Syrian president Bashar al-Assad finally spoke out to congratulate Hezbollah today, a group he was proud to support:”I say to all those who accuse Syria of taking the side of the resistance that this is, for the Syrian people, an honour,” he said in a wide-ranging speech that also took aim at Washington and anti-Damascus figures in Lebanon.Assad, whose government the United States accuses of sponsoring Hezbollah, paid tribute to the “men of the resistance” in a reference to the Shiite guerrillas who fought Israeli soldiers on the ground in Lebanon and fired daily barrages of rocket fire over the border during the conflict.”This resistance is a medal to pin on the chest of every Arab citizen, not only Syria,” he said, adding that the Lebanese guerrillas had “shattered the myth of an invincible army.”A total of 160 Israelis have been killed since July 12, most of them soldiers who lost their lives in combat with Hezbollah.