President Says Syria Should Vacate Lebanon

Today President Bush said:

The Lebanese people have the right to determine their future free from domination by a foreign power. The Lebanese people have the right to choose their own parliament this spring free of intimidation. Across the Middle East, a critical mass of events is taking that region in a hopeful new direction

I don’t see this as an ultimatum by the president, by I’ll be surprised if the antiwar crowd doesn’t perceive it as such. I think the cynics — at least some of them — will be heartened by the pro-Syrian, Hizbollah-inspired rally that transpired today. Tyranny and terrorism do not die easily. But just the fact that pro-democratic grassroots voices are sounding off in that little country is, as we’ve all noted, an extremely positive development. It takes more than a little courage to buck the tide of tyranny.