Syria completes troop pullout

[anakie]

At the weekend, the final large detachments of Syrian heavy armoured divisions were pulling back across the border from their positions in the eastern Bekaa Valley, so bringing to a close almost 30 years of Syrian military presence.
.......
The completion of the Syrian withdrawal at least provides a dramatic punctuation-point in the recent history of the Middle East, and brings to an end the overt military involvement of the Damascus regime in the affairs of its smaller neighbour.

But Lebanon's future trajectory and alignment is in doubt. The anti-Syrian opposition no longer has a strong cause to unify it, while the political establishment is being forced to re-evaluate its allegiances in the wake of the Syrian withdrawal.

The so-called cedar revolution has now entered its political phase, with the outcome yet to be determined.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,12813616%255E2703,00.html


Ok Georgie, what will be your next excuse/reason for the Syrian invasion or is this just another example of the democratisation of the Middle East

[Colorado Blue]

1. With respect, what is so good about having the Syrian army

in Lebanon?

I thought we are supposed to be supporting the idea of self-determination. If that is the case, why is the presence of the Syrian army in Lebanon something we should be happy about?

Hopefully, enough time has passed, and sufficient political maturity has developed, for Lebanon to govern herself.

The Syrian government is no great beacon of democratic light, as I'm sure you're aware:)

[DulceDecorum]

2. Better the Syrian army than the US soldiers

searching for Saddam's WMD.

[anakie]

3. 15 years of peace

following the civil war. Self determination is a good thing and I hope that it doesnt revert to civil war. Interesting times ahead.

[LynnTheDem]

10. Lebanon ASKED Syria to send peacekeeping forces.

Syria didn't INVADE and OCCUPY; they were INVITED.

And the majority of Lebanese are pro-Syrian.

[Colorado Blue]

11. As to the majority being pro-Syrian - that's debatable. The

civil war was over 15 years ago, it's time. I agree, there was chaos at the time.

The attacks on Christian neighborhoods have been troubling, but thus far they've been patrolling and no major trouble has broken out, which is hopeful.

Let me explain a bit my "headline": census-taking in Lebanon isn't done, hasn't been for decades, to the best of my knowledge, since the religious and ethnic issues are so delicate and potentially inflammatory. I've looked this up on the 'net, because I was wondering about this.

So nobody knows exactly who is Shi'a, for example, or Sunni, or Christian, Druze, or other minority groups.

In any case, just because a person is Shi'a, and lives in the rural areas, doesn't mean he/she is necessarily "pro-Syrian", or wants their army in the house. Syria itself is very complicated and there are many forces at work there, it is modernizing, there are reactionaries, there are militias, there are many minorities there too.

An aside: I am beginning to really appreciate Home Sweet Home, like my neighborhood for example, which is home to literally a United Nations, a whole rainbow of people, who live side by side. I'll bet you could find just about any nationality or ethnic group within a few square miles of here, and people of all religions, and people ranging from poor to rich. There are cathedrals, synagogues, temples and mosques. People dress hip-hop and in hijab. I LOVE IT.

One thing we ALL have in common (except for the usual criminals of course!): we believe in the rule of law, and in the peaceful conduct of day to day business.

AND of course, pretty overwhelmingly, the Democratic Party:)

[AlamoDemoc]

4. That's good news

now how about ending Iraq's occupation?

[uhhuh]

6. Exactly!!

That withdrawl took all of 3 months, in an un-unified country with several hostile factions, flanked by countries that have rarely honored its border integrity.

What possible excuse can the chimp have for leaving our troops in Iraq, especially after they have had their "election"?

[AlamoDemoc]

7. beats me too!

I guess certain UN resolutions are more important than others, if you think of it...

[Colorado Blue]

12. One of the main reasons we went in the first place: OIL.

I don't see us leaving altogether for awhile now. Probably they will withdraw back to a big military base, or something. But my guess would be, they'll want to keep close by.

[PurityOfEssence]

5. Give us everything, debase yourself thoroughly, then we'll destroy you

Hey, at least we're consistent...

[Roland99]

8. So...now the Bushistas can scour the Bekka Valley for the WMDs

I've run into so many that swear the WMDs were smuggled there. Wonder where they'll say they are now once nothing is found?

[davhill]

9. Now they'll have to find another pretext

To invade Syria. I am sure they will come up with another one soon.