Convoys of high-ranking officers with tinted windows, a horde of buses carrying soldiers, and military jeeps lined up as far as the eye can see. At the Masnaa border crossing, at the foot of the arid rocks separating Lebanon from Syria, the scene is meticulously orchestrated. It is April 26, 2005. Under pressure from the streets and the international community, the assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri a few months earlier hastened the enforcement of Resolution 1559. Adopted in September 2004, this resolution called for the withdrawal of foreign forces from Lebanon. After 29 years of occupation, and a final farewell ceremony at the Rayak airbase, the 30,000 red berets of the Syrian army retreated. The infamously ruthless head of military intelligence, Rustom Ghazaleh, who had succeeded Ghazi Kanaan, would no longer exert...