The crisis had been simmering for months, but the boiling point came on May 7, when Hezbollah militias -- heavily armed despite U.N. resolutions and intra-Arab agreements -- quickly and easily took over West Beirut to resolve a political dispute. Among other things, this method of resolving disputes, at the point of a militia's guns, demolishes any pretense that Lebanon is anything resembling a democratic country.

Hezbollah's militant Shiite army, responsible for civilian massacres as far away as Argentina and labeled a terrorist organization by half a dozen countries around the world from the Netherlands to Australia, has demonstrated that it is the most powerful force in Lebanon and that it will use that force, even if it means firing its weapons at other Lebanese, to achieve its political aims. This development effectively hands Lebanon to Iran and its ally Syria, because Hezbollah, however strong or independent, obeys Iran and follows its dictates.

The dispute boiled over when the Lebanese cabinet approved two resolutions: One removed the Hezbollah-allied chief of security at the Beirut airport. The other ordered the dismantling of Hezbollah's private communications network. The network feeds information to Hezbollah allies Syria and Iran.

Well-trained forces

Hezbollah claimed the network was necessary for resistance operations, that is, to protect Lebanon from Israel. But Lebanese politicians said wireless cameras, trained on the executive-jet runway, could aid in a terrorist attack, including possible hits against politicians such as Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.

This, however, was not going to be a dispute resolved by debate. Hezbollah's well-trained forces immediately blocked the road to the airport. They took over West Beirut and engaged in the deadliest gun battles that the country has seen since the 1980s civil war. The Lebanese army did nothing to stop the militia's defying the Siniora government, which is backed by Washington, Europe, Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries.

The newspaper and television-station operations of Saad Hariri, a parliamentary leader and the son of assassinated former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, were encircled and burned.

Four days into the fighting, the cabinet reversed the offending resolutions.

By Sunday, Druze leader Walid Jumblat, his forces defeated, was begging Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah not to slaughter his people.

Religion above country

Hezbollah was created by Iran's Revolutionary Guards, 1,500 of whom descended on Lebanon in 1982 to train and organize their ideological Shiite brethren. Since then, Iran has armed and trained thousands of Hezbollah militias, with full logistical and material support from Syria, whose interests in Lebanon Hezbollah diligently protects. Under Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah has grown into the most respected armed force in the Arab Middle East, which Iran has long sought to dominate.

Hezbollah and Nasrallah's ideology, following the principle of Wilayat al-Fakih, or rule of the jurist, dictates that religion stands above nationality and a religious authority, in this case Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khameni, is their ultimate ruler.

Among Hezbollah's major stated goals are the destruction of Israel and the creation of an Islamic state in Lebanon, which, not coincidentally, dovetail nicely with the goals of Iran.

Lebanon's new political reality, under the continuing fiction of democracy, will manifest itself in the institutions of government. Already Hezbollah's allies have said they want to see Siniora removed from office and Hezbollah to enjoy veto power over all the government's actions.

Whatever happens to Lebanon, there is no question that Iran scored a major victory. The U.S.-friendly forces of moderation and reconciliation have suffered a dangerous setback.

Frida Ghitis writes about international affairs.