BEIRUT -- Early this year, Lebanon's leaders seemed to be edging toward one of their most elusive goals: disarming Hezbollah, the powerful Iran-backed militia that has long operated as a state within a state. That effort -- tentative and incremental from the start -- has now stalled. After more than a year of largely holding its fire, despite Israeli strikes from across the border, Hezbollah reemerged as a major combatant.