Deadlock over Lebanon presidency strikes fear of war

Very well done account of Lebanon at the present time — al wada in Arabic — and its just scary. And I don't have to live there.

By Mitchell Prothero
Beirut - In one of Beirut's trendier bars, four European photographers relax over cold beers. Their presence is alarming Ghassan, the barman. 'Why are there so many journalists in Beirut right now?' he asks me. "Has there been some change in 'The Situation?"'

The Lebanese can be forgiven for seeing a new slew of foreign press as a harbinger of doom, for the year since last summer's war between Hizbollah and Israel has seen crisis after crisis pummel this tiny, fractious nation with the bad luck to exist in a very tough neighborhood.

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H/T Christopher