Never Mind

At first I was upset about this blog trend, but then I realized I had heard it wrong.

It's Lebanese girls that are hot.

- E. Latella

Update: Meanwhile, in an under-reported story, Saudi Arabia tells Syria to get out of Lebanon.

Crown Prince Abdullah, who has effectively ruled the kingdom since King Fahd suffered a stroke in 1995, told Assad to start getting Syrian forces out of Lebanon soon or face deeper isolation, according to a Saudi official quoted anonymously by the Associated Press. The Reuters news agency quoted an unnamed Saudi official saying: "They know what they should do. They should withdraw immediately. This is what we told them, and this is what the whole world is telling them."

Glenn Reynolds:

I actually almost feel sorry for Bashar. I don't think he really wanted to play the role he's in now. I hope that he manages a soft landing for the Ba'athist regime, transitioning to a free country without bloodshed, but I doubt his father's cronies, who remain very much a force, will make that easy.

I hear Paris is nice in the spring.

Update 2: Do the Saudi's sense it all beginning to slip out of their control? Does it matter what they think? Are they acting in anything other than desperate self-preservation mode? Acting on a lesser of two evils?

Wait - I just realized I've failed to add the obligatory "not gloating yet" disclaimer:

It?s too early, in fairness, to claim complete victory in the American-led struggle to bring peace through democratic transformation of the region. Despite the temptation to crow, we must remember that this is not Berlin 1989.

Actually the fall of the East German dictatorship knocked Germany back a few steps, creating a significant financial burden on the west and driving a shift to the political left from which the country still hasn't recovered.

In that regards the Middle East has an edge - petrodollars that for years have lined the pockets of a few could go a long way towards moving the region forward. Imagine a best-case scenario; that oil revenue in the hands of democratic governments instead of a few playboy sheiks, funding medical research instead of trips to Monte Carlo... no wonder oil pipelines are a main target of terrorists in Iraq. The flow of money is the last thing the die-hards from all over the region want to see in Baghdad. Their own populations might catch glimpses of improved lifestyles - might start getting ideas. A Mideast renaissance could follow. They've certainly been living in dark ages long enough.

I've always wondered how they pulled it off so long - living in palaces while convincing the masses that they lived in houses made of camel shit because the US is Satan. Maybe they only fooled a sad few, and perhaps having them die in suicide attacks wasn't the best use of limited resources.