This is a threat?

Seriously, I expect loony words to spout from the mouth of anyone associated with Hezbollah, but their latest announcment has me scratching my head.

As you may have heard, someone arranged for one Hezbollah's leaders, Imad Mughniyeh, to meet his maker. While many out there may not know his name, you probably have heard of some of the operations which he oversaw, planned, and/or approved, including the Marine Barracks bombing at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut in 1983 which resulted in 241 dead Marines, the attack on the U.S. Embassy Annex in Beirut in 1984, and the architect of the hijacking of TWA Flight 847 in 1985. He has also been linked with kidnappings of Terry Waite, Col. William Buckley (who died in captivity), as well as the Karine A incident in 2002.

At the memorial service, the current Hezbollah leader, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah (who coincidentally made his remarks via video because he is in hiding), told the crowd of terrorist sympathizers that Israel "[has] crossed the border...With this murder, its timing, location and method -- Zionists, if you want this kind of open war, let the whole world listen: Let this war be open."

[Note: At this time, no one has claimed responsibility for Mughniyeh's belated departure from planet Earth. Although Israel has denied responsibility]

So let me get something clear. Prior to the death of Mughniyeh, the war was not open. The fact that Hezbollah regularly bombards Israeli communities with rockets was.... covert? That Hezbollah operations which have resulted in taking IDF soldiers hostage... have been secret?

Frankly, I cannot imagine a Western-style democracy (such as the U.S. and Israel), would do anything but welcome "open war". Seems like if Hezbollah is doing anything more than simply pandering to the crowd (i.e. actually thinking of mounting something more than a guerrilla campaign) the Chiefs over at the IDF would do welcome that change in policy. All those nice targets for conventional air, artillery, and tank fire to shoot at without worrying about Hezbollah hiding amongst the civilians.

Too bad it is unlikely that Hezbollah will actually do that, but it would be refreshing to see an Islamic terrorist group stop hiding amongst non-combatants.

So lets see. Continual attacks on Israel. Check. Taking Israeli citizens hostage. Check. Encouraging other terrorist entities to launch indiscriminate attacks on Israel. Check. How is that not an "open war"?