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Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2015/01/08/cracks-in-the-hezbollah-monopoly/
Cracks in the Hizbullah Monopoly over Shiites in Lebanon
(Washington Post) Rola el-Husseini - In recent years Shiite organizations in Lebanon that resent the dominance of Hizbullah and its ally Amal have emerged to question the direction of their leadership. This defection began almost immediately after the 2006 war with Israel. While hard-liners hailed Hizbullah's resilience in the face of Israel as a "divine victory," others questioned the human and material cost of the group's intransigent stance. Skepticism continued to grow after a 2008 invasion of Sunni areas in Beirut intended to consolidate Hizbullah's political power, and most especially after 2011 when Hizbullah intervened in the Syrian civil war on behalf of the repressive Assad regime. By some accounts, more than a thousand Hizbullah members have died defending the regime, with many more wounded.