"One never knew what to expect to see on the streets. I was doing my grocery shopping one afternoon when two militia boys rushed past... One had three revolvers stuffed in his belt and the other had two bullet-belts crisscrossing his chest, and two Kalashnikovs slung over his shoulder. Both were carrying bouquets of red roses. It was Mother's Day."

Brownies and Kalashnikovs: A Saudi Woman's Memoir of American Arabia and Wartime Beirut by Fadia Basrawi