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Source: http://www.michaeltotten.com/
A Reporter in Beirut
[michaeltotten.com] Michael Totten - Even though it has been years since Hizbullah has kidnapped or physically harmed Western journalists, some may be afraid to rile up an Iranian proxy militia that is listed by the U.S. government as a terrorist organization. Hizbullah informed me that I'm officially blacklisted (meaning they will no longer give me interviews or even quotes) for what I have written about them in the past. The contrast between average Lebanese and Hizbullah's official party members and elite is extraordinary. Most of the people of Lebanon are instinctively decent on a personal level no matter their political views or ideology. Hizbullah itself, though, is instinctively menacing and hostile and belligerent. Their ideology is an alien one, imported from the East, from the extremist regime in Tehran. If they ever end up as rulers of Lebanon - and it will surely mean war if they try - Lebanon will no longer be recognizable. The writer is based in Beirut, Lebanon. His work has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Reason, LA Weekly, Beirut's Daily Star and Tech Central Station.