Ready and Waiting

GHAITH ABDUL-AHAD / GETTY IMAGES FOR TIME

A MILITIA MIGRATES: Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, shown in a poster, has ignored U.N. resolutions calling on his fighters to disarm

A Hizballah fighter, dressed in camouflage trousers, boots and a cream-colored sweater, puts down his AK-47 rifle and stands before his small prayer mat, his head bowed for the early evening ritual. Behind him is a simple one-man hut next to a swing gate. It is the entrance to a sealed-off hillside base, one of many that have sprung up over the last year in the rugged mountains and stony valleys around Rihan, a southern Lebanese village. The entrance to another no-go zone, along a rutted dirt track, is advertised by a sign that reads: WARNING. ACCESS TO THIS AREA IS...

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