While there, he has been trying to learn more about Hezbollah, the Shiite military/quasi-governmental/terrorist group based in that country. To that end, he recently challenged some Hezbollah fighters to a paintball match against him and three other Western writers (plus one ringer, former Army Ranger/counterinsurgency expert Andrew Exum). It took quite awhile to negotiate and coordinate, but one night several members of Hezbollah did show up at the paintball arena beneath a Beirut strip mall, and the competition was on.