If Syria withdraws,the power vacuum will reignite a civil war.

[Swede]

It may even draw in the Israelis.

[AlinPA]

1. It's over my head; I'm still trying to understand Iraq's 3-way power thing

[bigtree]

5. Here's a good place to start your understanding

get definitions of the terms, parties, countries involved, etc. as you read along.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebanon

[AlinPA]

8. Thanks for taking the time to post that material, bigtree. I needed that.

[bigtree]

9. they really lay it out

there may be some variations to the history depending on perspective, but you can really get the meat of the history of Lebanon and some info on other aspects of that region as well. :hi:

[The_Casual_Observer]

2. Classic CIA/ US policy blunder oft repeated. Topple a government

and then offer nothing viable to replace it, and end up with something even worse than what was there before, due to lack of money, interest, and politics on the part of the US government after the fact.

[Ganja Ninja]

3. Yup! It's only a matter of time before the whole thing turns ...

to shit.

[Stop_the_War]

4. My point exactly

[bigtree]

6. Hezbollah Warns Against Withdrawal of Syrian Troops From Lebanon

Democracy Now-
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/03/07/1449238

edit: even this speaker, with her predisposition against Syrian involvement and prescense in Lebanon agrees that the interference by the U.S. will inflame anti-Israeli groups like Hezbollah, and that without Bush's heavy hand there would have been much less resistance to the withdrawl of Syria by these groups.

[Johonny]

7. Well

Hopefully the people in the country will solve the power vacuum without violence. It's far from certain what will happen. Clearly though a large part of the countries population will blame us if indeed war is the end result.