And the Beat Goes On -- Lebanon Updates; Has the Revolution Begun?

The Scotsman reports:

Defying a ban on protests, more than 20,000 people demonstrated against Syrian interference in Lebanon today and demanded the resignation of the nation’s pro-Damascus government.

Inside the Beirut parliament building, opposition MPs made the same call, with one accusing the government of negligence in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
....
In Martyr’s Square, 200 yards from parliament, the demonstrators waved hundreds of Lebanese flags, clambered on to the plinth of the martyrs’ statue, and prayed in front of candles at the flower-covered grave of Hariri, which lies at the edge of the piazza.

The demonstrators also demanded the withdrawal of Syria’s 15,000 troops in Lebanon, chanting: “We want no other army in Lebanon except the Lebanese army!”
....
Hundreds of soldiers and police ringed the square in a bid to enforce the government’s ban on protests. But they made no serious effort to disperse the demonstrators, many of whom had slept in the square. Some soldiers and police even sympathised with the demonstrators, and were seen advising newcomers on how to evade the cordon.

Hundreds of soldiers and police ringed the square in a bid to enforce the government’s ban on protests. But they made no serious effort to disperse the demonstrators, many of whom had slept in the square. Some soldiers and police even sympathised with the demonstrators, and were seen advising newcomers on how to evade the cordon.

When the security forces begin to collaborate with the protesters, the regime is in real trouble.

Meanwhile Assad has not responded in any meaningful way to the demands for withdrawal.

Syrian President Bashar Assad, whose government dominates its Lebanese neighbour, said in an interview today that a withdrawal from Lebanon required a settlement with Israel.

“Under a technical point of view, the withdrawal can happen by the end of the year,” Assad said. “But under a strategic point of view, it will only happen if we obtain serious guarantees. In one word: peace.”

Syria said last week it would redeploy its troops to eastern Lebanon, closer to its border, but they would not leave Lebanon. By Monday, there was no sign of the redeployment having begun.

So Assad is playing the same old game all reactionary Arab leaders play. He says that nothing can be done until the Israeli/Palestinian problem is cleared up, while at the same time making sure [Syria was behind yesterday's terror bombing in Tel Aviv] that there will be no peace in Palestine. For decades western nations have accepted that excuse for inaction [many in Europe still do], but those days are passing.

One of the great glories of Bush's foreign policy is the fact that he recognized that the really big troubles in the region were not the fault of Israel, but of the Arab governments themselves. He took direct action in Iraq and elsewhere, ignoring demands that he focus on "the Mideast Problem," and that has made all the difference.

Assad is playing it tough. He won't be redeploying troops anytime soon, and when redeployment takes place it will not remove them from Lebanon. As I pointed out in an earlier post, there are lots of signs pointing to the fact that US forces are no longer tied down in Iraq. Look for a redeployment to take place soon..., of American forces; one that will put a lot of them on the Syrian border.

Read the whole thing here.

FURTHERMORE:

Rami Khouri has a piece in today's Boston Globe that highlights both the complexity of the situation in Lebanon and it paramount importance for the region. He writes:

BEIRUT

THE POST-Hariri assassination dynamic in Lebanon and Syria should be studied closely for what it can tell us about how indigenous forces resist or challenge powerful indigenous governments. The Syrian-Lebanese relationship is now the crucible for testing new forms of American and Western political intervention in the Arab world.

Read the whole thing here.

AND OF COURSE:

Publius Pundit is on the case. Things are moving rapidly toward a major confrontation. There is a no-confidence vote scheduled for tomorrow, there are major demonstrations in the streets, the government has ordered a crackdown, but it remains to see if it will be effective. Publius writes:

The no-confidence vote in the government is tomorrow, with thousands of people still protesting, and business, banking, and industrial leaders closing down the country’s economy in order to go out there themselves. It is going to be big, and it could be brutal, but either way, this could be the revolution. [Emphasis mine].

Go to Publius here. Do it, Now!!!! He's got commentary, he's got picture links, he has links to Lebanese blogs. He's your one-stop shopping center for news on the liberation movements throughout the Muslim world.

The Entire Lebanese Government has Resigned!!!
Noon, Feb. 28

More Pictures -- this time from the BBC -- here.

US Welcomes the change of government in Lebanon -- Puts Pressure on Syria:

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The White House welcomed the resignation of pro-Syrian Lebanese Prime Minister Omar Karameh saying it should pave the way for elections and a new government that was "truly representative."

White House spokesman Scott McClellan also repeated a call for Syrian troops to leave Lebanon. "We are closely watching developments with great interest," he told reporters.

"The resignation of the Karameh government represents an opportunity for the Lebanese people to have a new government which is truly representative of their country's diversity," McClellan said.

"The new government will have the responsibility to implement free and fair elections that the Lebanese people have clearly demonstrated they desire," McClellan added.

"The process of (forming) a new government should proceed in accordance with the Lebanese constitution and should be free of all foreign interference," the White House spokesman said. "It is time for Syria to fully comply with United Nations Security Council resolution 1559 that means that Syria military forces and intelligence personnel leave the country," he said. "That will help to ensure that elections are free and fair."

Read the whole thing here.