April 25, 2005

WINNING THE WoT, HE YAWNED:

Syria Ends 29-Year Presence in Lebanon (DONNA ABU-NASR, 4/24/05, AP)

As soon as the truckloads of Syrian soldiers had left for home, Mariam Majzoub started dishing out paint to erase the last vestiges of their 29-year presence.

Her children, nephews, nieces and neighbors stuck Lebanese flags on top of the abandoned posts near her home in this tiny Bekaa Valley village, slapped whitewash on the walls and celebrated the departure date in green paint: "Independence 2005, Sunday, April 17."

"We started dancing in the street even before they turned the corner," said Majzoub, her plump face glowing with joy. "We could finally express ourselves, and there was nothing they could do about it."

Syria ended its three-decade presence in Lebanon on Sunday, leaving behind only a few score troops who will attend a farewell ceremony Tuesday.


As a succession of Iron Curtain governments fell each received diminishing attention--a region with which we'd been obsessed for five decades becoming an afterthought once it became clear we'd won the Cold War. Has the Middle East already reached that point just three plus years into the War on Terror?

Posted by Orrin Judd at April 25, 2005 8:29 PM
Comments

Why has there been no dancing in the street of the MSM?

Posted by: erp at April 25, 2005 10:13 PM

After Iran, we can then yawn.

Posted by: oswald booth czolgosz at April 25, 2005 11:53 PM

Why?
Obviously, because it may appear that events may just perhaps, a wee bit maybe vindicate Bush. (Not necessarily mind you, since Syria would inevitably have left Lebanon, eventually, it was just a matter of time, so no need to wax triumphalist, besides Bush just got lucky, and needless to say it was the Lebanese, not Bush, Bush had nothing to do with it, etc.)

Or perhaps because in Lebanon, the fat lady has not yet sung.

Or because in Iraq, things are going just a bit too well (though you wouldn't know it from the media).

But mostly, because the Palestinians don't yet have their state. (In other words, Israel is still imperiling the entire world.)

So what is there to celebrate, really?

Posted by: Barry Meislin at April 26, 2005 8:40 AM

The NPR coverage was completely "ho hum, nothing to see here." In the end, they did suggest that the withdrawal was due to a UN resolution.

Posted by: David Cohen at April 26, 2005 10:13 AM
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