"Down with gangster rule." Graffiti in downtown Beirut, February 2. Photo by Tom Rollins for Syria Direct. When the reconstruction of downtown Beirut first began in the 1990s, one of the first acts by urban planners was to build a trench around the site. Buildings were demolished, bit by bit. Mines were cleared, squatters removed. Then, the serious work of rebuilding downtown Beirut—once...