Middle East: The Long Waiting Game

Skirmishing intensifies in Lebanon—and in Congress

As usual, the awful sounds of battle shrieked through Beirut last week, but this time the fighting reached its bloodiest peak since last summer. Day and night, the clatter of machine-gun fire and the thump of shells could be heard not just in the city but throughout a 30-mile crescent stretching from Jounieh in the north to the mountain district of Kharroub. In the suburbs of Beirut, the Lebanese Army clashed with Shi'ite militiamen. In the hills east of the city, government soldiers fought forces loyal to...