"Most of the greatest evils that man has inflicted upon man have come through people feeling quite certain about something which, in fact, was false." Bertrand Russel (1870-1970)
Secrecy, an intellectual said, is a powerful aphrodisiac. Secrecy is exciting. Danger is darker, more sinister. It blows like a fog through the streets of Beirut these days, creeping down the laneways where policemen – who may or may not work for the forces of law and order – shout their instructions through loud-hailers.
With the recent conclusion of the Nahr al-Bared battle, it is fascinating to reflect upon the overt changes undergone by the Lebanese Sunni community as a result of the Hariri assassination and the army's conflict with Fatah al-Islam. In a sense, we have been witnessing the outward manifestations of a process long in the making: the "Lebanonization" of the Sunni community.
People in Lebanon give their reaction to the assassination of anti-Syrian MP Antoine Ghanim in Beirut on Wednesday. The bombing killed five other people and wounded more than 70. It came six days before parliament was due to elect a new Maronite Christian president.
Antoine Ghanem was an easy target. Few bodyguards, no one would think that a member of parliament who represented the Armenians of Lebanon was a target. The little street in which he lived – tall tower blocks, boutiques, flower shops, was not a place where you would try to kill an enemy of Syria – if he was an enemy of Syria – but Antoine was blasted to pieces in his car as he left his home yesterday evening.
BIBNIN, 10 September 2007 (IRIN) - All three men were family from Bibnin, a village overlooking north Lebanon's Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp, and, said cousin Rawa Fiyad after praying for the dead Lebanese soldiers, all were proud to sacrifice their lives fighting for their country.
FIRST PERSON Alistair Harris The conclusion of the fighting between the Lebanese Army and the Fatah al-Islam militants is unfortunately just the latest painful reminder of Lebanon's seemingly inherent lack of security. While self-evidently it is not possible for a country to prosper economically without adequate security, the latter is unachievable without first identifying and articulating threats to national security and agreeing appropriate responses. The best tribute to those Lebanese soldiers who died at Nahr al-Bared would now be a renewed effort to debate the critical security issues that lie at the heart of Lebanon's quest for stability.
Madness takes over Lebanon. Militants are fighting in the streets of Beirut. Military guns are on both sides. What is the prospect of such a situation. Aren't the Lebanese fed-up with wars?
23 November 2007 Lebanese President Emile Lahoud left the Baabda presidential palace without handing over the power to a new president. This is the first time since independence in 1943.
Opinion 
