The Middle East cauldron was still bubbling last week, but to the relief of practically everybody, it failed for the time being to come to a boil.
In Lebanon, Premier-designate Rashid Karami had been thwarted for more than a week in his efforts to put together a new government in the wake of the Israeli commando attack on Beirut's airport. Stymied in his attempts to satisfy all of Lebanon's myriad religious-political factions, Karami finally was forced to resort to a ploy: he simply named a 16-man Cabinet and presented it to President Charles Helou without bothering to seek the approval...