I think the secret of Hezbollah's popularity is their social program; they rebuilt houses destroyed by the Israelis in the last war faster than the Lebanese government could and they provide a lot of free or low-cost schooling and medical care for the people. Then when they proved to be the only military force capable of standing up to Israeli aggression, their stock rose with a lot of folks who weren't necessarily down with their particular form of Shi'ite religion. Of course the MSM loves to emphasize how some Lebanese are angry with Hezbollah for provoking the Israelis into yet another attack on Lebanon, but my gut feeling is that these folks were either Christian Phalangists or secular Muslims who never would have supported Hezbollah anyway. The rich and the bourgeoisie, who had nothing to gain from them.
