In the dusty aftermath of Israeli air strikes and limited ground incursions into southern Lebanon this summer, Beirut has literally tons of bridges to repair, homes to rebuild and infrastructure to reassemble. The Israeli Defense Forces’ effort to root out Hezbollah has put a whole lot of builders, bankers and garbage men to work at the expense of the Lebanese government.

Fortunately—or unfortunately—that government has not been without help.

In fact, the paramilitary terrorist organization that started the show by firing rockets into a sovereign nation in peacetime is stealing the spotlight of the Lebanese rebuilding process. Hundreds of Hezbollah terrorists have starred as hometown heroes, pushing wheelbarrows, driving nails and rebuilding buildings—not to mention smuggling infrastructure and rebuilding launch sites for the Katyusha rockets that started the war—to the delight of citizens across the country.

But to find the real wizard behind the curtain of Lebanese reconstruction, just follow the yellow brick road—because those bricks are made of gold. The bbc recently reported that a backdoor benefactor has been pouring substantial funds into Lebanon directly to Hezbollah.

In August, the New York Timesrevealed that a major reason for Hezbollah’s reconstruction superstardom was thanks to “a torrent of money from oil-rich Iran.” The article, “Hezbollah Leads Work to Rebuild, Gaining Stature,” reported that one member of parliament belonging to the anti-Syrian reform bloc had been told by Hezbollah officials that Iran was ready to present Hezbollah with an “unlimited budget” for reconstruction.

“Iran is officially providing assistance to Hezbollah, but the reconstruction is done by the government,” Lebanon’s Finance Minister Jihad Azour acknowledged in the bbc report. “Therefore, what Iran is giving is a direct transfer to a political party, not to Lebanon as a country, as a state, if you want.”

Azour told the bbc that Tehran had previously promised to channel funds through the Lebanese government, but that it has not kept that promise. His talks with Iranian officials to persuade them to wire the money through the proper government agencies continue.

Kassam Allaik, head of Jihad Construction, Hezbollah’s rebuilding operation, not only confirmed that Iranian officials are providing funds directly to his organization, but that Iran has its own operatives inside Lebanon performing some of the rebuilding.

With friends like an Iran-backed Hezbollah, Beirut doesn’t need enemies. Tensions between the ineffectual Lebanese government (which Washington has endeavored to promote as a beacon of democracy in the Middle East) and Hezbollah are growing. Not only is the Lebanese citizenry turning its back on what it views as a fat-cat government, but it is also crediting the grassroots reconstruction progress to the jihadists who started the devastation by lobbing missiles over the border.

In addition, the bbc reports that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has threatened to capitalize on Hezbollah’s popularity by unleashing protests in the streets later this month in an effort to increase his own influence on the national scene.

And on November 1, White House spokesman Tony Snow accused Hezbollah and Iran, along with Syria, of “preparing plans to topple Lebanon’s democratically elected government.”

Whether that fear comes true tomorrow or in a later chapter of Iran’s game plan, the fact remains that Hezbollah and Iran are in an even stronger position than they were on July 11, before the conflict began. Hezbollah enjoys an unlimited budget for its Lebanese humanitarian reconstruction, as well as increasing sympathy from the Lebanese at large—while Beirut’s popularity shrivels. Iran benefits vicariously from Hezbollah’s success, and its power over the reconstruction cash flow allows it to discreetly call the shots in southern Lebanon. On top of all this, with Iranian construction teams freely penetrating the country, its fingers inch ever closer to Israel’s northern frontier.

The prospect of another war with Israel looms.