This is misleading. Hizbullah are committed to living ALONGSIDE other confessions in Lebanon, but themselves intend to remain a separate Sharia government with Nasrallah and other Shiite clerics as the supreme juridical authority. They absolutely intend to make Lebanon an Islamic republic. Nasrallah says it himself as a matter of course. What they say is that they will not make Lebanon an Islamic Republic - thus not extend the juridical authority of Nasrallah and the other clerics to all religions - until they get enough votes. However, their attitude towards religious minorities in Iran is instructive. So long, they say, as these minorities are represented in number in government and the army then there is no cause for them to ask for independence from Shiite Sharia government. The organizing principle of Hizbullah is that Shiite clerics should be the supreme juridical authority - certainly for all Shiites and, when they are being honest, for all Muslims. They believe that Islam is the basis for ALL revolution and ALL government. There is just absolutely no question about this. By necessity, all Shiite clerics are trained in Iran and Iraq - especially Qom -  and Nasrallah considers himself a disciple of Khomeini and Khameeini. The unification of the Shiite clergy in Iran and Iraq (and beyond) already exists and of course it will get stronger. That's not in question and I don't object to that. That's what Shia is all about. But I do think that a united Shiite ***theocracy*** would be hideous for the Middle East. Religious war would be the inevitable result. Let the Arab Shiites gain some real power and resources and the Wahabis will be funding every Sunni group that promises to murder Shiites. Remember, destroying the Shiite "apostasy" was the primary organizing mission of the Wahabis. Al-Qaeda and the several "Al-Sunna" groups are virulently anti-Shiite. Without Israel as a common enemy, I doubt whether Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood would tolerate Shiite Islamism. And if Shiites really gain power, I doubt it will be very long before most Sunni Islamists turn against them in large numbers. In most Muslim countries there are virtually no Shiites, so it's not an issue, but in the Middle East and Pakistan there is and has always been a lot of conflict between the two creeds. Shiite Islam has a different structure. It's more governmental and judicial. That may make Shiite Islamists appear more like revolutionaries we are used to, but these are definitely right-wing reactionary theocrats. No question. <div>On 11/29/06, <a href="mailto:wrobert@uci.edu">wrobert@uci.edu</a> <<a href="mailto:wrobert@uci.edu">wrobert@uci.edu</a>> wrote: <blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">In the case of Hezbollah, they have openly stated that they are committed to the multi-confessional nature of Lebonese society and have went as far as to say that if they were to get a majority of the vote that they would not introduce Islamic law.  This has been a shift in the organization from the 80's and is one of the reasons for their increasing viability.  I don't think this is a reason to run out and embrace the organization per se, but at least one should be honest in critiquing them.  The question is open whether they would do the same things as Iran if they were to become majority, but they are fairly interesting at least in their negative form.                              robert wood > Well, I think that it's a question of deciding what these groups are > really > up to. I don't really think that Hezbollah is a movement of national > liberation. I think they are hoping to establish a separate "vertical" > social structure with Shiite clerics at the top. I think they are more > splitters than uniters. Iran, remember, is extremely unusual as really the > only country that is almost all Shiite. > > ___________________________________ <a href="http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk"> http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk</a> </blockquote></div>