Great trip overall. Saw lots of old friends. During the last part of my stay I spoke with a lot more people about the Middle East. The picture they painted was of cautious optimism, although by all accounts the security situation on the ground in Iraq is still awful. As far as Lebanon is concerned, there's a feeling that the Syrian troop withdrawal is just a game. Syria still has thousands of agents on the ground in Lebanon and they won't be "leaving" the country any time soon.
But if demonstrations like the one that occurred today continue, this story won't go away. A million people in the streets! Just awesome.
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 11:29 PM