It&#x27;s really messy business comparing tragedies and ultimately trivializes aspects of them.  Like what was worse the holocaust or American slavery?  It has no answer.<p>Comparing empathy responses is just as messy.  Should we make character judgments based upon the number of visitors to ones funeral?  I think not.<p>Just out of curiosity, could flying an American flag in Lebanon, maybe nearer the Syrian border, potentially cause you some problems?  What about the French flag?  They&#x27;d had a rather intertwined history together.  Seems odd to try and read in to ones empathy based upon such things.<p>Maybe if they fixed all the damaged buildings from their last civil war the rest of the world might start to forget their recent violent past.  It wouldn&#x27;t hurt. Regardless of how peaceful it might be now, it&#x27;s a very recent thing in Lebanon and there are reminders everywhere of the violence.  It hard for people to not factor that in.  I feel bad for their victims, but I suspect it is similar to how the rest of the world feels about American gun violence victims; they don&#x27;t fly our flag after every school shooting, and I don&#x27;t expect them to or need them to do so.