What Happens Now to the Party of God?

April 24 -- His fiery oratories, with their foreboding forecasts, cool bravado and moral edge, are the stuff that hefts sagging spirits and declining TV ratings across the Muslim world.

As the leader of Hezbollah, the Lebanese-based Shiite organization that boasts extensive social, political and militant wings, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah enjoys the sort of popularity and respect most Arab statesmen yearn for.

In troubling times, much of the Muslim world has looked to the charismatic 43-year-old Hezbollah secretary-general for guidance, hope and moral fortitude — the sort of things their political leaders seem increasingly incapable of providing.

With the fall of Saddam Hussein's reign in Iraq, Shiite pride appears to be on the rise, with nearly a million pilgrims flocking to the central Iraqi city of Karbala this week to mark Arbaiin, the end of the 40-day mourning for Imam Hussein, themartyred grandson of the Prophet Muhammad.

But while many are glad to see Saddam go, they are not comfortable with the U.S. presence in an Arab country. And so Nasrallah's Tuesday night speech was much awaited by his followers — and their monitors.

It was also his first public declaration since Saddam was ousted. In a speech delivered barely a week before the war in Iraq began, Nasrallah warned that bullets and bombers — not rice and roses — would greet U.S. troops in Iraq.

His latest pronouncement, delivered on the eve of the culmination of the Arbaiin observances, did not disappoint.

"Tomorrow will mark the beginning of the end of the American age in Iraq and the region," Nasrallah said in a televised address. "This is the truth that the upcoming years will prove, God willing."

But even as Nasrallah forecasts the end of the so-called American age, his organization's main backers have been busy adjusting to Washington's will.

After weeks of intense U.S. diplomatic heat, Syria — a Hezbollah supporter and the group's de facto landlord — has been "getting the message," in the words of President Bush.

"The Syrians clearly want to avoid any pretext for U.S. military action," said Vince Cannistraro, an ABCNEWS consultant and a former CIA counterterrorism chief. "Therefore, they are sealing the border and turning over wanted Iraqis in Syria."

And across the eastern Iraqi border, Iran — Hezbollah's principal financial backer and ideological parent — may be no friend of America's, but it has understandably no enthusiasm for taking on U.S. military might.

As old allies and fellow patrons of Hezbollah, or the Party of God, Iran has been providing verbal support for Syria, but little beyond that.

"Syria is on the front line against Zionist pressures," Iranian President Mohammad Khatami told reporters in Tehran earlier this month.