In his weekly seminar, the Religious Authority H.E. Sayyed Muhammad Hussein Fadlullah was asked the following question: "The French Foreign Minister commented on the violation of human rights in Iraq by the American aggression that is targeting civilians by saying that the human rights in the world is on a critical crossroads. How do you think the international position that rejects the American policy will unfold in view of the military developments on the battlefield that surprised the American Administration?”

The Sayyed answered:

It might be still early to talk about the way things will turn out on the ground despite the vehement resistance to aggression.

The Americans and the British had imagined that the road is paved for them, and that the Iraqi people will, as a result of their tragedies and pains inflicted by the dictator, forget who has brought Saddam in the first place and who has protected and armed him for many decades.

We believe that Washington has started to read the message of the Iraqi people and that the Americans are not welcomed. Its presence in Iraq will be treated as an occupation force with all the political and even military implications of such a consideration.

As for how the battle will unfold, we believe that, as the forces of aggression continue their attempt to advance towards the Iraqi capital, the American administration will continue to monitor the Arab and Muslim street, and try to act in a way that will not thwart its previously drawn out plan for the region, especially through claiming that they do not target civilians and that they are doing their best to avoid any civilian causalities.

But we notice that the American Administration has ignored all international stances against the war, because it feels that they are still mere talk and criticism that did not turn to action. Moreover, they were not met with Arab and Islamic decisive stances that would encourage them to conduct what could be described as a political transformation in international relations.

That is why we believe that all parties have reached an impasse, and probably the biggest impasse will be what the new world order will look like. That is why everybody will monitor the Iraqi steadfastness and the Arab, Islamic and even international interaction with this steadfastness. When the war elongates, with the Arabs and Muslims escalating their response, we could reach the point of explosion.

Thus, things depend to a great extent on the level the Iraqis will reach in their confrontation of the invasion and the occupation, and how much the Arab and Muslim street will react. The fate of the nation depends on our reaction as Arab and Muslim peoples in the hours and days ahead.