Crisis Intensifies in Lebanon As Hezbollah Takes to Streets

Often the language was directed against the United States' sway in Lebanon. Nasrallah has called the government more loyal to U.S. Ambassador Jeffrey D. Feltman than Siniora himself, and in conversation after conversation, protesters, occasionally even Aoun's supporters, cast the protest as a way to deflect U.S. influence, usually ignoring the roles played by Iran and neighboring Syria as Hezbollah's allies.

"This is the government of Feltman!" shouted Zein Sleiman, 16.

"Siniora is an Israeli," added his friend Samer Salim.

"No, he's an American," Sleiman answered. He paused. "There's no difference!"

In some ways, the most poignant theme was the legacy of this summer's war: Hezbollah's opponents blame it for starting the conflict; Hezbollah celebrates it as a victory, with anger at what it sees as the government's lack of support as it fought. The war's imagery suffused the conversations and message of the protest. In Lebanese politics, the conflict left Hezbollah emboldened, and the sequence of events has proved an unbroken chain, with Hezbollah now pressing for unprecedented power.

As Ali Younis sat with his three sons, he used the words heard so often among Hezbollah's supporters in southern Lebanon during the war: pride and empowerment.

Behind them a banner played on a slogan from the conflict: "As with victory, change is coming, coming, coming." Younis spoke with the fervor of a man who wants to be listened to.

"I'm staying until the government falls," he said, narrowing his eyes. "Dignity is more important than anything else."

Special correspondent Lynn Maalouf contributed to this report.