FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT
Hezbollah’s military parade sends familiar message to Israel
Who knew Hezbollah had a marching band? I certainly didn’t, but that may have been my ignorance: the Lebanese Shia militia and would-be vanquisher of Israel has kept western journalists at a distance for the past 15 years or so.
That ended yesterday, at least for the time being, with a bang. Lots of bangs, in fact, as masked fighters paraded weaponry, stormed hilltops and practised martial arts routines before an admiring crowd and a more sceptical one of Lebanese and foreign reporters.
The “military operation” had been planned for weeks and advertised to journalists a short time beforehand. What was not clear before we set off in convoy from Beirut was what this special “operation” was. Neither was it entirely clear afterwards. It was
