As Walid Jumblatt, Druze Muslim leader in Lebanon and certified hater of America, said, “It’s strange for me to say it, but this process of change has started because of the American invasion of Iraq. I was cynical about Iraq. But when I saw the Iraqi people voting three weeks ago, 8 million of them, it was the start of a new Arab world. The Syrian people, the Egyptian people, all say that something is changing. The Berlin Wall has fallen. We can see it.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A45575-2005Feb22

All I want to hear from the likes of FoxNews and the rest is a little humility, an admission that maybe, just maybe, the Lebanese people are doing this because of 15 years of occupation, the assassination of a prominent reformer, and the *non-violent* example.

Of course the US and French pressure on the Syrians has played a role, but I believe the People of Lebanon deserve most of the credit for taking the initiative.

I’m just stating what I believe is the reasons that the Lebanese people give for this uprising.

And I believe that overwhelmingly they’d say it has NOTHING to do with Iraq and Bushs’ policy to “bring freedom and democracy”.

I will endeavour to find out what Lebanese people are saying… and if they say they’re doing this because of the example set in Iraq, then I will stand corrected.

Or does the opinion of the people actually doing the hard work not count?