On Lebanon

Other than Joseph Farah's ethnic cleansing scenario, the most likely goal of ending the Syrian occupation of Lebanon is to replace it with a US, UN, or Israeli occupation.

The idea that getting Syria out will magically lead to peace and democracy in Lebanon is ridiculous.

The idea that the Muslim Lebanese will agree to letting the Christians have constitutionally-guaranteed overrepresentation in parliament is likewise ridiculous.

Of course, the neocons know this, and so they are already preparing to blame Syria when violence breaks out.

"Assad is likely to counter by having his agents and Hezbollah foment violence against pro-democracy demonstrators to justify his claim that a Syrian military presence is needed to keep Lebanon from lapsing back into civil war." - "Hack" Kelly

And once they have done that, they will likely legitimize overrepresentation in the parliament by denying the legitimacy of the claims of Lebanese Muslims:

"During renditions of the Lebanese national anthem, Lebanese in the crowd noticed that many of the participants were Syrians unfamiliar with the words." - Washington Times

"Those Syrian guest workers, it follows, are pretty likely to show up at a rally in support of Syria, particularly because the withdrawal of Syrian troops might seriously complicate their lives in Lebanon -- a story we'd like to hear more about." - Columbia Journalism Review

"The answer is simple: Many or most of those rallying in favor of Syria are not really Lebanese at all... But there is another occupying force in Lebanon today – tens of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands, of Iranians or Iranian-backed militiamen and civilians who have emigrated with the express purpose of using Lebanon as a base of operations and to establish an Iranian-style Shiite theocracy." - Joseph Farah

The solution will presumably be that US, UN, or Israeli troops will be sent in to enforce the old system. Or maybe Joseph Farah will get his way and we'll expel or exterminate the "surplus Muslims."

So in other words, what is being pushed here is that WE or our allies occupy Lebanon, not that it truly become independent.

And as John Laughland points out, why should we assume that only Syria is willing to stage events to keep control of Lebanon? Why is it so inconceivable that the US or one or more of its allies or both might be involved in the anti-Syrian protests and anti-Syrian activities in recent days?

That is not all. Not nearly by half.