After a mob trashed a UN building in Beirut, the Times of London reported that Hezbollah called the shots—literally:
For an hour they were allowed to run wild in the compound, breaking into offices, destroying furniture and looting desks and filing cabinets until a squad of Hezbollah’s security guards showed up.
If anyone wanted a demonstration of who exerts effective control on the streets of Beirut, the Shia militia provided one.
The militiamen watched impassively as youths ripped down the UN flag and replaced it with Hezbollah’s yellow colours and stood by as half a dozen demonstrators beat up a security guard. They used their walkie-talkies to monitor the invaders’ progress.
Only when a gang began torching rooms on the first floor and threatened to seize the 80 UN staff working upstairs on a ceasefire plan and the humanitarian relief operation did Hezbollah step in and the mob melted away without argument.
