John Podhoretz:
...
In Beirut yesterday, hundreds of thousands of Lebanese streamed into the streets to protest the Syrian occupation of their country — and to make sure that the pro-Syrian demonstration organized by Hezbollah last week wasn't going to stop the relentless pressure for Syria to leave Lebanon once and for all.
This stunning refusal to be cowed by the alliance of one of the world's worst terrorist groups and one of the world's worst regimes is the hallmark of a people liberating themselves from the prudent timidity instilled in them by bullies and murderers.
The only way the Lebanese people have found these inner resources is because they found inspiration, direction and support from the words and actions of the United States. Leading Lebanese political figures are all saying as much.
...
So all of a sudden, there's Hosni doing a 360, insisting on a free and fair election that only a month before he had refused to consider — even throwing his chief rival in jail for pushing the idea.
You think maybe, just maybe, this turnabout happened because of American unhappiness, American pressure and a realization on Mubarak's part that the hurricane-velocity winds of change in the Middle East could very well blow him off his throne and on to the ash-heap of history?
Of course, you know that's what happened. And so does Hosni. So you can understand the reasons for Hosni's poker-faced joke of a remark on Sunday about how reform inside Egypt is an "uninterrupted process derived from the nation's will and not demanded from others."
Comments
Post a Comment