[etcetera]

The Syrians are going to pull an "Arab".

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

BBC: US condemns Syrian 'half-measure'

also have Syria-Lebanon communique: Full text

Includes some time tables, such as they are,.

[Red Sea Swimmer]

The "Half-Syrian Withdrawal" sounds like a gymnastics maneuver.

[gpapa]

The key to freeing Lebanon, a defacto puppet state of Syria, is rooting out the numerous terrorist groups based in Lebanon, lead by the heavily armed Hezbollah. See this background piece on all of the terrorist groups operating in Lebanon, all under the approving eye of Syria, and by extension Iran. http://cfrterrorism.org/havens/lebanon_print.html

I am a pessimist on whether Lebanon can remake itself into the cosmopolitan society that existed prior the 1975 civil war, which had close ties to the USA and Europe. Before conditions exist to allow that to happen it needs to cleanse the country of the numerous terrorist groups that operate there, and their counterparts in Syria and beyond. The removal of Syria's army and the bulk of its intelligence operation would be a good first step in that direction, as well as the complete isolation of Syria. I would also sure like to see what leftovers from the regime of Sadam Hussein are hidden in the Bekaa valley, an area the Syrians & Hezbollah are not likely to give up without a fight.

Bush III in '08
gpapa