CATALYSTIC CONVERTED (via Leigh):

Democracy in the Mideast: Arabs are saying 'Enough' (Mona Eltahawy, March 5, 2005, International Herald Tribune)

What has triggered all this talk of change? We would be lying to ourselves if we didn't acknowledge that the U.S. invasion of Iraq was a major catalyst.

I marched in two protests in New York against the war in Iraq, which I didn't believe was carried out in the name of democracy or change. I am appalled at the violence and the loss of life and have often written for the right of Iraqis to be free of occupation by either the Americans or the insurgents. But I doubt there would be so much talk of change in the Arab world if America was not in Iraq today.