Lebanon VI

The more I am learning about the politics of this country, the more I am profoundly convinced that people do need to deliberately pursue peace rather than partisanship. It confounds my mind at how men are more willing to go to war than to compromise. I am hoping and praying that something positive may come from the Annapolis conference, but I am not sure how a 2 day conference, moderated by the US, is going to fully resolve Palestine, the Golan, Hamas and Hezbollah, the lack of a Lebanese president, the Iraqi refugee crisis, etc etc etc... being able to start to see it from multiple sides now, it is not so easy to paint in large strokes of black and white...
Looking outside the window right now, I see a large plume of smoke coming up from the south end of Beirut: I am not sure why, and I am hoping it is only an accidental fire, and not something more ominous than this. I do want to get a picture with one of the tanks on the streets here, but I do know, as "cool" and "fun" as that might be, it does point to the brokenness in this country that serves as the barometer for the rest of the region...