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March 09, 2005

Putting Freedom to the Test

Anyone who has been in America for a while has seen the slogan "Freedom is not free" on a bumper-sticker or placard. In Lebanon, that phrase is more than just a slogan, it is stark reality.

For the last two weeks pro-democracy, pro-freedom demonstrators have come out and voiced their message to very little resistance. Yesterday's pro-Syria demonstrations, although very possibly contrived, could take the wind out of the sails of the opposition. It has certainly emboldened the pro-Syria government, as they nominated an interesting choice for Prime Minister:

A total of 69 deputies from the 128-member chamber named Karami in consultations with President Emile Lahoud, the sources said. The pro-Syrian president was now bound to appoint Karami, who resigned last week, as prime minister-designate.

This move shows last week's actions by the Lebanese government was not in earnest. Instead, it was a stalling tactic designed to de-escalate the growing conflict with the opposition.

This is a moment of truth for the pro-Lebanon opposition. Are they going to choose freedom, or are they going to sit down and shut up as Bashar Assad would prefer?

Update: Captain Ed is optimistic, but he asks a different question:

I suspect that new pro-democracy rallies will be attempted after this slap in the face. The question will be whether they are tolerated as before by the Lahoud/Karami coalition and the guns of Hezbollah, and what the Lebanese Army decides to do about supporting either.

Given the reaction of the masses to the assasination of Hariri, one would guess a show of force against pro-freedom demonstrators would be a bad move. Then again, doing nothing against the demonstrators hasn't gained Syria any ground either, so what could they lose?

Posted by bubba138 at March 9, 2005 09:25 AM