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Recent events in Beirut and Lebanon are nothing short of remarkable. An oppressed Lebanese populace at the hands of the Syrians that would not have dared protest in the streets for years are now rising in astounding numbers to kick the Syrians out of their country. They are beginning to exercise a value we all know well, but is just being born in that region of the world. This is freedom.
We often take it for granted here in the United States because we have been born with it and have lived every day of our lives exercising it. Yet the people of the Middle East are just tasting the fruits of freedom for the first time, and many are fighting for it. Where did this sudden catalyst come from? In the case of Lebanon, certainly the death of the well-respected Rafik Al-Hariri was the flashpoint for many Lebanese to say enough is enough. There is no way that these mass demonstrations would have commenced without the great show of freedom expressed in Iraq on Jan. 30, their election day. Amidst many threats from Islamo-facist terrorists and the continuing violence in that country, 8 million brave Iraqi men and women, young and old, literally risked their lives to vote and to express their freedom. Today, brave Iraqi men continue to enroll in Iraq’s security forces in droves, to serve and defend their new country. Women have been empowered in many arenas of public life, a value practically unknown in the Arab world. We are now seeing ordinary Iraqi’s in the streets demonstrating and protesting the terrorists, not the Americans. A truly remarkable reversal of affairs.
How have these revolutionary changes taken place? These brave people too openly yearn to be free and actively take part in and fight for freedom. The courage and resolve of President George Bush, who made the tough decisions and to continue to see ahead and fight on. Last but certainly not least, our American soldiers who have fought and died so valiantly for a good cause and for these shifts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Certainly the winds of change that are in their infant stages in the Middle East cannot be attributed entirely to the United States. The death of the terrorist Yasser Arafat lead to a break in the Israeli-Palestinian impasse and the assassination of Hariri prompted the Lebanese to finally take it to the streets. However, little would be changed in this region without the American-led invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.
Democratic revolution is spreading, and this is good for two main reasons. First, and most importantly, it is in our nation’s best security interests to see anti-American, war-like dictators fall and democracy spread in the volatile Middle East. Secondly, I feel that the values of freedom and democracy over religious or dictatorial rule are far better for the prosperity and future of the region and its people. Military might is not the only way to push these changes. The ideals of freedom do not know borders or boundaries and will spread. Now, more than our military, freedom is what is endangering these oppressive backward Arab regimes and exposing their failed tyrannies. The road ahead is still long and tough, but worth fighting for. Major, permanent in-roads have been made and the pressure must continue towards reform. We are winning, keep going.
Kevin O’Keefe is a senior history major.
