Syrius Interruptus Syria has pulled out of Lebanon, even from the Bekaa Valley. And those who live there are very happy to get their grazing land back.
to Bekaa villagers, strategy and high diplomacy can wait; right now they're savoring such simple pleasures as grazing their sheep by Syrian military installations that were long off-limits to them.
"Freedom is beautiful," said Salim Rabah, 58, a retired merchant who lives 500 yards from an abandoned Syrian checkpoint.
The UN has yet to confirm the move, but it seems clear that Syria has been forced to retreat without the US having fired a shot. And while many will discount the US' role in forcing Syria to leave, Lebanon's Daily Star does not.
According to some senior Syrian officials, Damascus is concerned that it might be the target of a design by Washington to topple the Syrian regime. This fear of Washington's "ill-intentions" was the main drive behind the decision to pullout from Lebanon in line with UN Resolution 1559, in order to avoid being accused of defying the international will and subsequently coming under sanctions or even a possible U.S.-led offensive like the one carried out against Iraq in 1991.
Syria is still worried about how a free Lebanon will affect their security interests. They are worried Lebanon may cut a separate peace with Israel. And they are worried Lebanon may become a staging area for clandestine activities by the US to undermine the Syrian government.
Since Syria still has intelligence networks in place in Lebanon, the Star notes a number of objectives that Syria would like to accomplish through these networks. One of which is to postpone or even cancel elections.
Meanwhile, political life in Lebanon moves on. The new Cabinet gets a vote of confidence which clears the way for elections in May, making it that much more difficult for Syria to control the situation there.
Would you Delay no Longer? House Speaker Dennis Hastert says that Republicans are willing to reverse the ethics rules changes if Democrats will agree to convene the ethics committee an get the Tom DeLay issue settled once and for all.
Democrats have prevented the ethics committee from getting down to business for the year. They have demanded that Republicans agree to reverse the ethics rules — seen as devised to thwart a committee investigation of DeLay — or else appoint a bipartisan panel to draft new rules.
But do the Democrats really want to settle the issue?
We'll see.
No deal, buster In the Senate, Republican threats to end the (mis)use of filibusters in the Judiciary Committee were met with frantic crys by Democrats to cut a deal. Majority Leader Frist is having none of it. He
rejected compromise offers that would allow minority Democrats to continue to block judicial nominees, saying all of President Bush's past and future court choices deserve confirmation votes from the GOP-controlled Senate.
Democrats could still use the filibuster when the full Senate convened on other issues. The Democrats, of course, have threatened to shut down the Senate if the rules are changed. But that was before it looked like the Republicans could do it. Now, not only does it look like they can do it, but it even looks like they will do it.
The Democrats bluff has been called and it appears they do not want to ante up.
