HOW'S OPPOSING SELF-DETERMINATION WORKING OUT FOR THE WEST?:

Hezbollah recruits thousands in Lebanon crisis (Hugh Macleod, 25/11/2007, Daily Telegraph)

Hezbollah is exploiting the tense political deadlock in Beirut to recruit thousands of new fighters, The Sunday Telegraph can reveal.

The Iranian-backed Shia militant group has begun drawing fighters from across the sectarian divide, including Sunnis, Christians and Druze, in an effort to create a united opposition to the government.

The group is taking advantage of the political vacuum that has endured for a year, as the Lebanese parliament no longer has enough MPs to function fully.