Guardian:As the shells fall around them, Hizbullah men await the Israelis

[mogster]

Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, south of Tyre
Saturday July 29, 2006
The Guardian



Inside a well-furnished apartment in a village on the outskirts of Tyre, with shelves of books piled from floor to ceiling, a black turbaned cleric and three men sit sipping bitter coffee. By the door is a pile of Kalashnikovs and ammunition boxes; handguns are tucked into the men's trousers. The four are Hizbullah fighters, waiting for the Israelis.
"Patience is our main virtue, we can wait for days, weeks, months before we attack. The Israelis are always impatient in battle and in strategy," says the cleric, Sayed Ali, who claims to be a descendant of the prophet. "I know them very well."

(...)

According to Ali, Hizbullah operates as "a state within the state", with its own hospitals, social organisations and social security system. "But we are also an Islamic resistance movement, an indoctrinated army," he adds. "I would go and knock the door at someone and say we need $50,000, he would give me because they trust us."

The fighting force of the organisation is divided into two: the "active" group, whose task is to serve in Hizbullah, and the reserve, or Ta'abi'a, as it is known in Arabic. The active fighters get monthly pay. The reserves are called on only in time of war, and receive bonuses but no regular pay. A third section, the Ansar, comprises people who support or are supported by the organisation.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/syria/story/0,,1832931,00.html

[Igel]

1. So, will this thread drop like a stone ...

or will Hezb Hezbollah come to decry it showing exactly what a pacifist organization it is.

And overlook the fact that it's a mullah that's probably in charge of the cell, and undoubtedly gives fiery sermons each Friday to whip up and even psychologically coerce support for his Hezb while supervising some service activity during the week. Kill off the fighters, and you still have the clerics working to build and maintain Hezbollah. Toadstool-producing mycelium.