Friday, March 04, 2005
Deja-vu all over again
Just like the first Gulf War... So much multilateralism, it brings tears to my eyes. Except now it's Syria, and not Iraq on the receiving end. It seems that every international man and his dog are onto Assad Jr. for his continuing occupation of Lebanon; not just that unilateralist hegemon and hyperpower the US, but also France, Germany, Russia, and Saudi Arabia, among many others, have joined the expulsion chorus.
Remember, though, what happened during the first Gulf War: the occupier, who was in breach of UN resolutions, was ejected out of the occupied country by the multinational coalition, but left to fester in his own country for another 12 years. Let's hope that if the dominos are about to fall this time around, the international community won't start propping them up in the name of "stability" and "not exceeding the mandate". Syrians themselves would rather have a regime change and democratization now, rather than in 2017, when George P. Bush, the first Hispanic-American president, decides that enough is enough.
It might help that, as I wrote yesterday, George W. is built from a different stuff than his father. Bush Sr. might not have finished the job even if the rest of the world was with him; Bush Jr. might finish the job even if the rest of the world is against him.
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Remember, though, what happened during the first Gulf War: the occupier, who was in breach of UN resolutions, was ejected out of the occupied country by the multinational coalition, but left to fester in his own country for another 12 years. Let's hope that if the dominos are about to fall this time around, the international community won't start propping them up in the name of "stability" and "not exceeding the mandate". Syrians themselves would rather have a regime change and democratization now, rather than in 2017, when George P. Bush, the first Hispanic-American president, decides that enough is enough.
It might help that, as I wrote yesterday, George W. is built from a different stuff than his father. Bush Sr. might not have finished the job even if the rest of the world was with him; Bush Jr. might finish the job even if the rest of the world is against him.
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