Mission Impossible?

I had a short interview today with Ashraf Rifi, the general director of Lebanon's Internal Security Forces, whose Beirut headquarters are now a miniature fortress surrounded by concrete blast walls. The fact that his own officers have themselves been targeted in an ongoing and unsolved series of politically-motivated assassinations isn't the only problem General Rifi faces; among others he's trying to seal the country's border to prevent Lebanon from becoming a jihaddi safe haven and regional weapons dump, prepare for a possible resumption of hostilities with Israel, and deal with an ongoing campaign by the Hizballah-led opposition to bring down the government through mass demonstrations.

As I left the maze of checkpoints and armored sport utility vehicles, a middle-aged woman in a leopard print suit was lodging a complaint through the bullet-proof window of the front sentry-box. "I want to see whomever is in charge," she said. "Someone has stolen my Facebook and e-mail, and I don't know how but I want them back."

I'm off to Damascus tonight for the Arab Summit. See you all there.

--Andrew Lee Butters/Beirut