Bush's Cedar Revolution Collapses in Yet Another Policy Failure

[ProSense]

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Bush's Cedar Revolution Collapses in Yet Another Policy Failure

The assassination of Lebanese cabinet minister Pierre Gemayel on Tuesday has thrown that country further into yet more turmoil.

The crisis is a further testament to the bankruptcy of George W. Bush's Middle East policy. Under the dishonest rhetoric of 'democratization,' what Bush has really been about is creating pro-American winners and anti-American losers in Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine and Lebanon. Bush's vision is not democratic because he always installs a tyranny of the majority. The vanquished are to be crushed and ridiculed, the victors to exult in their triumph. It is like a Leni Riefenstahl film.

The problem is that when you crush the Pushtuns of Afghanistan, who traditionally ruled the country, they have means of hitting back (ask the Canadian troops in Qandahar). When you crush the Sunni Arabs of Iraq, who had traditionally ruled Iraq, they have ways of organizing a guerrilla movement and acting as spoilers of Bush's new Kurdish-Shiite axis in Baghdad. When you crush Hamas even after they won the elections in early 2006, they have means of continuing to struggle.

In Lebanon, Bush egged on the pro-Hariri movement against the Syrians and their allies. Then he egged on Israel to bomb the Shiites of southern Lebanon (and, mysteriously, the rest of Lebanon, too). So he tried to create the March 14th alliance around Hariri as the winners who take all in Lebanon.

So obviously there will be trouble about this. Everything Bush touches turns to ashes, bombings, assassinations. He doesn't know how to compromise and he doesn't know how to influence his neo-colonial possessions so that they can compromise.

Lebanon for the past two years has been caught between several outside forces. The Hariris represent Saudi interests. Hizbullah and Amal, the Shiite parties, are aligned with Syria. The Gemayels have an old, longstanding behind the scenes alliance with Israel and the United States.

more...

[Canuckistanian]

1. "BUSH'S" Cedar Revolution??

The Cedar Revolution had ZILCH to do with Bush. From what I can see, the Cedar Revolution was a purely internal movement in Lebanon stemming from a popular anti-Syrian sentiment.

I'm surprised Juan Cole uses it as his post title.

[ProSense]

2. Other than the headline, Cole nails it! n/t

[Canuckistanian]

3. Cole should be drafted into the new State Department

He's a national treasure. Have you ever seen an incorrect analysis from Cole?

[ProSense]

4. Here's an interesting article

about Cole being turned down by Yale:

While it is unclear whether timing was a factor in Yale’s decision, it probably didn’t work in Cole’s favor. The university has been facing considerable criticism in conservative circles since the publication in March of a profile in The New York Times Magazine of a former official of the Taliban government in Afghanistan who is studying at Yale. The headline on the Power Line article about the apparent end to Cole’s candidacy at Yale was “No Teacher for Taliban Man.”

[Canuckistanian]

6. Interesting comments section

A lot of people trying to justify an obviously political decision to turn Cole down.

Look like Skull and Bones is alive and well at Yale.

[ProSense]

5. WSJ uses assassination to make its case against diplomacy with Syria

WSJ uses assassination to make its case against diplomacy with Syria