"The politicians have opened Pandora's box," my dad said quietly.

And so it begins. There is a large book that sits on the coffee table in the living room. It is the detailed recount of the Lebanese Civil War that lasted from 1975 to 1990, although it begins in the '60s when other clashes pre-ordained the long and destructive war. There are photos and scenes in that book that bring a chill to my bones because it is as though I'm reading about what happened last month, last week, and yesterday - double the pain and fear, with memories of my childhood colliding with a sense of what could become reality once again.

It is embarrassing that we should be so childish as to go at each other with sticks and stones, and then need to have a curfew placed on us. I'm waiting for the hidden guns to come out. They confiscated the firearms of civilians after the war. Ha! Everyone knows that there are loads of arms hidden in so many homes that if anything gets out of hand we will have an exact repeat of 30 years ago.

It's annoying that people would be so ignorant not to realize that they are prey in the hands of their leaders whom they follow so loyally. Keep the people ignorant and uneducated, and then fire them up with words of action, bloodshed, and power... then sit back and watch what happens. Bloody streets, burnt cars, bruises and cuts, gashed skin, dead victims. They had to take the women and men who were not fighting home in the backs of army trucks yesterday. Needless to say, I do not recall seeing any woman throwing stones yesterday. That is not because of brains but because of sex discrimination.

Is this the beginning of another war? Is this a step into more choas and bloodshed? The Muslims are divided amongst themselves, as are the Christians. Someone desperately wants to see Lebanon die.

What has become of you, you poor wretched country?