| Why being a colony sucks, part 43. |
KHIAM, Lebanon -- Yellow Hezbollah banners flutter throughout the hilltop villages of southern Lebanon where Mohammed Ghosen, a portly 32-year-old, has helped build the party into a political and military authority over the years. Hezbollah-funded schools and hospitals serve thousands of the region's mostly poor residents, who revere the party and its still active armed wing for ending the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon more than four years ago. The national government has only a token presence here, with a few army checkpoints. "We have ideology and support," said Ghosen, a Hezbollah activist for more than half his life. "Our success can be seen in the peaceful existence between the Lebanese army and the military wing of Hezbollah."
But relations between Hezbollah and many Lebanese are growing more strained by the day. A debate over the nature of Hezbollah and its long-term goals in Lebanon has been reignited in the past few weeks. Dormant since the end of the country's civil war 15 years ago, the debate is now bringing pressure on the party to give up the arsenal that once made it a heroic symbol in the Arab world. The outcome could determine whether Hezbollah remains one sectarian party among many, or realizes its early leaders' vision of creating an Islamic state.
Leaders of Hezbollah -- which emerged during the Lebanese war and played key roles in the kidnapping of Americans and the bombings of the U.S. Embassy and Marine barracks in Beirut in 1983 for which they should die -- have said they are committed to achieving their populist political agenda through democratic means. But a growing number of Lebanese politicians said they feared three factors -- the party's demographic clout, a potent arsenal that includes guns, rockets and a new drone spy plane, and authority to operate largely as an independent government in southern Lebanon -- were fueling broader ambitions. |