Lebanon Shows Glimmers of Hope

By DemocracyRules

If you have been ignoring Lebanon, I don't blame you.  Lebanon is always rife with sectarian hate, and sometimes they kill each other in large numbers, sometimes in small numbers.  All previous violence mainly consisted of people killing other people they didn't like -- a zero sum game.   Isn't this just the same-old same-old?

Well no, this one has a new twist.  On March 14, 2005 Lebanon became a new democracy (The Cedar Revolution).  The majority party, very pro-democracy, is called "March 14".  So far in the conflict, Hizbullah, backed by Iran and Syria, is causing all the trouble, trying to overthrow March 14 and the democratic government.  Essentially Iran and Syria are trying to regain control of Lebanon.

The pro-democracy political groups have yet to clearly see this conflict as a knock-down, drag-out fight for democracy.  The enemies of democracy are just plain old garden-variety terrorists dressed up in an ideology that is only slightly different  from that of Al Qaida.   As the conflict continues I think the Lebanese will begin to understand this better.   

Given that the core of the conflict is about democracy, the stakes are higher, and the outcome could be much more meaningful than previous civil wars.

Pro Patria