Lebanonics Anonymous

So the Middle East is going to hell in a handbasket, and who's there trying to delay its arrival? The Finns and the Irish, among others:

A Finnish-Irish battalion started on Wednesday on their first day as peacekeepers in the municipality of Blatt, adjacent to Marjayoun, in Southern Lebanon. In preparation for their tasks, they were urged to familiarise themselves with each other, and to go and pick up their new equipment.

With alcohol now standing as the #1 killer of young males in Finland, the Finns are clearly Irish-level souses, so you'd expect that the troops would get some guidance on drinking discreetly in Hizbollah territory: "While coffee, soft drinks, and water can be freely consumed in the village cafés, the use of alcohol is strictly forbidden outside the mess hall of the camp."

I guess that's for the best: tipple only in the mess hall, so as not to further enlarge the mess of Southern Lebanon. But my god, you know the world's FUBAR when the Mickeys and the Pekkas have to keep the Husseins and Joshuas from killing each other.