SPRING OF HOPE
When Lebanon gets free, Syria is next
by Hassan Mneimneh
New York Post
March 1, 2005

March 1, 2005 -- YESTERDAY'S abrupt resignation of Prime Minister Omar Karami and his Cabinet is just the latest sign of hope for Lebanon.

The offer to resign creates a major chance for the Lebanese independence movement — and a grave challenge to the international community.

A sea of Lebanese flags now waves across Martyrs Square in central Beirut — not far from where former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was assassinated on Feb. 14.

All Lebanon believes that the Syrians are behind the assassination. Their goal: To decapitate a growing independence movement that was set to win the upcoming parliamentary elections and provide a beleaguered nation with its first serious chance to rid itself of Syrian occupation.

In the aftermath of the Iraqi elections, with ripple effects in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Palestine, the Middle East is growing increasing hostile to the brand of dictatorship that reigns in Damascus.

The Syrian regime holds three major cards:

* The Iraqi insurgency, which it condones and allows to prosper on Syrian soil. (It retains this card despite having just "discovered" the presence of dozens of top insurgents, including Saddam Hussein's half brother, whom it handed over to appease the international community.)

* Palestinian rejectionist organizations, which it fosters and directs to engage in terrorist operations against Israel and against any chance of peace.

* Its "presence" in Lebanon — a full-fledged occupation which has sought to subvert all Lebanese institutions and insure a permanence for the use of this small country as an outlet for the interests, economic or geopolitical, of the Syrian regime.

However, the regime calculations did not include a proper appreciation of the reaction of Lebanese society to the fall of one of its uncelebrated heroes.

Soldiers of the Lebanese Army were ordered by their Syrian-inspired command to halt any gathering through which the public opinion might get expressed. But once the troops got to Martyrs Square, they were handed white roses by schoolchildern. The soldiers followed their conscience. No confrontation followed.

By the tens of thousands, Lebanese of all backgrounds (but mostly of the new generation), gathered in the square demanding the truth about the killing of Hariri, the resignation of the Lebanese government and president and the withdrawal of the Syrian military and intelligence apparatus.

The Syrian regime has long claimed that the only alternative to its its continuing occupation of Lebanon is civil strife. But Lebanese society is deeply rooted in a pluralistic tradition that incorporates proven peaceful approaches to crisis resolution. Only the occupier has an interest in watching the independence movement lead to the dreaded chaos — and, as the Syrian involvement in the last terrorist bombing in Tel Aviv indicates, this is not the type of regime that just wishes for an outcome.

The Lebanese independence movement is proceeding forward. It has set its eyes on seeing the puppet president go, together with his masters, back to Syria.

The international community should realize that the Syrian regime cannot tolerate such a defeat. Television viewers in Damascus, Aleppo and other Syrian cities are bound to be inspired by the peaceful revolution that is effectively defeating a regime that oppresses them as well as the Lebanese. If the regime loses in Beirut, Damascus may be next.

The Syrian regime should not be allowed to wreak havoc once again in Lebanon. In its call for democracy in the Middle East, the Bush administration has assumed a moral responsibility for protecting those who seek freedom, dignity and sovereignty. The spotlight should remain on Lebanon until the Syrian occupation is over.

Hassan Mneimneh, a Harvard-educated Lebanese pro-democracy activist, is a member of Benador Associates.

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