It's been a rough couple of years coming on top of a rough couple of decades for Lebanon: The assassination of a respected prime minister in 2005, Hezbollah's war with Israel in 2006, an endless constitutional crisis that left the country without a president and teetering on the verge of another civil war for most of 2007 and parts of 2008 until the belated election of Michel Suleiman in June 2008 and the formation of a "unity" government.
For the Lebanese, who've always had keen interest in the Olympics (cheering for every team in the world but their beleaguered if valiant own), the festivities in beijing, led by the likes of Gretta Taslakian, would prove a welcome break.