The Ground Shifts in Lebanon

David Gardner writes in last week's FT on recent developments in Lebanon. Who would have thought that the sectarians divisions are increasingly being set aside by local leaders eager to remove Syria's heavy hand from the country? That the recent economic recovery doesn't herald the rebirth of the playground of the Levant? That Syrian economic and political reform has stalled under Bashir Assad while foreign policy drifts? That the French, of all people, would be encouraging American intervention?

I'd expect that Lebanon, Syria and Iran will all catch fire should any one burst into flames this year, as each is bound by Syria and Iran's opposition to America. We'll see....