This is the first entry in my brand new blog, which actually is not even on line yet. But I arrived in Beirut this afternoon and this seems to be the right moment to start writing. This trip is quite unlike any of the many other travel I do. Eight months ago there was war here, the whole country was being bombed by Israeli airplanes. The west end of the country was yet again being invaded. Whole neighborhoods of Beirut were brought down to rubble. Bob (Bob Ostertag, composer and musician, my long time collaborator) and I decided that the piece we were currently working on, that we later entitled Special Forces, somehow had to assess this outrageous situation.