Back From Metn

I've seen a lot of the Metn in the past two weeks, and I apologize for not writing about it more fully here. Today took me to Jdeideh, Baabdat, Bikfaya, Khenchara, Rabieh, and Bourj Hammoud. This afternoon took me to a local Starbucks, where I just finished writing 1,300+ words on what I saw and who I spoke to. This is a roundabout way of saying that I have plenty to write about, but am rather frazzled at the moment, so I'm just going to make a few superficial comments now and then later riff on my article, once it's published.

On to the superficial comments: there were flags. Lots of flags; more flags than I've ever seen. Flags flags flags. FPM flags, Marada flags, Kataeb flags, Lebanese forces flags, SSNP flags, Lebanese flags. I have now written flags so many times that it has ceased to look like a real word to me.

Rumors of fighting were greatly exaggerated. The situation was not calm, but it also was not violent. People were tense about the result, not about any possible outbreaks of violence. The army did a great job keeping the peace and watching the polling stations. Our car was pulled over in Bikfaya by soldiers who checked our papers and looked for bombs. I think it was because we were one of the few cars without any flags.

Nobody knows how this is going to turn out. On this subject, Kataeb people and FPM people are equally unconvincing. This is what makes the Metn by-election such an interesting event. Aoun and Gemayel seem to be just closing their eyes and walking into unknown territory. For all its myriad dangers, the saving grace of these by-elections is that they represent a better chance to end Lebanon's political deadlock than any international conference or Arab League delegation ever has.