Democracies and War

I forgot something when I made my list of small encouraging signs. Perhaps I left out one that isn’t so small.
This war in the Middle East nearly demolishes the theory that democracies don’t go to war with each other. Lebanon, aside from Hezbollah’s state-within-a-state, is a democracy. At least it’s an almost-democracy. Aside from my personal affection for Lebanon, the country where I recently lived, the only country other than the US where I’ve ever lived, this is what anguishes me the most: The Arab world’s only democracy is being torn to pieces by another democracy.
But it’s telling, I think, that the Lebanese army, the fighting institution that represents democratic Lebanon and not just one totalitarian-sponsored political party, has chosen to sit this one out.