Middle East: The Marines Leave Lebanon

A shaky cease-fire gives Gemayel a respite

Suddenly the withdrawal of U.S. Marines from Lebanon began to gather momentum, and by the end of last weekend it was just about over. Wave after wave of Sea Knight and Sea Stallion helicopters ferried equipment and supplies from a coastal landing pad near Beirut International Airport to the waiting ships of the U.S. Sixth Fleet outlined, gray on gray, on the horizon. Nudged by a forklift truck, a long-barreled 155-mm howitzer trundled slowly down a jetty and disappeared, like Jonah into the whale, inside a...