Would You Like to Eat Now or Wait for the Cease-fire? Summary and Analysis

Friedman begins the chapter by relating the story of a taxi ride to the airport when the taxi is caught in traffic. He looks around and sees a man being kidnapped. The driver of his taxi never mentions the event and neither does Friedman. As soon as the traffic clears, the taxi continues the ride to the airport. Friedman describes this as exemplary of life in Beirut, a place where things nobody would ever imagine can happen. A friend of his, Amnon Shahak, who later becomes Chief of Military Intelligence in Israel, tells a story about when he first arrives in Shouf Mountains. The Druse elders want him to follow them to a hospital, and he does. There he finds boxes...