Syria's Slow-Motion Assassination of Democracy in Lebanon

Rick Moran puts his finger on the Syrian problem -- Assad's bloddy numbers game in Lebanon:

Rafiq Hariri – Former Prime Minister and Lebanese nationalist. Assassinated by car bomb, February 14, 2005.

Samir Kassir – Crusading anti-Syrian journalist. Killed by bomb in his car, June 2. 2005.

George Hawi – Former Communist leader and anti-Syrian critic. Killed by a bomb in his car, June 21, 2005.

Ali Ramez Tohme – Anti-Syrian author. Escaped bomb in his car, September 15, 2005.

May Chidiac – Anti-Syrian television anchor. Severely wounded in car bomb explosion, September 25, 2005.

Gebran Tuinei – Anti-Syrian MP and publisher of An Nahar, largest Arab language daily in Lebanon. Killed by car bomb, December 12, 2005.

Pierre Gemayel – Minister of Industry and anti-Syrian MP. Killed by gunmen, November 21, 2006.

Walid Eido – Anti-Syrian MP. Killed by car bomb, June 13, 2007.

You’ve got to hand it to Bashar Assad, Syria’s gangster President. Even though he has more blood on his hands than Al Capone, the James Bakers and Nancy Pelosis of the world still want to treat this street thug as if he were head of a sovereign nation and carry on some kind of “dialogue” with the brute. Judging by the above blood soaked list, it would appear that Mr. Assad’s idea of dialogue is somewhat different than ours. At the very least, it makes answering bombs and assassin’s bullets with rational conversation problematic in the extreme.

What appears on the surface to be random acts of violence meant to fulfill some kind of manic bloodlust in the heart of the Syrian dictator actually has a frightening strategic element embedded in the madness. Assad wants nothing less than to murder enough members of the democratic majority government in Lebanon so that the Iranian backed Hezbullah can then seize power.

Moran asks a good question:  Will the civilized world stand by and let Syria succeed with its bloody drip-by-drip assassination of a Middle East democracy?

And the “civilized” world stands by and allows all of this to happen. How can this be? How can we do “business as usual” with a country so far beyond the pale of human decency? Lebanon may be a small country, an insignificant blob on a map. They have little in the way of natural resources. They have no great army or navy. What Lebanon does have is a people with very strong ideas on freedom and independence. Perhaps the most westernized of all Arab countries, Lebanon’s historic ties to the west as a gateway to doing business in the Middle East goes back more than a century. Her people – both Christian and Muslim – are among the most literate and best educated in the region with a decidedly secular outlook on life.

And most importantly, they have recently thrown off the yoke of dependence and domination by Syria and embraced democracy. But the fragile government, coping with the “state within a state” that is Hezbullah, is beset on all sides by enemies both foreign and domestic.

Sadly, the world community is doing little or nothing to help the people of Lebanon defeat this mortal threat to their democracy.  The last thing the Middle East and the world need is for Lebanon to slip completely under the control of Syria.

Comments

[DemocracyRules]

LEBANON’S VICTORY

Finally the Lebanese agree about something in politics: Syria is attacking them.

Amazingly, the violence in the North has strengthened the resolve against civil war. The Lebanese army is not being very efficient in uprooting the terrorists in the northern Palestinian camp. However, the country is behind them, and the army is growing braver, more cohesive, and more effective. Whatever else, the Lebanese are good at war.

There is nothing wrong or diminishing about fighting for freedom, equality, autonomy, and the fight will strengthen Lebanon’s stature in the world. Defending democracy is the one thing that justifies war, and now Lebanon knows what it means when it is said that freedom cannot be won and kept without constant struggle. After more than 100,000 years of human habitation and conflict, the Lebanese have at last found their cause: to fight for freedom and make their country whole.

Assad is desperate to regain the ancient prize of the Levant, the birthplace of the alphabet, the place from which the Phoenicians set out to cross the ancient seas. It is the Antioch reborn, the crossing point of Europe and Asia, the fountainhead of Eastward commerce, the touchstone of myriad cultures that rub against each other, the sparks, the excitement, the new ideas, the new opportunities. With democracy Lebanon will become rich with commerce, banking, tourism, and more, while the blood poured into the Syrian sand will finally amount to nothing.

Here, in this dance, lies the essence of the fight.

http://ikbis.com/beirut%20girl/shot/1300

Her dance predates Islam and the Arabian Nights, and may well live beyond a thousand years hence. It is worth dying to defend, for it is the dance of youth, and the human spirit made free.

Pro patria.