The shadow of another Iraq
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1430242,00.html
The upheaval in Lebanon and the pressure for Syria to withdraw now
threaten the survival of the Assad regime
David Hirst in Damascus
Friday March 4, 2005
The Guardian
A velvet revolution, Ukrainian style, that will set an example for the
whole Middle East? That is how Lebanon's so far peaceful "democratic
uprising" likes to see itself. Certainly, something new and profound is
under way.
Lebanon's strength - and weakness - was always the multiplicity of
religious sects on which its whole political system is based. When the
system worked, it did so far better than any of its neighbours'; when
it broke down, it did so disastrously. During its 16-year civil war
Walid Jumblatt, the same Druze chieftain who now leads the opposition,
warned the interfering Arabs: "One day the fire will spread to you." It
didn't. What he leads today has a better chance of doing so.
David Hirst
http://groups-beta.google.com/group/alt.atheism/msg/d3523e6755e845ff
Syria
http://groups-beta.google.com/group/alt.atheism/msg/e969d0bd1876c833
Lebanon
http://groups-beta.google.com/group/alt.atheism/msg/6bafd1d6dea7b905
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