Interesting them firing up Hiz. Wonder what the Iraqi shi'ites will do if we have to get involved?

Are they Shi'ites 1st or Iraqis who want to spread what they started?

And Iran will toss him over, too. Are they distancing themselves from Hiz, too, or letting them do some dirty work?

Dont forget to add the rapidly growing and increasingly competent Free Iraqi troops to that metric.

Why is it everyone thinks that dictatorships are stronger than free people? I thought we settled that issue on June 6th 1944?

( man, it must be hell to be chomsky/moore/sheen these days " Bush lied, people uh, voted (damn...) Not in my name....uh, well, all the messy parts, but the voting, well, that has yet to be proved does it.... "Bush lied" doesnt have quite the sting it used to does it? You dont hear alot about "evil halliburton- all about the oil" these days, do you?

A little caution is in order though, Syria's Moukharabat
plays rough; its mentors were
an Eichmann deputy, Alois Brunner,
(who may or may be still alive)
paging Professor Ward Churchill!
and the Soviet KGB. They've murdered at least two prime ministers, Bashir Gemayel &
Rene Mouyad. not to their liking.
Their joint product, Hezbollah,
in one year,83-84; killed the most Americans, until 9/11. According to
one source, Tom Diaz of the VPC,
there's at least 14 cells in different US cities. Signs are
promising, but we have a way to
go.

You know, I'm not what you'd call exceptionally fond of blank verse, but narciso's wasn't half bad at all. :)

what i love is leftists now raising the specter of Hiz (hez, haz, whatever) taking over lebanon like its a BAD thing...

i'm sorry mr. fisk, m. chiraq, etc.. i thought you were saying that hez and hamasa were perfectly decent chaps... political folks with some overly aggressive supporters.. you mean to say they're not?

hahahahaha

farkers going to pay, mother farkers are going to pay! such a great year!!!

I have to say, "caution" is the watchword of the day. I have a feeling that "baby assad" might be pulling a "briar patch" move.

To wit:

http://wordunheard.blogspot.com/2005/03/coming-protests-in-beruit-another.html

I hope our high-booted scretary of state is telling assad where she is going to put that boot if he tries a little "gotta quench the violence" move.

Mark unlike the MSM/DNC has been consistently right the last several years. The War on Terror will be as benificail to the free world as SDI was in the mid 80's. AS Mark has noted many times, I should add.

I have been wondering this for the past several months:

If the prospect of an Islamist government being elected to power justifies forestalling democracy, does that mean that forestalling a Communist government is equally justified?

That is, if a free Iraq might lead to a Shi'ite government, and a free Lebanon might lead to a Hizb'allah government, and both things are so horrific that it would be better to leave dictators and occupiers in place, does the prospect of a Communist government in Saigon, Santiago, or Manila justify keeping dictators and occupiers in place as well?

Bashar is finished. He always reminded me more of Fredo from the Godfather than a putative dictator who could instal fear in the hearts of his subjects. The only thing keeping him in power was his willingness to out-hardline the hardliners and not give an inch on any issue with any country -- ever. Now that he is agreeing to pull out of Lebanon, he is losing the appearance of being in control. Its just a matter of time before he loses control outright.

The question is what comes after him. I hate to say it, but I think a military coup is the most likely senario. Bashar's henchmen will want to hold on to their ill-gotten gains, and as members of a small minority in Syria, do not want to be subject to the wrath of the majority of the Syrian people if they capitulate.

--Bush lied, people uh, voted--

I see a new bumpersticker.

I've said this before, and I'll say it again. We play very, very rough also. We didn't get to where we are purely by hard work and a sunny smile. we beat the living bejeebus out of a lot of people - including ourselves (see "General Sherman's March to the Sea" for an example of rough play). I don't care how the "Hama Rules" work, we can snap alot of spines if we want to. and if Syria wants to try, they're more than welcome to join the Japanese Empire on teh pile of tough guys taken apart.

In response to Lurking Observer's question, I think the answer lies in the willingness of an Islamic government, or for that matter a Communist government, to resubmit themselves to election after their term of office. I.e. can they adapt their ideology to the idea that they aren't the only game in town? I think this is perfectly possible in the current climate.