Andrew Sullivan:
I think even the fiercest critics of president Bush's handling of the post-liberation phase in Iraq will still be thrilled at what appears to me to be glacial but important shifts in the right direction in the region.
Glacial? In the couple of weeks since the Iraqi election, Mubarak has opened up the Egyptian presidential elections, Lebanon's Syrian-backed government has resigned and Syria handed over Saddam's half-brother. That's a pretty swift-moving glacier.
And the changes are converting even more intransigent opponents of W's Middle East policy:
- Kathryn Lopez notes that doubts are beginning to surface at the Democratic Underground.
- David Adesnik even sees hope at the New York Times. Well, eventually.
Also: Christopher Hitchens notes that "the Arab street" has gone the way of the brutal Afghan winter.
And Captain Ed sees the glacier moving even faster:
Will Assad get ahead of history and lead Syria out of Lebanon and into a freely-elected, multiparty democracy? Or will he dither and stand pat and attempt to survive the avalanche headed his way? These are the choices that the Anglo-American strategy of democratization have left with Assad. His father would choose the latter; Bashar might just be smart enough, like Hosni Mubarak in Egypt, to opt for the former. Either way, he only has weeks, possibly even days, to make his choices before the choices are made for him.
Update: Michael Ledeeen:
War is waged in many ways, and we possess the most lethal weapon in the world: the desire for freedom. President Bush ha[s]--uniquely among world leaders--understood the nature of this moment and given it voice. We should be celebrating the fall of the Lebanese puppet regime, and we should be demanding referenda and free elections in Lebanon, Syria, Iran and Saudi Arabia.
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