DNS on Lnux Problem

[tnaves at linkwest.net]

My public dns is done by my ISP.  I set up an internal dns server on a
Redhat Linux ver 9 box.  I made the internal domain the same name as the
public domain name.  I can resolve all internal names that are in the
internal dns database.  Via "." hints file, I can resolve all public names
except my own public names.  I presume this is because my internal dns
server is "authoritative" for my domain and as a result, if the name is
not in one of its zones, it does not go to the root servers.

I thought if I put a forwarder statement in the named.custom file, this is
the Linux way of doing it, I could resolve my public names using my ISP's
dns.  This just made it so the internal dns server would not work at all.
Have I done this incorrectly?  Any ideas will be welcome.

Regards,

Tom