Much of Beirut is unified in grief and horror following
the massive car bomb that killed former Prime Minister
Rafiq Hariri ‚ in a political assassination the people
have dubbed "the earthquake." Reporter Kate Seelye speaks
to students camped out in Martyrs' Square and to political
allies of Hariri, all of whom blame Syria for Hariri's
death.
CHAPTER 2 (length
11:28)
Seelye travels into the Bekaa Valley to watch the Syrian troops withdrawing and then to the Syrian capital, Damascus, to assess the mood there. She finds the capital strangely calm and unaware of the turmoil next door in Lebanon. Images of the ruling al-Assad family appear all over the capital, as do posters claiming, "Bashar, we are all with you."
CHAPTER 3 (length
7:42)
In Damascus, Seelye visits an old family friend and former
government advisor who tells her that the Syrian regime
has been shaken by recent events and is afraid of reprisals
from the United States. Seelye also visits with Druze
leader Walid Jumblatt and asks the bellwether of Lebanese
politics about the most sensitive issue of reform: the
disarming of the Islamic militant group Hezbollah.
