Lebanon - a working holiday

In the next article from our on going '''2007 Vacation Season'' series read where Snake spent his time-off.
By: Snake


I bet not one of you people thought about visiting Lebanon this summer. Well, you were wrong. If you work as a mercenary, that is.

Let me tell you, that country is super. You can smell the sweet odor of war in the air.

You know that Israel fought a mini-war in the south last year, but something is telling me even bigger things are on the way. For someone like myself, although I'm not saying I am an actual mercenary or partake in any illegal or immoral activities (like arms trading, let's say) Lebanon is the place to be.

First of all, you have the Hezbollah. Those guys are always looking for some primo do dads, and the money is no biggie. Of course, it's preferable that you are of Muslim faith, but if not, a 10% discharge will seal the deal.

In the similar category is the Fatah Islam group. They are a little more on the fundamental head-chopping side, but if you bring gifts, preferably ones that go BOOM, you're more than welcome to their holly struggle. The only problem is that most of them are currently in Nahr el-Bared camp, where they're fighting an on going battle with the Army. So, if you can get in, and you don't mind the daily bombardment and sniper fire - it's going to be a blast.

But that medal has another face- the Army. They are underequipped, inexperienced and pretty much clueless about fighting. And who said that you have to shoot anyone yourself - you could become an instructor. The Army is multi-religious, so your belief system shouldn't be a problem. Don't expect to get rich, though. They use some ancient APC, so I guess they aren't exactly loaded.

Finally, you have the civilian population, who, like you and me (the ''maybe I am, maybe I'm not'' mercenaries and war traders) can see the blood & tissue writing on the wall. They know that the shit is about to hit the fan, and they want to buy some heat, ASAP. The price of small arms has tripled this year alone, and a new M-16, freshly stolen from a dead US Marine in Iraq is worth up to 10 000$. How do ya' like them apples?

Also, you have the Jewish, Christian, Sunni and Shiite communities, so, depending on your background, you'll be a welcomed sight in at lest one of them, except if you're a Buddhist dog of war, in which case you shouldn't be there anyway (Asia has a lot of working/playing opportunities, so don't come here and crowd the place)

I was there (or maybe I wasn't) for a few weeks, and now I bought myself an IPhone, XBox and there's a brand new jacuzzi sitting in my backyard. I also have a new offshore account in the Cayman Islands.

And you know what? I'm planning a new trip!

In short:
The good: upcoming civil war from hell
The bad: a peace process that would actually bring peace (yeah, right)
The ugly: look up ''the good''