Lebanon on my mind ...

The Post reports:

The exodus from Lebanon began last week after back-to-back assassinations targeted a Hezbollah commander near Beirut and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.

... Vacations cut short, hurried goodbyes and last-minute flights at exorbitant fares — residents and tourists, heeding warnings of an impending war, are scrambling to leave summertime Lebanon as tensions build between Israel and Hezbollah, Iran’s Lebanese ally.

Britain has ordered its citizens to “leave Lebanon now,” while Paris is urging French nationals to depart “as soon as possible.” The U.S. Embassy in Beirut, in an alert over the weekend, instructed Americans who wish to leave to “book any ticket available to them.”

At the Beirut airport, passengers waited for delayed flights or for seats to open up, tired children resting against luggage carts piled high with suitcases, their parents sipping coffee out of paper cups. As airlines such as Lufthansa, Air France and Royal Jordanian cancel flights to and from the country, ticket prices have skyrocketed, putting them out of reach for many Lebanese grappling with the effects of an economic crisis, including soaring inflation and a currency that has lost much of its value. ...

Once again, Beirutis have reason to fear their small country is about to devastated by an Israeli attack on Hezbollah. Western media always neglects to mention that Hezbollah, though certainly the most heavily armed faction in this divided country, is also a legitimate part of what passes for government in Lebanon.

We visited in 2006, just prior to the last time Israel blasted the Beirut airport and much of the city to bits. So much has come to pass since then.

This picture of an advertising balloon over the city could not be taken today. Several years later an explosion in the port blew out the windows to the balcony from which I took this shot -- that apartment was no longer habitable.

That was an accident of sorts. But this would be war and retribution, largely striking people who have had no choice but to be in the firing line.