Anyone in a position of power is either corrupt or assumed to be corrupt, and the assumption of corruption is as bad as the reality of it.
Stanley A. McChrystal
A group of volunteers prepare a space for 1000 of the less fortunate for a Christmas dinner, in the middle of the anti-government protesters in Martyr’s Square in downtown Beirut, Lebanon. (Hasan Shaaban)A girl stands next to a nativity scene during Christmas mass at at the Maronite Cathedral of Saint George in Beirut, Lebanon. (Maya Alleruzzo / AP)A policeman adjusts his gas mask during clashes with supporters of Lebanon’s former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who burned tires and closed a road in Beirut, Lebanon. (Maya Alleruzzo / AP)Policemen interact with a boy while standing alert during a protest in Beirut, Lebanon. (Bilal Jawich / Xinhua)Protesters take pictures with their mobile phones of a defaced poster of newly-nominated Lebanese Prime Minister, Hassan Diab, and a list of what the protesters call the premier’s achievements when he was minister of higher education, in downtown Beirut, Lebanon. (Bilal Hussein / AP)Anti-government protesters chant slogans outside of the central bank, in Beirut, Lebanon. (Maya Alleruzzo / AP)A protester dressing as Santa Claus chat with the less fortunate during a Christmas dinner to celebrate with anti-government protesters in Martyr’s Square in downtown Beirut, Lebanon. (NABIL MOUNZER / EPA)A protester dressed in a Santa Claus costume takes part in a protest against the nomination of Hassan Diab as Prime Minister, outside his house in Beirut, Lebanon. (WAEL HAMZEH / EPA)Supporters of outgoing prime minister Saad Hariri give the middle finger in front of Prime Minister-designate Hassan Diab’s house to denounce his nomination, in the capital Beirut, Lebanon. (ANWAR AMRO / AFP)Prime Minister-designate Hassan Diab poses for a picture with his wife Nawwar (L) and daughter Razan at their residence in the capital Beirut, Lebanon. (ANWAR AMRO / AFP)Protesters block a road to condemn the designation of Hezbollah-backed Hassan Diab as prime minister, in the northern city of Tripoli, Lebanon. (AFP)A riot police officer kicks a tire that was set on fire during a protest at the Corniche al Mazzraa in Beirut, Lebanon. (Mohamed Azakir / REUTERS)A supporter of outgoing Lebanese premier Saad Hariri shouts at army soldiers during a protest in Beirut’s Corniche al-Mazraa neighbourhood, Lebanon. (AFP)Members of a Lebanese water sports club dressed as Santa Claus wave a cardboard cut-out of a clenched fist reading “Revolution” to show support to ongoing anti-government protests, as they water-ski in the bay of Jounieh north of the capital Beirut, Lebanon. (PATRICK BAZ / AFP)Anti-government demonstrators (L) argue with a representative of the popular movement (R), outside the home of prime-minister designate, Hassan Diab, in Beirut, Lebanon. (ANWAR AMRO / AFP)People watch waves crash by the historical Phoenician Wall in the coastal northern town of Batroun, Lebanon. (Ibrahim CHALHOUB / AFP)A view of the snow-covered mountains of Bcharre, in northern Lebanon, 1450 metres above sea level. (Ibrahim CHALHOUB / AFP)An anti-corruption protester, his forehead wrapped with the national flag, poses in front of the Grand Serail during a protest in downtown Beirut, Lebanon. (PATRICK BAZ / AFP)Anti-corruption protesters wave the national flag in front of a Christmas tree erected in Martyr’s Square in downtown Beirut, Lebanon. (PATRICK BAZ / AFP)
