iOS app Android app More  E. Nina Rothe   "Dear Ahmadinejad":
Revisiting Petr Lom's Letters to the President  Posted: 03/
6/2012 6:40 pm   A few years ago, on my way to Beirut's Rafic
Hariri International Airport -- an Amr Diab song sizzling from
the taxi's speakers -- I sat back and enjoyed the ride. My
passenger's side view was dotted with kids playing, soldiers
smoking casually, the occasional tank hidden in the side
streets, and giant posters of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Wait! Was it
really the image of Iran's president lining the boulevard of
Lebanon's capital, or was I experiencing a mirage? It was then
and there that I first awakened to the complete complexity of
the Middle East and the absolute lack of understanding most of
us outsiders (meaning anyone not born and bred there) possess
when dealing with it.  The MENA is a region that cannot be
judged by its leaders, but also cannot be separated from their
actions. Societies there exist in those fantastic shades of
grey, occupying the huge margin between goo