01/03/2005 10:01:58 am
Another Orange Revolution? The government in Lebanon has suddenly resigned after what is described as a tough debate in Parliament and huge demonstrations in the Martyr Square in Beirut. The initiating event for all this may have been the assassination of the former PM, but the picture is broader. Syria, with forces in Lebanon, is shaking following the destruction of the Iraqi dictatorship. There has been a strong international pressure from the US, this time united with France. When the US and Europe unite for freedom, not much can stand against for long. Behind it all, the optimist can see one more step towards the realisation of the Bush doctrine of freedom and democracy in the Middle East. The Lebanese opposition has a new self-confidence and the demonstrators openly say that they want to do what took place in Ukraine. This shows that dictators, when faced with a strong and decisive force for freedom - which the US currently is - they need each other to uphold the oppression. But when they fall, one after another, you get a kind of domino effect. Perhaps it is not as much another Orange revolution as it is another Velvet revolution?



Enthusiastic demonstrators in Beirut