Searching for the elusive Beirut connection
It's hard to keep yourself connected here. The power doesn't cooperate, the internet doesn't cooperate, the traffic doesn't cooperate, and the weather doesn't cooperate. Everything fails, shuts down, sputters back to life, and then dies again.
Many things about this country don't make a lot of sense. However, like it did for the interminable Doctor Samir Geagea - former warlord and current head of the Lebanese Forces - somehow, everything works out in the end. (Obviously, I eventually found a connection.)
With that I leave you with some quotes from his gem of a (auto?)biography, found on the Lebanese Forces website:
Strong and irresistible, Samir Geagea can be compared to the majestic cedars of Lebanon that have characterized the Lebanese Mountains since Biblical times. These trees, arguably the most beautiful in the world, growing for thousands of years on the pinnacles of his hometown Besharri, are not dissimilar to his robust physique and principles. ...
Dr. Geagea, stong like cedars.
Just as straight and haughty as the great Cedars of Lebanon against storms and attacks of the elements, he too resisted the obstacles of those that tried to derail and humiliate him. Samir Geagea, a true stalwart, maintained the true vision, the right vision for his country. ...
This man, the imposing stature, with black piercing eyes, bare forehead and moustache that crosses a constantly smiling face, has a faith that can move mountains. Able and determined, preferring occasionally to compromise to avoid the worst and achieve a positive result, Samir Geagea has never confused strategy with tactics. Before all political steps, he analyses local, regional and international factors with perspicacity and intelligence. He consults and works with others. Calm and serene, especially in moments of crisis and tensions, he is at the same time Cartesian and pragmatic. He reacts as an intellectual and thinks as a man of action. He hardly forgets the past but never takes refuge in it. He knows how to apply the past to present situations in such a way as to achieve a better future. His appreciation of silence stems from his belief that "silence is an element at the heart of all that is great". He loves and knows how to listen, he never ceases to repeat the proverb: "it is in listening and not through speaking that we learn."
