Playing "Capture the Flag" in a Warzone

Fellow South Carolinian W. Thomas Smith Jr. played a dangerous game in Lebanon recently and won:

I snatched a Hezbollah flag — the yellow banner with the green fist and rifle — from one of the enemy's strongholds in Lebanon recently. And when I say stronghold, I literally mean a strong, heavily defended battle position where the Lebanese Army and police dare not enter, and I had to enter covertly...


First, in my often flawed logic I figured that if the terrorists caught me taking the flag, they would — as expressed by a former Christian militiaman who was with me at the time — “cut my head” (meaning “cut my head off”). But the way I saw it, they would “cut my American head” if they caught me flag or no flag anyway.

Second, I hate those guys.

How cool! Not too many journalist/heroes around these days, but Smith is one in my book.