the human province

It was a little disconcerting to learn that yesterday, a bomb was defused at the American University of Beirut:

Police defused a small bomb at the American University of Beirut on Thursday in what appeared to be the latest of a series of attempts to cause explosions in Lebanon, security officials said.

An explosives expert defused a bomb of 200 grams of TNT that was found in a bag near an elevator in the Issam Fares Hall, a building off the main campus, said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to the media.

The bomb was wired to a detonator and ready to explode, the official added. It was taken to a police barracks for investigation.

Police are also looking into how the bomb got into the university, whose entrances are guarded by police officers and the university's own security guards.

Whenever I hear about these defused bombs (more than a few of which have been found lately), I can't help but think that they're not meant to go off, but rather are meant to be warnings. To whom, and by whom, I'm not sure.

Maybe I'm wrong and people are a lot more vigilant than I'm giving them credit for, but I have a hard time believing that someone really wants these bombs to go off. I feel like if someone really wanted a bomb to go off in AUB, then it'd go off -- like the bombs last month that blew up the microbuses.

In any case, whether they go off or not, any bombs in public places make me feel really uneasy.

It was a little disconcerting to learn that yesterday, a bomb was defused at the American University of Beirut:

Police defused a small bomb at the American University of Beirut on Thursday in what appeared to be the latest of a series of attempts to cause explosions in Lebanon, security officials said.

An explosives expert defused a bomb of 200 grams of TNT that was found in a bag near an elevator in the Issam Fares Hall, a building off the main campus, said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to the media.

The bomb was wired to a detonator and ready to explode, the official added. It was taken to a police barracks for investigation.

Police are also looking into how the bomb got into the university, whose entrances are guarded by police officers and the university's own security guards.

Whenever I hear about these defused bombs (more than a few of which have been found lately), I can't help but think that they're not meant to go off, but rather are meant to be warnings. To whom, and by whom, I'm not sure.

Maybe I'm wrong and people are a lot more vigilant than I'm giving them credit for, but I have a hard time believing that someone really wants these bombs to go off. I feel like if someone really wanted a bomb to go off in AUB, then it'd go off -- like the bombs last month that blew up the microbuses.

In any case, whether they go off or not, any bombs in public places make me feel really uneasy.

It was a little disconcerting to learn that yesterday, a bomb was defused at the American University of Beirut:

Police defused a small bomb at the American University of Beirut on Thursday in what appeared to be the latest of a series of attempts to cause explosions in Lebanon, security officials said.

An explosives expert defused a bomb of 200 grams of TNT that was found in a bag near an elevator in the Issam Fares Hall, a building off the main campus, said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to the media.

The bomb was wired to a detonator and ready to explode, the official added. It was taken to a police barracks for investigation.

Police are also looking into how the bomb got into the university, whose entrances are guarded by police officers and the university's own security guards.

Whenever I hear about these defused bombs (more than a few of which have been found lately), I can't help but think that they're not meant to go off, but rather are meant to be warnings. To whom, and by whom, I'm not sure.

Maybe I'm wrong and people are a lot more vigilant than I'm giving them credit for, but I have a hard time believing that someone really wants these bombs to go off. I feel like if someone really wanted a bomb to go off in AUB, then it'd go off -- like the bombs last month that blew up the microbuses.

In any case, whether they go off or not, any bombs in public places make me feel really uneasy.

It was a little disconcerting to learn that yesterday, a bomb was defused at the American University of Beirut:

Police defused a small bomb at the American University of Beirut on Thursday in what appeared to be the latest of a series of attempts to cause explosions in Lebanon, security officials said.

An explosives expert defused a bomb of 200 grams of TNT that was found in a bag near an elevator in the Issam Fares Hall, a building off the main campus, said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to the media.

The bomb was wired to a detonator and ready to explode, the official added. It was taken to a police barracks for investigation.

Police are also looking into how the bomb got into the university, whose entrances are guarded by police officers and the university's own security guards.

Whenever I hear about these defused bombs (more than a few of which have been found lately), I can't help but think that they're not meant to go off, but rather are meant to be warnings. To whom, and by whom, I'm not sure.

Maybe I'm wrong and people are a lot more vigilant than I'm giving them credit for, but I have a hard time believing that someone really wants these bombs to go off. I feel like if someone really wanted a bomb to go off in AUB, then it'd go off -- like the bombs last month that blew up the microbuses.

In any case, whether they go off or not, any bombs in public places make me feel really uneasy.

It was a little disconcerting to learn that yesterday, a bomb was defused at the American University of Beirut:

Police defused a small bomb at the American University of Beirut on Thursday in what appeared to be the latest of a series of attempts to cause explosions in Lebanon, security officials said.

An explosives expert defused a bomb of 200 grams of TNT that was found in a bag near an elevator in the Issam Fares Hall, a building off the main campus, said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to the media.

The bomb was wired to a detonator and ready to explode, the official added. It was taken to a police barracks for investigation.

Police are also looking into how the bomb got into the university, whose entrances are guarded by police officers and the university's own security guards.

Whenever I hear about these defused bombs (more than a few of which have been found lately), I can't help but think that they're not meant to go off, but rather are meant to be warnings. To whom, and by whom, I'm not sure.

Maybe I'm wrong and people are a lot more vigilant than I'm giving them credit for, but I have a hard time believing that someone really wants these bombs to go off. I feel like if someone really wanted a bomb to go off in AUB, then it'd go off -- like the bombs last month that blew up the microbuses.

In any case, whether they go off or not, any bombs in public places make me feel really uneasy.

It was a little disconcerting to learn that yesterday, a bomb was defused at the American University of Beirut:

Police defused a small bomb at the American University of Beirut on Thursday in what appeared to be the latest of a series of attempts to cause explosions in Lebanon, security officials said.

An explosives expert defused a bomb of 200 grams of TNT that was found in a bag near an elevator in the Issam Fares Hall, a building off the main campus, said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to the media.

The bomb was wired to a detonator and ready to explode, the official added. It was taken to a police barracks for investigation.

Police are also looking into how the bomb got into the university, whose entrances are guarded by police officers and the university's own security guards.

Whenever I hear about these defused bombs (more than a few of which have been found lately), I can't help but think that they're not meant to go off, but rather are meant to be warnings. To whom, and by whom, I'm not sure.

Maybe I'm wrong and people are a lot more vigilant than I'm giving them credit for, but I have a hard time believing that someone really wants these bombs to go off. I feel like if someone really wanted a bomb to go off in AUB, then it'd go off -- like the bombs last month that blew up the microbuses.

In any case, whether they go off or not, any bombs in public places make me feel really uneasy.