The Cedar Revolution

This is BIG. The entire Lebanese government resigned today. The grip of the Syrians on Lebanon is inexorably getting more and more difficult to maintain. This, coupled with the announcement in Egypt that Mubarak will open up elections to allow opposition candidates to run against him is also huge.

It is entirely too early to see where this will all lead, but in the minds of all of those who opposed Bush's revolutionary endeavor to democratize the Middle East region, there has got to be some doubt. A German newspaper last week published an op-ed that opined, "What If Bush Was Right"? Clearly this prospect has got to be going through the minds of the Left (and the Buchanan Right).

Suicide Bombing In Israel

On Friday, another suicide bomber attacked in Israel. I subsequently caught an interview with Saeb Erekat, a Palestinian Authority official. Normally when PA officials would do interviews, they'd always deflect responsibility for the atrocity and bring up the actions of the Israeli Defense Forces. This time around, Erekat seemed downright desultory and offered no defense. He said that the PA had nothing to do with it, and frankly (perhaps naively), I believed him. With the death of arch-murderer Arafat, I'm of the mind that the PA and the Palestinian people are done with the intifada. It has brought nothing but misery and bloodshed to them, and a chance for a real nation of their own, before the latest suicide bombing, seemed to be feasable.

And Behind The Door Is....

Syria, of course. Let's keep track of what the Syrians have been up to in the few weeks. They planted a 650 lbs. bomb under a street to blow up once and future Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Harari. According to Israeli intelligence, they were responsible for the latest suicide bombing in Israel. And to take some of the heat off, they forked over Saddam Hussein's half-brother, who was wanted in Iraq. All of which brings us to some prospective questions and conclusions:

a.) If Syria had Saddam Hussein's brother, who else to do they have? Additionally, is it so unbelievable that the missing WMDs actually did exist and were spirited away to Syria? Since a high level Ba'ath official like Saddam's brother took refuge in Syria, it proves that there was an operational relationship between the two Ba'ath governments. Why is it so unbelievable that they would hide WMDs as well as officials?

b.) Perhaps this is wishful thinking on my part, but the PA is truly interested in ending the intifada and getting a real agreement with Israel. Syria is not. They're interested in perpetual war with Israel, and they'll do anything in their power to destroy any real peace agreement, much less the establishment of a Palestinian state.

c.) Events are spiralling out of control in Lebanon for the Syrians. I'm hoping that things don't get any more violent than they have, but they could. In the meantime, 25,000 people have taken to the streets. Much as the Syrians would like to pull a "Hama" (a rebellious town they levelled in 1982, killing 30,000 people), there are 150,000 US troops next door, and the eyes of the world are watching them.

Let's see how it all unfolds. But this is certainly getting interesting.