Inside Hezbollah

A recent story in the Guardian gives an inside look into Hezbollah. Excerpts appear below. How do you negotiate with people who have been trained from childhood to hate the west and to embrace martyrdom?

"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."

"We don't take anyone who knocks at our door and says 'I want to join'. We raise our fighters. We take them when they are young kids and raise them to become Hizbullah fighters. Every fighter we have believes that the ultimate form of being is martyrdom."

"He and his fellow fighters have been preparing for the latest conflict with the Israelis for years and he acknowledges the support received from Iran."

"If they want to kill Hizbullah they have to kill every Shia in the south of Lebanon."

"And even when the battle with the Israelis is over, he adds menacingly, Hizbullah will have other battles to fight. The real battle is after the end of this war. We will have to settle score with the Lebanese politicians. We also have the best security and intelligence apparatus in this country, and we can reach any of those people who are speaking against us now. Let's finish with the Israelis and then we will settle scores later."