Lebanon’s subjective truths

The recent bomb attack against the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and the outbreak of sectarian violence in Tripoli came as no surprise. UNIFIL itself was expecting to feel the backlash of the unrest sweeping the region, particularly the violence that is roiling neighboring Syria. It is an uncomfortable fact of life for the peacekeeping force, with its European-heavy battalions, that it serves as a huge soft target for anyone that wants to send ‘messages’ to the international community at large. Indeed, since UNIFIL was expanded after the 2006 war from 2,000 peacekeepers, drawn mainly from Ghana and India, to more than 11,000 troops and a maritime component, force protection has dominated its agenda. There was a spate of actual and attempted bomb attacks against UNIFIL four years ago, most of them unprofessional and resulting in few casualties. The one exception was a highly-sophisticated bomb attack against the