白宫国家安全发言人约翰·柯比在美国广播公司新闻节目“本周”中说，真主党的指挥结构“几乎被摧毁”，该恐怖组织的数千架无人机和导弹被摧毁。
柯比的评论是在以色列以色列国防军周六证实，在周五对贝鲁特的一次袭击中，已击毙真主党总书记哈桑·纳斯鲁拉。
“毫无疑问，今天的真主党已经不是一周前的真主党了，”柯比告诉美国广播公司的玛莎·拉达兹。
但是，Kirby警告说，真主党可能会重组，他说“有人将被选定”接替纳斯鲁拉的位置，领导该组织。
当被问及真主党还有哪些能力，该组织是否仍然拥有远程导弹和其他火力时，柯比说，美国对他们的能力没有“清晰的了解”。
“你不能把他们排除在外，”科比说。"他们还有相当多的剩余能力。"
柯比还警告说，美国必须“准备好”让伊朗对以色列杀害纳斯鲁拉和其他领导人的袭击做出回应，他说，伊朗的言论“肯定表明他们将试图做些什么。”
“我们正在非常、非常密切地关注此事，看看真主党和/或伊朗以及伊拉克和叙利亚的民兵组织会如何做出反应。我们必须为某种回应做好准备。我们必须确保我们准备好了，我们已经准备好了。我们相信我们拥有在该地区所需的军事能力，但是现在还不清楚，现在知道伊朗对此会有什么反应还为时过早。
柯比的评论正值美国加强在该地区的军事态势。本周早些时候，五角大楼证实，它向中东增派了“少量”美国军事人员。
美国总统乔·拜登(Joe Biden)周六在一份声明中表示，他指示国防部“进一步加强美国军队在中东地区的防御态势，以遏制侵略，降低爆发更广泛地区战争的风险。”Raddatz追问Kirby总统这么说是什么意思。
“我们确实在该地区部署了一些额外的部队。我会告诉你，在增加和加强这种力量态势方面，还有其他选择。
柯比补充说，美国一直在增加其在该地区的能力，甚至超过了什么时候伊朗对以色列发动了导弹和无人机袭击四月。
柯比说:“因此，如果有必要的话，我们已经有非常强大的军事能力来保卫我们自己和帮助保卫以色列。”。
Raddatz还询问Kirby，政府是否正在与以色列就他们的行动如何导致美国资产成为目标进行对话。柯比说，以色列人“理解”美国可能成为袭击的目标。
柯比说:“我认为他们明白这一点，我们现在正在与他们讨论下一步最好的措施，同时，正如总统昨天所说，我们必须确保我们有能力保护我们的军队和设施，如果真的到了那一步，我们相信我们有能力这样做。”。
Hezbollah's leadership 'nearly decimated,' national security spokesperson Kirby says
White House National Security spokesman John Kirby said on ABC News' "This Week" that Hezbollah's command structure has been "nearly decimated" and that thousands of the terrorist group's drones and missiles have been destroyed.
Kirby's remarks come after theIsraelDefense Forces confirmed on Saturday that it had killed Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah in a strike on Beirut on Friday.
"There's no question that the Hezbollah of today is not the Hezbollah that was even just a week ago," Kirby told ABC's Martha Raddatz.
But Hezbollah will likely regroup, Kirby warned, saying that "somebody will be anointed" to take Nasrallah's place in command of the organization.
When asked about what capabilities remain for Hezbollah -- whether the group still has long-range missiles and other firepower -- Kirby said the U.S. does not have a "clear picture" of their capabilities.
"You can't just count them out," Kirby said. "They still have quite a bit of capability left."
Kirby also warned that the U.S. has to "be ready" for Iran to respond to the Israeli attack that killed Nasrallah and other leaders, saying that Iran's rhetoric "certainly suggests they're going to try to do something."
"We're watching this very, very closely to see how -- if and how -- Hezbollah and or Iran may react as well as the militia groups in Iraq and Syria. We have to be prepared for some sort of response. We have to make sure that we are ready, and we are. We believe we have the force capability we need in the region, but it's not clear right now, it's too soon to know how Iran's going to react to this," Kirby said.
Kirby's comments come as the U.S. beefs up military posture in the region. Earlier this week, the Pentagon confirmed that it moved a "small number" of additional U.S. military personnel to the Middle East.
President Joe Biden said in a statement on Saturday that he directed the Department of Defense "to further enhance the defense posture of U.S. military forces in the Middle East region to deter aggression and reduce the risk of a broader regional war." Raddatz pressed Kirby on what the president meant by that.
"We did deploy some additional forces into the region. I would tell you that there's other options available as well in terms of adding and enhancing that force posture," Kirby said.
Kirby added that the U.S. has been growing its capacity in the region, even more than whenIran launched a missile and drone attack on Israelin April.
"So there is already a very robust military capability to defend ourselves and to help defend Israel, if it comes to that," Kirby said.
Raddatz also asked Kirby about whether the administration was having conversations with Israel about how their actions could lead to U.S. assets becoming targets. Kirby said that the Israelis "understand" that the U.S. could become targets of attacks.
"I think they understand that, and we're having those discussions with them right now about sort of what is the next best step, or steps forward, at the same time, as the president said yesterday, we got to make sure we've got the ability to defend our troops and our facilities, if it comes to that, and we believe we do," Kirby said.
