Ballots Over Bullets -Thomas L. Friedman
I came to Lebanon on Sunday to watch the Lebanese hold their national election. It was indeed free and fair — not like the pretend election you are about to see in Iran, where only candidates approved by the Supreme Leader can run.
No, in Lebanon it was the real deal, and the results were fascinating: President Barack Obama defeated President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran. O.K., I know. Neither man was on the ballot, but there’s no question whose vision won here.
I watched the voting at a school. People came by car, by wheelchair, by foot — young, old and sick. One very elderly lady walked in, hooked up to a small oxygen tank. By God, she was going to vote.
[A] solid majority of Lebanese — Muslims, Christians and Druse — voted for the coalition led by Saad Hariri [pictured above], the son of the slain Lebanese prime minister, Rafik Hariri. [Hariri] sees Lebanon’s future as a state independent of Syrian and Iranian influence and committed to pluralism, modern education, a modern economy and a progressive outlook. Saad Hariri, with 71 out of 128 seats in Parliament, is likely to be the next prime minister.
While the Lebanese deserve 95 percent of the credit for this election, 5 percent goes to two U.S. presidents. As more than one Lebanese whispered to me: Without George Bush standing up to the Syrians in 2005 — and forcing them to get out of Lebanon after the Hariri killing — this free election would not have happened. Mr. Bush helped create the space. Power matters. Mr. Obama helped stir the hope. Words also matter.
Alas, Lebanon is still far from having a stable government; his cabinet will have to include Hezbollah [which] remains a powerful, armed force.
[New York Times]
[Note: Rafik Hariri, Saad's father, was assasinated, probably by Syrian and/or Hezbollah operatives]
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I came to Lebanon on Sunday to watch the Lebanese hold their national election. It was indeed free and fair — not like the pretend election you are about to see in Iran, where only candidates approved by the Supreme Leader can run.
No, in Lebanon it was the real deal, and the results were fascinating: President Barack Obama defeated President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran. O.K., I know. Neither man was on the ballot, but there’s no question whose vision won here.
I watched the voting at a school. People came by car, by wheelchair, by foot — young, old and sick. One very elderly lady walked in, hooked up to a small oxygen tank. By God, she was going to vote.
[A] solid majority of Lebanese — Muslims, Christians and Druse — voted for the coalition led by Saad Hariri [pictured above], the son of the slain Lebanese prime minister, Rafik Hariri. [Hariri] sees Lebanon’s future as a state independent of Syrian and Iranian influence and committed to pluralism, modern education, a modern economy and a progressive outlook. Saad Hariri, with 71 out of 128 seats in Parliament, is likely to be the next prime minister.
While the Lebanese deserve 95 percent of the credit for this election, 5 percent goes to two U.S. presidents. As more than one Lebanese whispered to me: Without George Bush standing up to the Syrians in 2005 — and forcing them to get out of Lebanon after the Hariri killing — this free election would not have happened. Mr. Bush helped create the space. Power matters. Mr. Obama helped stir the hope. Words also matter.
Alas, Lebanon is still far from having a stable government; his cabinet will have to include Hezbollah [which] remains a powerful, armed force.
[New York Times]
[Note: Rafik Hariri, Saad's father, was assasinated, probably by Syrian and/or Hezbollah operatives]
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