The Arab Revolt Is in Beirut

In one of my all-time favorite movies Colonel T.E. Lawrence (Peter O'Toole) says, "the Arab revolt is in Deraa"*. Today, the Arab revolt is in Beirut, and all we can do in the West is follow. I intended to write another news round-up but Dr. Joshua Landis (aka Our man in Damascus) beat me too it.

One piece of news has come out just recently, however. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is planning a rare address to his parliament detailing his withdrawal plans. He is expected to meet the terms agreed to at Ta'if in 1989, pulling back to the Beqaa Valley, Hezbollah's home turf. This may cause the Lebanese revolution to lose momentum, since a complete pullout would leave Hezbollah, an opponent with far less to lose, on the flank of Christian and Sunni Lebanese.

The same Post article referred to above also quotes President Bush, who is using this as an opportunity to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the French:

"When the United States and France say withdraw, we mean complete withdrawal, no half-hearted measures," Bush said.

The French responded that when they said "withdraw", they meant after a few drinks and a hearty meal.

* Colonial English accent mandatory