February 17, 2005

Bush Tells Syria to Quit Lebanon

President Bush called on Syria on Thursday to withdraw its forces from Lebanon as Lebanese opposition leaders vowed to topple the country's pro-Syrian leadership.

Pressure has been piling up on Syria and its Lebanese allies since Monday's killing of former premier Rafik al-Hariri, the country's most influential politician, in a suspected car bombing that many Lebanese blame on Damascus.

Bush said Syria should adhere to a U.N. resolution demanding its troops leave Lebanon and should allow an election scheduled for May to be free and fair.
[Freedom continues to be on the march in the Middle East!--Jen]

Bush recalled the U.S. ambassador to Syria this week in reaction to the bombing.[...]
[...]
Voices from across Lebanon's various ethnic and religious communities, encouraged by the tough anti-Syrian stance of the United States and France,
[Yep! France is with us this time because they're willing to go to the mat for Lebanon.--J.T.]
are now telling Damascus and its local allies it is time to go.

"The day will come when we will get brooms and sweep away this dirt, the criminal authority, the terrorist authority," Druze leader Walid Jumblatt told reporters at Hariri's house. "This day will come soon and all of the Lebanese people will rise and send them to hell."
[...]
Lebanese newspapers said Wednesday's scenes of grief and anger among more than 150,000 mourners in the streets of Beirut amounted to a national referendum against Syria's military and political influence over its smaller neighbor.

"Hariri's funeral was a huge vote for unity and sovereignty," read the headline in Beirut's leading newspaper, An-Nahar.
[...]
For most of his dozen years in and out of the premiership, Hariri had toed Syria's line -- until resentment over Syrian insistence on extending the term of his political rival, President Emile Lahoud, prompted him to quit in October.

In a pointed snub, Hariri's family told top government officials to stay clear of the funeral of the ebullient Sunni Muslim former prime minister.

Al-Hariri was going to win that election in May and try to take more steps towards Lebanese sovereignity as premier and that's why Assad had him offed.
To grasp the situation more fully, NRO's Cliff May points us to today's op ed in the NYSlimes by Tom Friedman:
"Hama Rules"

As a dues-paying member of the Bushie Neocon VRWC™, I usually have an allergic reaction to Friedman, but May's right; it's a darn good analysis by an expert on the region, for once!
Further, it seems to support President Bush's policy of replacing Islamist tyranny and terrorism for democracy:

[...]
When Syria's Baath regime feels its back up against the wall, it always resorts to "Hama Rules." Hama Rules is a term I coined after the Syrian Army leveled - and I mean leveled - a portion of its own city, Hama, to put down a rebellion by Sunni Muslim fundamentalists there in 1982. Some 10,000 to 20,000 Syrians were buried in the ruble. Monday's murder of Mr. Hariri, a self-made billionaire who devoted his money and energy to rebuilding Lebanon after its civil war, had all the hallmarks of Hama Rules - beginning with 650 pounds of dynamite to incinerate an armor-plated motorcade.

Message from the Syrian regime to Washington, Paris and Lebanon's opposition: "You want to play here, you'd better be ready to play by Hama Rules - and Hama Rules are no rules at all. You want to squeeze us with Iraq on one side and the Lebanese opposition on the other, you'd better be able to put more than U.N. resolutions on the table. You'd better be ready to go all the way - because we will. But you Americans are exhausted by Iraq, and you Lebanese don't have the guts to stand up to us, and you French make a mean croissant but you've got no Hama Rules in your arsenal. So remember, we blow up prime ministers here. We shoot journalists. We fire on the Red Cross. We leveled one of our own cities. You want to play by Hama Rules, let's see what you've got. Otherwise, hasta la vista, baby."
[...]
What else can the Lebanese do? They must unite all their communities and hit the Syrian regime with "Baghdad Rules," which were demonstrated 10 days ago by the Iraqi people. Baghdad Rules are when an Arab public does something totally unprecedented: it takes to the streets, despite the threat of violence from jihadists and Baathists, and expresses its democratic will.

Rafik Hariri stopped playing by "Lebanese Rules" - eating any crow the Syrians crammed down Lebanon's throat - and openly challenged Syrian imperialism. If the Lebanese want to be free, they have got to take the lead. They have to summon the same civic courage that Mr. Hariri did and that the Iraqi public did - the courage to look the fascists around them in the eye, call them in the press and in public by their real names, and confront the European Union and the Arab League for their willingness to ignore the Syrian oppression.
[Don't forget the U.N.!
When it comes to condemning Syria for their occupation of Lebanon, they've been MIA yet again.--Jen]
[...]
Baghdad Rules mean the Lebanese giving the Syrian regime - every day, everywhere - the purple finger.

We can only hope!
It remains to be seen how far Assad will go to keep Lebanon in his grip and how much President Bush will tolerate, but it may take more than just purple fingers to get Syrian troops out of Lebanon.
Let's pray we don't find out the hard way that Syria/Lebanon isn't where Saddam's WMDs went.
I'm proud to say that President Bush issued his directive that Syria leave Lebanon after this announcement earlier this morning:
Syria, Iran form 'united front
Of course, these 2 have been aligned long before today, Syria allowing Iranian-sponsored Hezbollah to have the run of the place.
And how they plan to reach across Free Iraq is beyond me, but this kind of bellicosity and defensiveness seems to make them feel more secure, especially the nutty Moo-las in Iran.