Nic robertson should trust himself more. No, the choreography of borderline war and no peace will continue. he will not need a flak jacket for the time being.

This is how wars start. On a normal day. From a nothing. For nothing. Let us hope this one never sees the day

Mr Robertons says: " My first big mistake today was I trusted that however close Hezbollah wants to push Lebanon towards the brink of crisis to bring down Prime Minister Fuad Siniora�s government, they would know when to dial back tension and head off an irreversible slide to civil war. That was my first mistake."

Well, I am not sure Mr Robertson actually got an in depth look at what happened yesterday or else he was having a one sided view.
Those who started yesterday's events were the Pro Government students . The university is in a totally Pro Government Region and the student shot dead was from the opposition, as most of the injuries.
Besides, all opposition studends had no fire weapons while many snipers and on the ground people were shooting. They all belng to the Pro Government people.
Last but not least, I am totally amazed by the media who is portraying the opposition as " Hizbollah lead" or even just talk on purely Hizbollah who wants to topple the government.
Mr Robertson, on December 10, more than 1.5 Million Lebanese were on the streets asking Sinioura to step down. That makes 40% of the Lebanese population. We all know that the SHiaa represents about 30% (all of them) so please start using the word " OPPOSITION" instead of "Hizbollah".
I am a christian , and like me you have tens of thousands of christians who want the departure of Sinioura.
Stop having the one sided look and start looking "Out of the Box"
Look at the CVs and History of Sinioura and his team and you will find all the real reasons why we don't trust them.

Nic, you're an intelligent enough man to know not to trust anyone holding an automatic weapon wearing a balaklava. It's just too volitile to risk your life but we appreciate the passion you have for your work.

I love lebanon im 100% lebanese but i am anti hizballah and anti syrian.. 100% behind usa/uk.
why should lebanon be run by iran and syria?? we are letting these people get what they want.. they want to see a civil war in lebanon so it can kill our economy and tourisim..
right now the lebanese are stupid to let two arab countries play with thier minds.

Lebanon cannot afford to go back to the civil war days. Lets hope everyone calms down.

I saw the fight break out at the university.I was on a bus on my way home. Y ou can never trust this country. You never know when something will happen. Nothing will ever be stable in this country until people negotiate.

Calm yourself, Habibi. This is Beirut on an interesting day...wait until you see a boring one. We all know your trying to sell copy, and that's fine...But a flakjacket? This isn't Baghdad, nor is it Kabul. This, this is Beirut. And we have our own ways of dealing with things. Sure, they look a little different to you..but then again, take a better look at your cities first. How many murdered in New York or Chicago last year? We have a riot in Beirut, and suddenly we're 'on the verge'? Are you kidding? We've been living on the verge for 17 years. And we'll continue for another 17. This is Beirut, Habibi, not LA where your gangs run the show. This is Beirut, not New Orleans. We take care of our own here. Why do you not do the same for yours? Concentrate your news cameras on yourselves... and your submerged cities before you rush to judge us.

hizballah is bad for lebanon and they are backed up by the devil himself syria

I believe that PM Seniora should resign as the majority of the Lebanese are demanding and the same day of the resignation Hezbollah should be disarmed!!!Many countries regard Lebanon as a terrorist country or a country that provides a haven for terrorists because of them.

N.B.: To Mr. Paul from Panama, Iran is not an Arab country!

@ Mr. Timothy in Metn, although, I do agree Beirut is not like Baghdad or Kabul, our own ways of dealing with things as you so eloquently put it, are closely reaching those toxic destinations, thanks to an Army of thugs run by two utter demagogues that are loosing their minds, and those of their supporters along. And please refrain from giving passionate foreign journalists/visitors doing their jobs any moral lesson on their cities and countries, as the statistics base for a country of 300 million people (that is if you ever visited the US???) cannot coincide with your analogy of current Lebanon politics. At least, their melting pot is working with some minor flaws, whereas ours is far from patching people of common culture and faith. So, while you take care of your own, let Mr. Robertson take care of his own as well, and wear his flak jacket whenever he pleases without needed cynical critics who should rather concentrate on alleviating their complexes towards the west, much more constructive than your present pitiful misery.
Truly yours

Thank you Timothy.

There is a nice lesson for all of us Americans to learn.

We are not the only people in the world.

We are not the only culture.

We have just as many problems as everyone else.

Good luck to the good people of Lebanon. People on both sides with agendas that don't take you into consideration are causing you much grief.

You want to do some reporting Nic?

Do the Iranian's president's belief in the 12th Imam and the chaos that he has to create to help him return.

Do a story on the caravans of weapons that are being shipped into Lebanon from...oh I don't know...I'm sure you can think of somewhere.

Lebanon should be at war with Syria and Iran, not itself.

Hi Nic,

With all of your excellency in reporting, we want you to be extra careful. The motto should always be: You cannot be "too safe" anymore in this world. The whole world is a war zone sadly to say.

Thank you,
Buthayna Taha

To whoever said this is how civil war starts, you are wrong, civil wars need regional and internation powers to feed its proxies, we have Iran Syria Saudi Arabia, USA and the rest, all trying to resolve their problems in Lebanon, Leave us alone and no civil war will ever start...

Nic,

I usually like your comments, but on this one, you're way off. Everybody knows that this university is in the heart of a government-backed and controlled area. Also, it seems that the conflict is always portrayed on CNN, and in the western media, as Hizbollah-led and instiguated; NOT TRUE. You need to start reporting the truth and start counting the other half of the opposition, the Aoun-led Christians, which account for half of the lebanese Christians. This is a conflict between the Lebanese people, not Lebanese religions/sects. May god help us all, and bring peace to Lebanon, once and for all.

If you have a family, don't leave again w/o your flak jacket or your sat phone. All it takes is one stray bullet.

You did no mistake by acting sanely and believing that human reactions are uniform. Unfortunately, in lebanon nothing fits the norm. People are masses blindly following the leader even if it leads towards war and mass-suicide. And at the end of the day they start counting their faster than light promoted "martyrs"...

Dear Nick Robertson,

Glad you got out of there without being shot. I love your field reporting but remember, always be prepared for any unepected events expecially in hostile areas of the Middle East. I have served in the USAF and provided private security for federal building in the past. I really dont trust anyone and always keep my gear with me at all times because while 99% of the time, nothing out of ordinary happens happens but its that %1 that violence erupts and last only a few seconds that might take your life.

If the US can not prevail, this will next be Tel Aviv, then London, then Washington DC, Boston, Kansas City, Los Angeles. We must prevail. We cannot just turn tail and run and leave the hundreds of thousands of moderate Muslims at the mercy of the Islamo-fascists. Will be worse by far than Nazi Germany.

After reading your report tonight, and by the way, it cought my attention due to its very ice chilling title.

I am 34 years old, I was born a little before the war broke out in the 70s, Its 1:27 am sunday, I just came back from a strole in beirut.

Reading through the commentary that followed, I really felt that you missed the whole point about Beirut Nic, there is no story in beirut, there are no flashy headlines here. I agree that sometimes we are really on edge, but not one single time we as Lebanese took the country to war. The stage that you covered was a glimps at the preasure gauge level that we, as a people, are at, due to the multple layered mistakes inherited over decades! by iconic feudal lords that only play the game of democracy in the news and on the screens. I urge you to look closer with special attention to the relationship between the empowered and the powerless. what you saw on the ground thirsday was a worthless intervention, just like many others, to drive a powerless people that is not the reflection of its leaders, whom in turn do not serve their nation, and only use it.

All the education that we seek by reputaion, and the culture that we lost historically, at a good price if I may say, we lack the most important one, Identity!

I shall not say more I am ashamed

Remember, the violence started when the anti-government groups decided to escalate the "demonstration" by burning tires and cars. We don't hear all the truth about what is happening, but we know that there are forces trying to create havoc, e.g. one of the two arrested snipers is a Syrian. People can blame the pro-government movement for the killings, but remember who the instigators are.

Well Lebanon is being played with the people.....we had enough from syria, israel, US and all country's that is trying to take over Lebanon, why don't they leave this coubtry alone??????? The Lebanese people had enough......No Hezballah and no others can take over Lebanon........all I know is there is one flag and it is the Lebanese FLAG......too many people are dead and a lot of people outside Lebanon wishing to go back....that is not fair for a small country to suffer like that.

I specially enjoyed the comment by Paul, well my friend I am 100% Lebanese and I love Lebanon, and the for the same reasons you don�t want Iranians and Syrians ruling the country I don�t want the UK/US to do so. I think when people realize that we can�t count on anyone else but ourselves maybe we might grow into something better than what we are.

The opposition is led and controlled only by Hizballah. The other small political parties that are in the opposition are taking orders by Hizballah.

The reason why they want to topple the government is because they are demanding they be given veto power to be able to stop the international tribunal, as well as keep their illegal iranian/syrian weapons. They will never want to disarm. at all costs they will continue to terrorise the country and take peace hostage until they get what they want.

Hizballahs current allies are using the excuse that Prime Saniora is not fit for the job... this is interesting because when the cabinet was being formed in 2005 they didnt have a problem with Saniora being prime minister...

What? they didnt know who Saniora was then? why the quick change of heart?? a total 180degree turn. Why jump in hizballahs trench?? Can it be they have been promised something as big as the presidency?

Well i wanted to reply to the gentleman or lady who was accusing saniora of whatever.

I'm half chiite, half sunnite. So i'm of the few people who don't have pre-conceived opinion just because of their parent's allegiance or religion.

But I strongly believe that this government was the best that we ever had in lebanon's history. It brought the country to the verge of economical boom and prosperity (i studied economics, so I know...), and the "opposition" as you like to call it, is bringing the country to the verge of civil war and chaos.

I'm not with the 14th of March because i'm Sunni. I'm not with them because of their leaders (whom I despise). I'm with them because I want to live in freedom. And I don't think the opposition can give me that.The opposition will always have a Syrian and Iranian agenda. The opposition is trying to give presidency to Aoun, and a "raison d'etre" to Hezbollah. That's it. It's all about personnal interest.

By the way, I'm also from Syrian origin. And proud to be against the Syrian criminal regime. and completely shocked that the opposition is defending these criminals who want lebanon's perdition. The same opposition that's made leave Lebanon because life there has become unbearable.

Please somebody explain...

I think CNN needs to mandate that it's reporters use better judgement and it should be a part of each reporter's contract that they must wear certain gear in certain zones. Also, I suggest that CNN send some of those reporters whining about the cold of Davos up to where you are in Lebanon and then let's here how they like the heat, so to speak.

Nic, Lebanon as a whole is on the brink. Be safe and keep your eyes and ears open. Your blog is among hundreds that echo how hopeless the situation has gotten because the people of this country cant make up their minds. I have read and heard alot of criticism towards the U.S. for their involvement but at the end of the day, this is their country. It is futile to blame other countries for their own hypocrisy over this whole situation. People are angry over too many issues. The Israel-Hezbollah war, Shias vs Sunnis, the shrinking Christian minority, Syria and Iranian involvement...the list is endless and there is still no cohesive direction to strive for peace. After 20 years of civil war, the state of this country only sends the message that Lebanon hasnt learned to give in to peace. There are people who still fan the flames of their bitterness towards the past.

I can say right off that my viewpoint is completely naive. That being said, it is part of the reason I have chosen to comment.

I have been raised in a world where educational campuses do not allow weapons. In fact, those carrying weapons on campus may not be allowed to return.

I have also been raised in a world where firearms are necessary, but viewed as a last resort.

I read these blogs and I keep hearing "the passionate young" "the unexperienced". I read how Hzbollah wishes for the population to remain armed, and I not only understand, but agree with this desire.

However, how can those who use such threat and weaponry as the only means of education raise a population who will be fruitful and prosper with an economic system based upon threat? History has shown the fall of such empires time and time again.

The very essence of threat is to push away. Why are weapons not given to children? Because children need their parents to learn from, for survival and prosperity.

An uneducated population threatening its neighbors is like a toddler threatening his parents.

To continue this metaphor:
Syria and Iran beginning conflict is like a sibling stealing one's completed homework.

If I were to guess, and this being based solely on the metaphor, Iran and Syria sense that whatever is happening in Lebanon is something of value. However, even if they continue to steal, after enough repetitions, the material will still be learned.


When does a child know that she is no longer a child? When she has completed all of her homework.
How does he or she know when the homework is finished?
When one begins correcting the homework that her parents have written!


I once ate a fortune cookie that read, "The greatest teacher is also a student." Fortunately, with today's technology, the entire world is at the feet of the Lebanese children to learn from. It is also at the feet of the Hzbollah, at the Iranians and the Syrians. A professor can not teach a student who does not wish to learn. and a student no longer needs a university to learn the greatest lessons.

I'd like to thank the correspondant and CNN for this unique forum and opportunity to express varying viewpoints.