Photo Series: anti-Syria demonstrations in Lebanon

AP Photos ^ | 2/23/05 | AP Photos

[The Spirit Of Allegiance]

Thanks for the pings. Three thoughts:

1. Condolences for those who are grieving.

2. "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God" --Thomas Jefferson

...and 3.
The Bush Doctrine
R O C K S !

[Howlin]

Don't you know it.

[Mr. Silverback]

Yes there is, but it wouldn't be pretty. I love the Lebanese people, and pray that they gain their freedom from the Syrian occupation.

If I were the President, I'd have the composite wing from Mountain Home AFB do a deployment "exercise" to those airbases near the Iraq-Syrian border...or maybe a squadron of B-1s. If the Syrians do anything to harm these protesters a la Tienanmen Square, I say we start bombing the pants off them. Slide a carrier group in there and hit them from the Med, and hit them with F-15Es and other assorted zoomie toys from the east.

You served in Lebanon during the Reagan era, I presume?

[Howlin]

You can tell the crowds aren't big because there are absolutely NO overhead or wide angle shots. They're all close up.

[hoosiermama]

YES! IT DOES!

[Mr. Silverback]

Ok, so if Syria gets out do we get a peek at the Bekaa valley to see if Saddam's WMDs are there?

I smile every time I hear "Bekaa Valley" because I mentally add "Turkey Shoot" to it. Israel vs. Syria, air to air, Migs vs. F-15s and F-4s...Israel: 83. Syria: Zero.

[Seattle Conservative]

Great point!

[Mr. Silverback]

As an Iranian American it brings tears to my eyes to see these masses of people in Lebanon in the streets demanding their freedom from the terrorist thugs who control their country and their lives.

A belated welcome home to Free Republic!

I'm sure you know that what the President said in the Inaugural address was sincere. When the people of these nations stand up for liberty, we'll stand with them. Yesterday in Afghanistan and Iraq, today in Lebanon, tomorrow in Iran. The fires of 1776 are consuming the engines of despotism...

[Mr. Silverback]

As the President said in his inaugural, we're standing with them.

[Mr. Silverback]

Did you hear about the statement that came out from the chief of the Druze militia? He had been very much down on the invasion of Iraq, but he came out today and said he has changed his mind, and that the Iraqi elections were like a new dawn for the Arab world. He even said, "The Berlin wall has fallen. And we can all see it."

Please God, let this revolution succeed...

[Always A Marine]

Syria is feeling rather pinched at the moment -- by our design. Thanks to the fall of his fellow Baathists in Iraq, young Assad finds himself surrounded by US ally Turkey, US-occupied Iraq, arch-enemy Israel, and the sea. It is just a matter of time, but Assad will be Israel's b!+@%.

And yes, Syria's fall will expunge a few demons from my service in Lebanon. A rare convergence of justice and sweet revenge.

[Mr. Silverback]

I haven't looked over the pictures yet, but what you've described is exactly what I was expecting to see.

[parisa]

I've been saying it to any and every European news media I can find. That's where we must keep saying it especially as people with roots in the Middle East.

European nations have chosen to fight a psychological war against the pro-democracy movement in M.E. and especially in Iran, and we must fight back, and throw their condescending hypocracy into their faces.

[TexKat]

Lebanese pro-opposition protestors demonstrate against Syria in Beirut 21 February 2005. The United States' number two Middle East envoy was expected to visit Lebanon to discuss tensions with Syria after last week's assassination of a former Lebanese prime minister, a senior State Department official said(AFP/Joseph Barrak)

A protestor carries a Quran and a Crucifix as others hold Lebanese flags and portraits of the former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri near the site of last weeks explosion in Beirut, Lebanon Monday Feb. 21, 2005. Thousands of opposition supporters shouted insults against Syria and demanded the resignation of their pro-Syrian government, as they marked a week since the assassination of Hariri. (AP Photo)

Lebanese protestors observe a one-minute silence in the capital of south Lebanon Sidon, the hometown of slain ex-premier Rafiq Hariri, to mark one week since his killing with 14 other people in a massive explosion in the heart of the Lebanese capital. Chanting 'Syria out,' tens of thousands of Lebanese massed on the Beirut seafront as pressure mounted on the government and its backers in Damascus a week after Hariri's killing.(AFP/Mahmoud Al-Zayyat)

A Lebanese protestor holds an anti-Syria banner during a demonstration in Beirut. US President George W. Bush demanded an end to Syria's 'occupation' of Lebanon, saying the country's people 'have the right to be free'(AFP/Patrick Baz)

Lebanese children sign a banner in Beirut demanding Syria pull its troops out of Lebanon, Feb. 19, 2005. Opposition figures urged Lebanese to join what they called an independence uprising against Syria's grip on Lebanon on Friday, escalating a war of words after former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri's assassination. (Jamal Saidi/Reuters)

[Always A Marine]

Did you hear about the statement that came out from the chief of the Druze militia?

Would that be Walid Jumblatt? The Druze are practical people, consummate survivors, and decent citizens in both Lebanon and Israel. His statement does not suprise me.

[Mr. Silverback]

It is just a matter of time, but Assad will be Israel's b!+@%.

ROTFLMBO! I have this mental image of Assad turning to his cabinet and saying, "Oh no, I've just realized: I'mn Israel's b!=@% now!"

And yes, Syria's fall will expunge a few demons from my service in Lebanon. A rare convergence of justice and sweet revenge.

If it feels anything like I (Gulf War I era vet) felt when they got Saddam, you are going to feel really, really good!

[The Spirit Of Allegiance]

GREAT POST! Well done. Thanks FReedom44, and our TROOPS and Mr. President.

[Mr. Silverback]

Would that be Walid Jumblatt?

Yep, thanks for jogging my memory. Semper Fi.

[parisa]

I pray -- and work! -- for many more purple revolutions across that whole godforsaken region.

[Mr. Silverback]

God bless you for it!