QTF
Seems most of the people on this thread dont really 'get' lebanon...
Lebanon itself is an ally. There are, however, large areas on the border with israel that are entirely in the hands of hezbollah, shiite radicals and even some al qaeda spots.
Just look at the recent story about the NYC plot that was stopped (by lebanese officials) and you'll see it was centered on a young wealthy lebanese jetset playboy who had recently gotten
al qaeda training in hezbollah areas. However, al qaeda and hezbollah are not exactly friends either, and there have been some high level assasinations between the two camps.
The point is... nobody fuckin controls these areas on the border and you damn-well dont want to visit that part of lebanon. The big issue here tho is if Hezbollah will really get into extended conflict and thus spiral Lebanese politics into tension.
On the other end... you have christians, jews, muslims and various other types of folks all living very peacefully in what is a rather moderate nation.
If you are a news junky, check out the Daily Star from Lebanon
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/home2.asp
Moderate news source for an interesting perspective on middle east stuff.
Most importantly... lebanese have some of the fuckin hottest chicks on earth, and tend to mix with various people around the planet to give us some of the hottest supermodels and celebrities (i think both salma hayek and shikira are both half-lebanese)