thanks atabbara, ali i agree that a third world war is definately something that is inevitable...i still can't agree to torturing saddam..i dont' believe that any dictator will take it as a lesson if we punish saddam...dictators are always afraid of being tortured in case they fall, that's why they kill......they know that its a possibility...i know of persian politicians that had worked with the shah, that are now millionares because they took all they can grab right at the end of his reign...same thing happened in iraq...they're all in the UAE now living off dirty money...i don't know if things will ever change....why do you think the first bomb will be in the korean peninsula? why not between pakistan and india? i really hope canada stays peaceful.........

Oh! I forgot the collapse of the Western economy due to the lack of peace at home since the suicide bombings would multiply in the west and people would be afraid to send money, they would retreat their investment and would reduce their consumptions, which would lead to a total collapse of the glassy economy. 9/11 shook the US economy up. It is a solid economy, el7amdellah, to withstand such a blow. Now imagine what effect attacks at the rate as those going on in Irak! Man, it would be ugly! I just hope Canada stays peaceful and neutral with a weak defensive army.... What goes around comes around.

Sura: Thank you for your comments... I just find it disappointing that in the end, the biggest loser were the civilians. Actually the way I feel about some people is best expressed as when one murder/rapist was hanged in Iran in public. The people shouted: "Hang him again! hang him again!" That's how I feel about some politicians that are still in power (or were in power) and that have and are still commiting attrocities, stealing the countries' money to enjoy life and improve the situalition of their family... without caring, not even one bit, of the rest of the people. How can they find peace of mind? Don't they have a conscience? If you treat him with civility like you treat Saddam and Mulosevic, of course they have little to care. But if you treat them like the kings of France were in the 18th century or the Iraki Kings in the 20th century, well they'll think twice before angering the people. If I was Mubarak, I would have quit long time ago! I wouldn't want to be in his shoes. The hatered against him is rising exponentially. One of these days, his kids lives will be in danger because of his big fat Ego. Have you heard of the French revolution? or the Orange revolution? Well... I believe there is a Cairo revolution a Damascus revolution a Raousheh Revolution and a Petra revolution a Jeddah revolution... I see so many black clouds coming up in the sky, that I believe there is a wind of change coming up, with a huge thunder-storm... a thrid world war. I believe it will be the middle-east, Iran, China and Russia would be the big forces facing the west... Since the US troupes are all stretched out and the morale & motivation to fight of the US marines is low (they have more to lose by going to war then not vs the other people from the 3rd world countries) China would attack Taiwan. Iran would keep developping lethal nuclear & other weapons, Russia, Uzbekistan & North Korea would sell its nuclear bombs to its neighbours, A first nuclear bomb would explode in the korean peninsula, Russia would get back in an armement race after straightenning its economy, and would become a dictatorship again due to Putin, who is acting more and more like one. Israel would launch war on Palestinians in the Gaza strip. What else... Arabs in the US and Europe would become like Japanese in the US during WWII, and I wouldn't be surprised if every single one of them becomes surveyed by the FBI (thanks to the Patriot act) I believe it will be messy. This would be the cold war continuation in my opinion. There are over 7 billion human beings on the planet. So many inequalities between rich and poor countries... a deadly war is imminent in my opinion.

sura, pheonicians are the poeple who used to live in the lebanon-syria area, and they were mostly famous for trade. so, we are kind of their ancestors...and i guess we still carry some of their genes!

attabara i read this article in national geographic too actually...interesting

God bless your grandmother's and everyone's grandparents' souls, what she said is very true. I don't know enough about the lebanese politicians or lebanese politics but I believe that only the names and faces change.

The politics of the day are determined by who has more influence and power and what they want to happen to keep their influence and power alive. To do so, they have to have support from the civilians of the country. So, they enlist their support by instilling in them powerful emotions such as nationalism, racism or religionism (i know that's not a word :P), love hatred etc. and also by promising them better lives in return for their support. People become in politics for a few reasons: they have short sightedness ie they don't see that the benefits are temporary at best, they are trying to exert their influence with or without regard to others. They may start with good intentions.... but to keep what they intended alive they have to fight for that cause. When you fight regardless of how noble your cause maybe, someone is going to get hurt.

In iraq (and i am sure in lebanon as well), shias, sunnis and christian have lived together in peace for so many years. What is happening right now is not the will of the iraqi people. We sit and watch in awe as this happens. This divide diverts attention away from rebuilding the country, any hopes for stability and of course from any hopes for a good international relations with any other arab country....most importantly what they claim to be islamic is truly NOT! There is only one islam as far as i am concerned.

One last comment ali, Saddam has hurt many people with absolutely no excuse. Every iraqi has suffered. However, I felt horrible when I saw pictures of saddam hussein in his underwear in that british tabloid. I don't believe that taking away the dignity of an elderly man is any way to punish him. If he was heartless, I am not. I don't believe that there is a punishment big enough for what he has done, more importantly no punishment will undo the crimes he has committed. There should be compensation from his personal bank account for people who have suffered. As long as he is not in power, has no influence and is under confinement then I am happy.

can someone explain this whole phoenician thing and who those politicians are?

well, ali, i think this is what's been going on in all or most of our minds, especially after the shock of harrir's tragic death.but i guess you granny was right, this is politics, it's a game, and it's not about being honest or not, but it's about coalitions and alliances. it's manipulating the situation for what best will benefit you and suit you, but not necessarily taking this "manipulation" in a negative way. that's just how it is, and if you are anything different you will not last long in this dirty game, because that's what it is.i speak out of personal experience a member of my family had...so...that's just how it is, ali, and i believe it's not only this way in lebanon, but all over.