Longest Winter's End...

The arrival of "Beirut Spring" seems to have alerted other Lebanese to the potential of the blogosphere, including one called - what else - The Beirut Spring. There are lots of others out there as well (with less conspiracy theorizing - I must say that of all things I find unattractive in Lebanese politics, I like this tendency the least) - I will provide more links when I have time later today.

Thanks go out to regular comment-poster Mountain Man for the informed remarks yesterday, part of which guards against the temptation to consider Lebanese protests and demands as the direct result of Bush administration policy (the so-called "Iraq effect"), although he notes that the two are not mutually exclusive:

What is noticeable ... is the way the event in Lebanon is coupling well with Bush's rhetoric. Bush pressured Saudi and Egypt in January. Some critics spoke up, but were immediately slapped down. Then Hariri was killed; Beirut broke into protest; and Mubarak backed down. Effects are reaching as far as Tunisia. The coupling effect is much more potent than the Iraq effect. The Lebanese people might be able to take just as much credit for regional reform as Bush in a few years. One prominent Palestinian professor said today that what happens in Lebanon "spreads like influenza" to the rest of the region: pan-Arabism, Palestinianism, Hezbollahism, Russian prostitutes, and now anti-dictatorship movements.

I think he added "Russian prostitutes" just to see if I read his comment.