[$tinkle]

i'd like to know how karl rove pulled off this brilliant stunt:

Lebanon's Prime Minister Says His Government Resigns

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon's Syrian-backed Prime Minister Omar Karami, under popular pressure after the assassination of an ex-prime minister, said Monday his government was resigning.

"Out of concern that the government does not become an obstacle to the good of the country, I announce the resignation of the government I had the honor to lead," Karami told parliament in Beirut.

iraqi elections had nothing to do with this.


nah....

 

[N8 v2.0]

i'd like to know how karl rove pulled off this brilliant stunt:

Lebanon's Prime Minister Says His Government Resigns

iraqi elections had nothing to do with this.


nah....

LOL!

Lib Tin Foil Hat Time!

 

[Changleen]

I think $tinkle is the tinfoil hat wearer this time...

 

[valve bouncer]

Well if we're throwing out conspiracy theories. Well executed bombing. Mossad anyone?
<-------backs out of the room.

 

[Changleen]

Well if we're throwing out conspiracy theories. Well executed bombing. Mossad anyone?
<-------backs out of the room.

Haha, Yeah. That's more likely anyway...

 

[$tinkle]

mossad? perhaps.

 

[mack]

mossad? perhaps.

Well Jewish guys with Uzzis are pretty intimidating. I doubt they would have actually assasinated him, but probabyl just have made his life a living hell. :nuts:

 

[$tinkle]

i was alluding to the recent assassination of the former p.m. (hariri)

 

[mack]

i was alluding to the recent assassination of the former p.m. (hariri)

Oh yeah, that is very possible. I dont think that rebels would have been able to pull that off.

 

[DRB]

Oh yeah, that is very possible. I dont think that rebels would have been able to pull that off.

Rebels not capable of pulling that off?

Assassinations by car bomb
May 17, 2004 Baghdad, Iraq Ezzedine Salim, Iraqi Governing Council leader Suicide car bomb
February 13, 2004 Doha, Qatar Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev, Fmr. Chechen President remote
November 20, 2003 Istanbul, Turkey Roger Short, British consul general Suicide truck bomb
August 29, 2003 Najaf, Iraq Ayatollah Mohammed Baqr al-Hakim , Iraqi cleric (with 84 others) remote
August 19, 2003 Baghdad, Iraq Sérgio Vieira de Mello, UN special representative (with 21 others) Suicide truck bomb
March 5, 2003 Paris, France Rene Chalon ignition-based
May 20, 2002 Beirut, Lebanon Mohammed Jihad Ahmed Jibril, son of PFLP-GC leader Ahmed Jibril unknown
January 24, 2002 Beirut, Lebanon Elie Hobeika, Phalangist militia leader remote
February 22, 2000 Vitoria, Spain Fernando Buesa, Basque Socialist Party leader remote
October 21, 1999 Ankara, Turkey Ahmet Taner K&#305;&#351;lal&#305;, prominent Turkish intellectual tilt-based
July 30, 1990 London, England Ian Gow, Conservative MP dynamite
November 22, 1989 Beirut, Lebanon Rene Moawad, President of Lebanon (with 23 others) remote
May 16, 1989 Beirut, Lebanon Hassan Khaled, Lebanese spiritual leader (with 21 others) remote
June 28, 1988 Athens, Greece William Nordeen, U.S. military attache remote
September 14, 1982 Beirut, Lebanon Bachir Gemayel, Phalangist President-elect of Lebanon (and 25 others) timer
March 30, 1979 Palace of Westminster, United Kingdom Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary Airey Neave tilt-based
September 21, 1976 Washington, D.C., U.S. Orlando Letelier, Chilean exile unknown
June 2, 1976 Phoenix, Arizona, U.S. Don Bolles, investigative reporter remote (dynamite)
September 30, 1974 Buenos Aires, Argentina Carlos Prats, Former Chilean army commander

How 'bout car bombs in general?

December 19, 2004 Karbala and Najaf, Iraq 67 car bombs (2)
November 6, 2004 Samarra, Iraq 30 car bombs (4)
October 7, 2004 Hilton Hotel, Taba, Egypt 31 truck bomb
October 7, 2004 Multan, Pakistan 40 car bomb
September 30, 2004 Baghdad, Iraq 41 car bombs (3)
September 18, 2004 Kirkuk, Iraq 23 car bomb
September 14, 2004 Police station, Baghdad, Iraq 47 car bomb
September 9, 2004 Australian Embassy, Jakarta, Indonesia 9 car bomb
September 4, 2004 Police academy, Kirkuk, Iraq 20 car bomb
July 28, 2004 Police station, Baquba, Iraq 70 mini-bus bomb
June 26, 2004 Hilla, Iraq 23 car bombs (2)
June 24, 2004 Police stations, Mosul, Iraq 62 car bombs (5)
June 17, 2004 Iraqi army recruitment center, Baghdad, Iraq 35 car bomb
April 21, 2004 Police stations, Basra, Iraq 74 car bombs
February 11, 2004 Iraqi Army facility, Baghdad, Iraq 47 car bomb
February 10, 2004 Police Station, Iskandariya, Iraq 53 truck bomb
January 18, 2004 Coalition Headquarters, Baghdad, Iraq 31 truck bomb
December 31, 2003 Restaurant, Baghdad, Iraq 8 car bomb
December 27, 2003 Coalition targets, Karbala, Iraq 19 car bombs (4)
December 25, 2003 Islamabad, Pakistan 14 truck bombs
December 14, 2003 Police station, Khaldiyah, Iraq 20 car bomb
November 22, 2003 Khan Bani Saad and Baquba, Iraq 18 car bombs (2)
November 20, 2003 British targets, Istanbul, Turkey 32 truck bombs
November 15, 2003 Two synagogues, Istanbul, Turkey 31 truck bombs
November 12, 2003 Italian Military HQ in Nasiriyah, Iraq 33 truck bomb
November 8, 2003 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 18 truck bomb
October 27, 2003 Baghdad, Iraq 35 car bombs (4)
October 12, 2003 Baghdad Hotel, Baghdad, Iraq 6 car bomb
October 9, 2003 Police station, Baghdad, Iraq 9 car bomb
August 29, 2003 Mosque, Najaf, Iraq 85 car bomb
August 25, 2003 Mumbai, India 52 car bombs (2)
August 19, 2003 United Nations Headquarters, Baghdad, Iraq 22 truck bomb
August 7, 2003 Jordanian Embassy, Baghdad, Iraq 19 truck bomb
August 5, 2003 Marriot Hotel, Jakarta, Indonesia 12 car bomb
August 1, 2003 Mozdok, Russia 50 truck bomb
May 12, 2003 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 35 car bombs (4)
May 12, 2003 Znamenskoye, Chechnya 59 truck bomb
February 10, 2003 Bogotá, Colombia 36 car bomb
December 27, 2002 Government Buildings, Grozny, Chechnya 72 truck bombs
November 28, 2002 Hotel in Mombasa, Kenya 13 car bomb
October 21, 2002 Bus near Hadera, Israel 14 car bomb
October 12, 2002 Bali, Indonesia 202 car bomb
September 5, 2002 Kabul, Afghanistan 30 car bomb
June 14, 2002 US Consulate, Karachi, Pakistan 12 truck bomb
June 5, 2002 Bus, Megiddo Junction, Israel 17 car bomb
May 8, 2002 Bus, Karachi, Pakistan 14 car bomb
April 11, 2002 Synagogue, Djerba, Tunisia 21 truck bomb
April 7, 2002 Villavicencio, Colombia 12 car bomb
March 21, 2002 U.S. Embassy, Lima, Peru 9 car bomb
October 1, 2001 Assembly Building, Srinagar, Kashmir 38 car bomb
June 19, 2001 Gudermes, Chechnya 12 car bombs (3)
March 24, 2001 Mineralnye Vody, Russia 19 car bomb
March 5, 2001 BBC offices, London, United Kingdom 0 car bomb
January 26, 2001 San Sebastian, Spain 1 car bomb
July 3, 2000 Grozny, Chechnya 25 truck bomb
September 4, 1999 Russian military apartment, Buinaksk, Dagestan 64 car bomb
September 5, 1998 Apartment, Makhachkala, Dagestan 17 car bomb
August 15, 1998 Omagh, Northern Ireland 29 car bomb
August 7, 1998 U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Tanzania 224 car bombs (2)
March 5, 1998 Street, Colombo, Sri Lanka 36 mini-bus bomb
November 19, 1997 Hyderabad, India 23 car bomb
October 15, 1997 World Trade Center, Colombo, Sri Lanka 18 truck bomb
June 25, 1996 Khobar Towers, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia 19 truck bomb
January 31, 1996 Central Bank, Colombo, Sri Lanka 90 truck bomb
December 21, 1995 Market, Peshawar, Pakistan 45 car bomb
November 19, 1995 Egyptian Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan 15 truck bomb
November 13, 1995 U.S military headquarters in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 7 car bomb
April 19, 1995 Federal building, Oklahoma City, United States 168 truck bomb
February 27, 1995 Zakho, Iraq 76 car bomb
January 30, 1995 Market, Algiers, Algeria 42 car bomb
July 18, 1994 Jewish center, Buenos Aires, Argentina 86 car bomb
April 6, 1994 Bus, Afula, Israel (First suicide bombing in Israel) 8 car bomb
July 5, 1993 Newtownards, Northern Ireland 0 car bomb
June 21, 1993 Madrid, Spain 7 car bomb
May 27, 1993 Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy 6 car bomb
March 12, 1993 Mumbai, India (see 1993 Mumbai bombings) 257 car bombs
February 26, 1993 World Trade Center, New York City, USA 6 truck bomb
January 30, 1993 Bogotá, Colombia 20 car bomb
July 16, 1992 Shopping district, Lima, Peru 24 car bombs (2)
March 17, 1992 Israeli Embassy, Buenos Aires, Argentina 29 car bomb
May 12, 1990 Bogotá and Cali, Colombia 39 car bombs (3)
December 6, 1989 Bogotá, Colombia 52 truck bomb
November 22, 1989 Beirut, Lebanon 24 car bomb
May 16, 1989 Beirut, Lebanon 22 car bomb
April 14, 1989 Trincomalee, Sri Lanka 38 car bomb
July 8, 1988 Jalalabad, Afghanistan 31 truck bomb
April 23, 1988 Tripoli, Lebanon 60 truck bomb
April 14, 1988 USO Club, Naples, Italy 5 car bomb
October 8, 1987 Kabul, Afghanistan 27 car bomb
July 14, 1987 Karachi, Pakistan 72 car bombs (2)
July 5, 1987 Army Camp, Jaffna, Sri Lanka 40 truck bomb
June 19, 1987 Barcelona, Spain 21 car bomb
April 21, 1987 Bus station, Colombo, Sri Lanka 106 car bomb
August 19, 1986 Public square, Tehran, Iran 20 car bomb
March 27, 1986 Russell Street Police HQ, Melbourne, Australia 1 car bomb
March 17, 1986 Military compound, Damascus, Syria 60 truck bomb
August 17, 1985 Market, Beirut, Lebanon 55 car bomb
August 8, 1985 Rhein-Main Air Base, Frankfurt, West Germany 2 car bomb
May 22, 1985 Beirut, Lebanon 50 car bomb
March 10, 1985 Israeli convoy, Metullah, Lebanon 12 car bomb
March 8, 1985 Beirut, Lebanon 80 car bomb
September 20, 1984 U.S. embassy in Beirut, Lebanon 23 car bomb
December 21, 1983 French Army building, Beirut, Lebanon 15 truck bomb
December 12, 1983 U.S. and French embassies in Kuwait City, Kuwait 6 truck bombs
November 4, 1983 Israeli Army HQ in Tyre, Lebanon 60 truck bomb
October 23, 1983 French Paratroop barracks in Beirut, Lebanon 58 truck bomb
October 23, 1983 U.S. Marines barracks in Beirut, Lebanon 241 truck bomb
May 20, 1983 Air Force Base in Pretoria, South Africa 20 car bomb
April 18, 1983 U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon 63 car bomb
February 2, 1983 Palestinian Research Center, Beirut, Lebanon 20 car bomb
January 28, 1983 PLO building, Beirut, Lebanon 45 car bomb
October 1, 1982 Central square, Tehran, Iran 60 truck bomb
September 14, 1982 Phalangist office, Beirut, Lebanon 26 car bomb
August 1, 1982 Baghdad, Iraq 20 car bomb
May 24, 1982 French Embassy, Beirut, Lebanon 14 car bomb
December 15, 1981 Iraqi Embassy, Beirut, Lebanon 61 car bomb
November 29, 1981 School, Damascus, Syria 64 car bomb
October 1, 1981 PLO Office, Beirut, Lebanon 83 car bomb
May 17, 1974 Dublin and Monaghan, Northern Ireland 33 car bombs (2)
May 11, 1972 U.S. Army HQ, Frankfurt, Germany 1 car bomb
August 24, 1970 UWM campus, Madison, Wisconsin, USA 1 truck bomb
March 30, 1965 U.S. Embassy, Saigon, South Vietnam 20 car bomb
March 11, 1948 Jewish Agency in Jerusalem, Palestine 11 car bomb
February 22, 1948 Jerusalem, Palestine 52 truck bombs
January 4, 1948 Hotel, Jaffa, Palestine 18 truck bomb
September 26, 1920 Wall Street, New York, United States 39 truck (wagon) bomb

 

[mack]

Well from what i heard the bomb was massive and planted underground. Im not saying they didnt do it, but it is a possibility that Mossad helped them out.

 

[$tinkle]

and without another drop of american blood, there may be yet another regime change in the middle east.

l.a. times

WASHINGTON — Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's dramatic decision to allow a competitive presidential election comes amid a behind-the-scenes struggle by the Bush administration and Congress to require Cairo to spend part of its annual $2 billion in U.S. aid on political and economic reform.
* * *
"U.S. pressure was certainly material," said an official who spoke on condition of anonymity. "But [Mubarak's] people are sitting watching TV. You've seen free elections in Palestine, free elections in Iraq, hundreds of thousands of people demonstrating on the streets in Lebanon, illegitimate elections overturned in Georgia, illegitimate elections being overturned in Ukraine…. It's a combination of all these things."

The State Department appeared to be as surprised as anyone by Mubarak's announcement Saturday that he would open up the constitutional process to allow other candidates to run for president in the fall election. Since the monarchy was overthrown in 1952, Egyptian presidential elections have involved only voting "yes" or "no" on a single candidate nominated by parliament.

like it or not, democracy is on the march

 

[N8 v2.0]

And now: http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20050301/ts_nm/syria_assad_dc_6

 

[Silver]

You guys are funny.

This is like a rooster crowing and taking credit for the sun rising. Mubarak's done this before. Let's see if it lasts. You really think that Egypt (right behind Israel in foreign aid, I think) is worried about getting invaded by us?

 

[mack]

You really think that Egypt (right behind Israel in foreign aid, I think) is worried about getting invaded by us?

I think we should invade to get our money back. :eviltongu

 

[$tinkle]

This is like a rooster crowing and taking credit for the sun rising.

i believe you mean post hoc ergo prompter hoc

You really think that Egypt (right behind Israel in foreign aid, I think) is worried about getting invaded by us?

no, this was resolution w/o invasion; what do they call that? back channel diplomacy?

 

[$tinkle]

ok, silver. one of us is a contributing editor to talking points memo

check out this quote:

Now I am aware the State Department made the appropriate noises, as its predecessors would have done, after the Hariri assassination, about Syrian dominance of Lebanon, and I also know the Bush administration has been generally hostile towards the Syrian government, as has been U.S. policy for as long as I can remember. But it literally never crossed my mind that Bush's fans would credit him with for this positive event, as though his pro-democracy speeches exercise some sort of rhetorical enchantment.

This is the kind of thinking, of course, that has convinced God knows how many people that Ronald Reagan personally won the Cold War. It's the old post hoc ergo propter hoc (after this, therefore because of this) logical fallacy. This is a president and an administration that chronically refuse to accept responsibility for the bad things that have happened on their watch--even things like the insurgency in Iraq that are directly attributable to its policies. Barring any specific evidence (provided, say, by Lebanese pro-democracy leaders) that Bush had anything in particular to do with Syria's setbacks in Lebanon, I see no particular reason to high-five him for being in office when they happened.

however, it was the tin-foil-hat wearing libs who predicted this 24 months ago karl rove's true plan was to hatch democracy in the ME.

you should be patting yourself on the back

 

[Silver]

You're confusing Rove and the neo-cons again. I think you're giving Karl a little too much credit.

My point is, you need to wait and actually see what happens before you proclaim victory here. That didn't work well on the aircraft carrier (and then it got blamed on the sailors, not the President) and it didn't work well for the Soviet Union, either.

 

[$tinkle]

you ever read scrappleface? they saw this one coming last week

In another setback for the Bush administration, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak told a national TV audience Saturday that he would impose democratic presidential elections on this tranquil Arab dictatorship. . . . Democrats in the U.S. Congress wasted no time pointing out that White House foreign policy had failed again. 'How is President Bush going to carry out his promise to invade dictatorships and impose freedom if they keep announcing changes like this?' said an unnamed Democrat Senator. 'I wouldn't be surprised if we saw a domino effect, with one Arab nation after another falling into the democracy camp, thereby making the Bush foreign policy an obsolete embarrassment.'

 

[N8 v2.0]

you ever read scrappleface? they saw this one coming last week

Haha!

 

[$tinkle]

anybody catch daily show last night? james taranto was kind enough to tivo it & give a x-script of most of the interview twix he & former clinton aide nancy soderberg. she was there to pimp & defend her book about the use & misuse of american might vis-a-vis W's crusading colonialism, any argument for which got soundly dispatched by her

Stewart: This book--it talks about the superpower myth of the United States. There is this idea, the United States is the sole superpower, and I guess the premise of the book is we cannot misuse that power--have to use it wisely, and not just punitively. Is that--

Soderberg: That's right. What I argue is that the Bush administration fell hostage to the superpower myth, believing that because we're the most powerful nation on earth, we were all-powerful, could bend the world to our will and not have to worry about the rest of the world. I think what they're finding in the second term is, it's a little bit harder than that, and reality has an annoying way of intruding.

Stewart: But what do you make of--here's my dilemma, if you will. I don't care for the way these guys conduct themselves--and this is just you and I talking, no cameras here [audience laughter]. But boy, when you see the Lebanese take to the streets and all that, and you go, "Oh my God, this is working," and I begin to wonder, is it--is the way that they handled it really--it's sort of like, "Uh, OK, my daddy hits me, but look how tough I'm getting." You know what I mean? Like, you don't like the method, but maybe--wrong analogy, is that, uh--?

Soderberg: Well, I think, you know, as a Democrat, you don't want anything nice to happen to the Republicans, and you don't want them to have progress. But as an American, you hope good things would happen. I think the way to look at it is, they can't credit for every good thing that happens, but they need to be able to manage it. I think what's happening in Lebanon is great, but it's not necessarily directly related to the fact that we went into Iraq militarily.

Stewart: Do you think that the people of Lebanon would have had, sort of, the courage of their conviction, having not seen--not only the invasion but the election which followed? It's almost as though that the Iraqi election has emboldened this crazy--something's going on over there. I'm smelling something.

Soderberg: I think partly what's going on is the country next door, Syria, has been controlling them for decades, and they [the Syrians] were dumb enough to blow up the former prime minister of Lebanon in Beirut, and they're--people are sort of sick of that, and saying, "Wait a minute, that's a stretch too far." So part of what's going on is they're just protesting that. But I think there is a wave of change going on, and if we can help ride it though the second term of the Bush administration, more power to them.

Stewart: Do you think they're the guys to--do they understand what they've unleashed? Because at a certain point, I almost feel like, if they had just come out at the very beginning and said, "Here's my plan: I'm going to invade Iraq. We'll get rid of a bad guy because that will drain the swamp"--if they hadn't done the whole "nuclear cloud," you know, if they hadn't scared the pants off of everybody, and just said straight up, honestly, what was going on, I think I'd almost--I'd have no cognitive dissonance, no mixed feelings.

Soderberg: The truth always helps in these things, I have to say. But I think that there is also going on in the Middle East peace process--they may well have a chance to do a historic deal with the Palestinians and the Israelis. These guys could really pull off a whole--

Stewart: This could be unbelievable!

Soderberg:---series of Nobel Peace Prizes here, which--it may well work. I think that, um, it's--

Stewart: [buries head in hands] Oh my God! [audience laughter] He's got, you know, here's--

Soderberg: It's scary for Democrats, I have to say.

Stewart: He's gonna be a great--pretty soon, Republicans are gonna be like, "Reagan was nothing compared to this guy." Like, my kid's gonna go to a high school named after him, I just know it.

Soderberg: Well, there's still Iran and North Korea, don't forget. There's hope for the rest of us.

Stewart: [crossing fingers] Iran and North Korea, that's true, that is true [audience laughter]. No, it's--it is--I absolutely agree with you, this is--this is the most difficult thing for me to--because, I think, I don't care for the tactics, I don't care for this, the weird arrogance, the setting up. But I gotta say, I haven't seen results like this ever in that region.

Soderberg: Well wait. It hasn't actually gotten very far. I mean, we've had--

Stewart: Oh, I'm shallow! I'm very shallow!

Soderberg: There's always hope that this might not work. No, but I think, um, it's--you know, you have changes going on in Egypt; Saudi Arabia finally had a few votes, although women couldn't participate. What's going on here in--you know, Syria's been living in the 1960s since the 1960s--it's, part of this is--

Stewart: You mean free love and that kind of stuff? [audience laughter] Like, free love, drugs?

Soderberg: If you're a terrorist, yeah.

Stewart: They are Baathists, are they--it looks like, I gotta say, it's almost like we're not going to have to invade Iran and Syria. They're gonna invade themselves at a certain point, no? Or is that completely naive?

Soderberg: I think it's moving in the right direction. I'll have to give them credit for that. We'll see.

Stewart: Really? Hummus for everybody, for God's sakes.


i think i'll start watching him again.

 

[fluff]

Is Bush responsible for the peaceful revolutions that took place in the Ukraine, Czechoslovakia and Poland (and perhaps even the destruction of the Berlin Wall?)

Just because something happens in the Middle East does not make it due to US foreign policy. Arguably US foreign policy has hardened attitudes in Iran and made the possibility of western style deomcracy there more, rather than less, remote.

 

[fluff]

And perhaps the death of Arafat and Sharon's new attitude to the Palestinians has had an effect on the nation next door?

 

[$tinkle]

Is Bush responsible for the peaceful revolutions that took place in the Ukraine, Czechoslovakia and Poland (and perhaps even the destruction of the Berlin Wall?)

no, but the desire for democracy is stronger than ever, thanks in no small part due to bush. i'm not asking that you genuflect to king george, just credit where it's due.

Arguably US foreign policy has hardened attitudes in Iran and made the possibility of western style deomcracy there more, rather than less, remote.

do you mean the attitudes of the mullahs or the "arab street"? i agree if you mean the former, but not the latter. that group has everything to gain & the former everything to lose.

 

[fluff]

no, but the desire for democracy is stronger than ever, thanks in no small part due to bush.

I'd like to see more evidence of that.

do you mean the attitudes of the mullahs or the "arab street"? i agree if you mean the former, but not the latter. that group has everything to gain & the former everything to lose.

I mean that they were closer to democracy four years ago.

 

[$tinkle]

I'd like to see more evidence of that.

now available on a daily basis.

I mean that they were closer to democracy four years ago.

2 steps fwd, 1 step back?
perhaps.

 

[Changleen]

I liked this:

Mr. Bush, referring Wednesday to a joint news conference held Tuesday in London by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Foreign Minister Michel Barnier of France, said, "I applauded the press conference she held with the foreign minister from France, where both of them stood up and said loud and clear to Syria, you get your troops and your secret services out of Lebanon so that good democracy has a chance to flourish."

Oh, the irony. Oh wait, I meant hypocracy.

 

[mack]

I liked this:

Oh, the irony. Oh wait, I meant hypocracy.

DIE! :eviltongu

 

[fluff]

now available on a daily basis.

Now you really are like a cock crowing and taking credit for day break. Your evidence is your hypothesis.

 

[$tinkle]

Now you really are like a cock crowing and taking credit for day break. Your evidence is your hypothesis.

if what you say holds, then you too expect democracy to flourish as you most certainly expect the sun to rise in the east, no?

 

[fluff]

I would like to see democracy flourish and what is happening in Beirut is good. I do not see it as evidence of either:
US foreign policy towards Iraq bearing fruit elsewhere or
A greater-than-ever desire for democracy worldwide.

Now it is possible that either or both of the above are actually true but I do not see how events in The Lebanon can be taken as proof of either. There would need to be proof of the cause of the effect other than the effect itself. Otherwise we are back in tiger-proof rock land again.