Is she Miss USA or "Miss Hezbollah USA"?

Some right-wing American bloggers are convinced Rima Fakih is the latter.

When the sparkling tiara was placed atop the Lebanese-born Shiite Muslim's long, dark tresses on Sunday night, making the 24-year-old marketing executive from Dearborn, Mich., the first Muslim woman to win the Miss USA contest, it was just much for some conservative commentators. 

Fakih happens to have the same last name as some officials in the militant Lebanese Shiite political party Hezbollah, causing right-wing blogger Debbie Schlussel to dub the beauty queen "Miss Hezbollah USA" and accuse Fakih of being a radical Muslim financed by "Islamic terrorists."

"It's a sad day in America but a very predictable one, given the politically correct, Islamo-pandering climate in which we're mired. The Hezbollah-supporting Shi'ite Muslim, Miss Michigan Rima Fakih -- whose bid for the pageant was financed by an Islamic terrorist and immigration fraud perpetrator -- won the Miss USA contest," Schlussel wrote in one of her many recent posts condemning Fakih.

In one blog post, Schlussel attempts to trace Fakih's alleged Hezbollah family ties, juxtaposing pictures of Fakih wearing a bikini and ripped black stockings with images of "martyred" Lebanese Shiite resistance fighters and Hezbollah logos.

However, Schlussel's theory of Fakih being a die-hard Hezbollah supporter who is engaging in "deception of the infidels to further the cause of Islam/jihad" in part by wearing raunchy outfits was quickly dismissed by other analysts.

Magnus Ranstorp, a Swedish political scientist and an expert on Hezbollah, called the scenario "ludicrous," according to an article published in the Miami Herald.

Babylon & Beyond