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The Nation of Hizballah
[Los Angeles Times] Megan K. Stack and Rania Abouzeid - As Lebanon's largest political party and most potent armed force, Hizballah has long been described as a "state within a state" - a Shiite Muslim mini-government boasting close ties to Iran and Syria. But Wednesday's move across the border to capture two Israeli soldiers went a step further: Hizballah acted as the state itself, threatening to drag Lebanon into a war. Hizballah had long planned the cross-border raid aimed at capturing Israeli soldiers after failing in a similar operation late last year. "It's a very dangerous escalation," said Timur Goksel, a former UN spokesman who teaches at the American University of Beirut. "You can't anymore claim it's an act of resistance. It's an act of war." "I never thought Hizballah would disregard so much the Lebanese politics and mood," said Goksel. "It is certainly a very clear message that they are not going to disarm."