Winds of Change gets results! John at Crossroads Arabia points me to this editorial in the Arab News, commenting on the events unfolding in Lebanon:
Winds of change are blowing though the region: Elections in Iraq, a successful rebellion against the old establishment in the Palestinian Parliament, constitutional changes on the cards in Egypt and now people power in Lebanon. Until a few weeks ago, change was seen as driven from outside, by the Americans. Those who still think that are clearly wrong. The Americans may have done some of the initial driving but it is now being driven from within. The Middle East is ready for change and wants a change but not only between Palestinian and Israeli.Pretty heady stuff coming from an official Saudi publication. So what’s the catch?
The biggest impediment to a Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon is, that’s right, us:
Syria had already decided to redeploy its troops back toward its border, but this is unlikely to satisfy the protesters. Damascus, on the other hand, already under intense international pressure orchestrated largely from Washington, will resist a complete pullout, at least at the moment. To withdraw now would be seen as a humiliating cave-in to that pressure, in particular to the high-profile interference by Washington and Paris.While there may be a danger of backing Syria into a corner, for the US to fall silent may be seen as a green light for Syria to crush the rebellion. Aside from Lebanon, Syrian support for the Iraqi insurgency remains an issue, which can hardly be taken off the table – so the “high profile interference” will likely continue.
Read the whole thing, and tell me: does the editorial voice of the Arab News quiver with excitement? Or trepidation?
Answer: A mixture of both.
And both and fine by me.
Yeah, a little (or a lot of) humiliation wouldn't be such a bad thing for the Ba'athist tyranny in Syria. It will deprive it of traction for any sneaky future comebacks, maybe.
No longer silent:
WaPo: US, France Tell Syria To Leave Lebanon
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/washpost/20050302/ts_washpost/a62296_2005mar1
Considerable footage of the "people power" demos in Lebanon on the BBC this evening -- their comment, "Something extraordinary is happening." And here is more on the event -- seems W. has spoken up.
Something extraordinary may very well be happening.