One of the primary long-term goals behind the Bush strategy in the Middle East is an environment that will allow popular pressure to build supporting increased freedom in Islamic nations. I think we're beginning to see this strategy pay dividends:
BEIRUT : Thousands of people defied a government ban and massed in the heart of Beirut as Lebanese parliament held a stormy debate set to culminate in a vote of no-confidence in the pro-Syrian regime.
The anti-Syria rally came exactly two weeks after the assassination of ex-premier Rafiq Hariri which triggered a wave of public opposition against the Lebanese government and its backers in Damascus who are blamed for the murder.
Waving large red and white Lebanese flags and shouting "Syria out!" protesters descended on Martyrs' Square where Hariri is buried as hundreds of heavily armed troops and police guarded surrounding streets but did not prevent the rally.
Many stayed on throughout the night despite the ban on demonstrations coming into force and media reports put the size of the crowds at 50,000, while an army officer said there were about 20,000 demonstrators.
The Syrian occupation of Lebanon is one of the greatest examples of political blindness in recent history; for the most part, world leaders and news agencies seem to be oblivious to the whole situation. That's part of what makes recent protests in Lebanon so striking. Despite the fact that their situation is largely ignored, the people in Lebanon seem to have found the courage to speak out almost over night.
I strongly suspect that the pressure being placed on Syria through the US presence in Iraq is a large part of what's given the Lebanese the confidence to stand up and be counted. I hope we'll see much more of this.
Much of the point of the Iraqi War, in my mind, was always to create a Middle East in which the other tyrants would fear for their lives. We are seeing the good results of our policy now, all over the Middle East. The government of Syria is in more trouble now than it has been in my memory. Its hold on Lebanon is being challenged, in Lebanon and in international opinion. That Assad feels threatened enough that he gave us one of the chief backers of the insurgency is a wonderful sign of how well we are doing.
As a small sign of the trouble Syria is in, I note the LA Times. I live in Los Angeles. Our Times, of course, is one of the most politically correct, anti-Bush and anti-Israel papers in the country. One of the Times small peculiarities is that, in addition to being persistently anti-Isreal, along with the rest of the liberal press, it also has long had this odd bias of being pro-Assad. I am not making this up. The Times has frequently published articles over the years, which, in addition to giving us all of the details of the latest hideous crimes of the Jews, has also tried to play on our heartstrings by pointing out the immense suffering of the Syrians. The Times can be counted on to have a positive take on Assad.
Not this time. This time, with the evidence of the Syrian involvement in the two terrorist attacks, in Lebanon and in Israel, even the LA Times is running for cover. It printed a fairly straight news story on Syria, citing without comment the evidence of the Syriam involvement in the two attacks. If even the Times feels that it can not take Assad's side any more, then the battle of opinion is definitely changing.
Along the same lines, I note the good news that Egypt feels compelled to say that it will have a real election. On that front, however, I have to say that I will believe it when I see it. The government of Egpt is an old master at pretending to be democratic, when it needs to look respectable, but then emptying its democracy of all substance. At the least, Bush and Rice are putting great pressure on, and Egypt is making the right noises. Who knows? Maybe even the Saudis will start feeling compelled to respect human rights?
In my mind, all of this is what the war was about. We are fighting to remake the Middle East, from the snakepit it has been for so long, into a decent place. At this point, I would say that we are winning.
Posted by: Rick Gibson | Monday, February 28, 2005 at 04:34 PM