As he says, I came up short “with regard to the party’s links, interests and calculations,” as I always do. But he answers that on my behalf when he says “he is…someone who, to me, often appears so taken up by the domestic narrative of the Hezbollah-Shi’ite relationship.”

True, I am always taken up by that domestic narrative because that is the only one I feel qualified to talk about. I can talk endlessly about Hezbollah’s first days in south Lebanon, its fledgling guerrilla efforts that evolved into a significant low-intensity warfare against a formidable enemy, and how it became a Shi’ite identity in Lebanon, because I know about those. I lived them. But, what I can say about the party’s links, interests and calculations will be mere speculation.I wished I knew how Hezbollah had taken over the narcotics trade between the United States and Mexico, as one U.S. newspaper claimed recently.

For example, I am constantly asked how will Hezbollah will react should Israel attack Iran. I have no clue. Does anyone?

Timur Goksel is former senior advisor of UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon). He is a security consultant and teaches courses on the UN and conflict management in the Middle East at the American University of Beirut.