Revolution on a Roll in Mid-East

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Revolution's on a

roll in the Mideast

Revolutions either move forward or die. We are at the dawn of a glorious, delicate, revolutionary moment in the Middle East. It was triggered by the invasion of Iraq, the overthrow of Saddam Hussein and televised images of 8 million Iraqis voting. Which led to the obvious question throughout the Middle East: Why Iraqis and not us?

The revolution began outside the Middle East with the Afghan elections. That was followed by the Iraqi elections. In between came free Palestinian elections that produced a moderate, reform-oriented leadership. Demonstrations for democracy led President Hosni Mubarak to promise the first contested presidential elections in Egyptian history. And now, the Cedar Revolution in Lebanon, where the assassination of opposition leader Rafik al-Hariri fueled an explosion of people power in the streets that brought down Syria's puppet government in Beirut.

Revolution is in the air. What to do? We are already hearing voices for restraint about liberating Lebanon. Flynt Leverett, your usual Middle East expert, takes to The New York Times to oppose immediate withdrawal of Syria's occupation of Lebanon. Instead, he thinks we should be trying to "engage and empower" Damascus.

We are on the threshold of what Arabs in the region are calling the fall of their Berlin Wall, and our "realists" want us to make deals with dictators. It would be a tragedy to try to rein in Lebanon's revolution. It would betray our principles.

The Cedar Revolution promises not only to liberate Lebanon. A forced Syrian withdrawal could bring down the Assad dictatorship. Changing Damascus will transform the Middle East.

We are not talking about invading Syria; there is no need. If Assad loses Lebanon, his regime could be fatally weakened, economically and psychologically.

Assad has succeeded Saddam as the principal bad actor in the region. From the al-Hariri bombing in Lebanon to the Feb. 25 Tel Aviv bombing to its support of insurgents in Iraq, Syria is trying to destabilize its neighbors.

Five years ago, Assad repressed Syrian demands for more freedom. Now 140 Syrian intellectuals have petitioned their government to withdraw from Lebanon. They signed their names. Were the contagion to spread to Damascus, the entire region would be on a path to democratization.

This is no time to heed the voices of indecision, compromise and fear. It is our principles that brought us to this moment by way of Afghanistan and Iraq. They need to guide us now, through Beirut to Damascus.

Originally published on March 4, 2005