

ROCK ON, ISRAEL!

Tags: Israel, Lebanon, Terrorism, War, Middle East, HezbollahHamas, Katyusha, Qassam