Hearts and Minds At Work
the peaceful uprising
hearts and minds
doing the real work
the bone-deep work
of freedom
no guns
no bombs
clear voices
one mind
syria
cannot
stay
here
hearts and minds
have decided
upon their
own direction
AP/CNN photos
Notes:
- Today, President Bush demanded an end to Syria's "occupation" of Lebanon
- Syrian withdrawal is already a part of Syrian policy.
- Syrian political activists, on Sunday, supported calls for their country to withdraw the troops but expressed concern at the level of anti-Syrian protests in Lebanon.
- More than 40 of Lebanon's 128 MPs have called on the international community to back their peaceful "uprising for independence" and accused the government and its political masters in Damascus of having a hand in Rafiq Hariri's assassination.
- President of France, Jacques Chirac is adamant about having the process of the Syrian withdrawal and Hizbullah's disarmament be monitored by the U.N. France and the United States sponsored U.N. Security Council Resolution 1559, which essentially calls on Syria to withdraw its troops from Lebanon and to stop interfering in Lebanese politics. Chirac has recently said that Lebanese parliamentary spring elections "will only be credible" if the resolution is applied. He said France wanted to see a "fully sovereign and democratic Lebanon."
- Lebanon's Defence Minister Abdel Rahim Mrad said his government was poised to boycott a UN probe into the death of former Premier Rafiq Hariri, a move likely to put Lebanon on a collision course with both the former mandatory power and the United States. Some news reports are saying the Lebanese government will cooperate.
_ Some American conservatives are concerned about the Hariri assassination and the blame that is being thrown at Syria's Bashar, who, if he did have anything to do with it, would have to be "the dumbest *#$!* man on the planet."
"This atrocity has the look of a false-flag operation to goad a volatile president into an attack on Syria. And, indeed, the cries are coming from the predictable quarters for Bush to let the missiles fly."- Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad has defended his nation's role in Lebanon by arguing that if Syria pulled out, the Lebanese would slip back toward civil war. Bashar has implied that forcing a Syrian withdrawal could reignite Lebanon.
To the U.S. Congress:
After Iraq, we citizens have good reason to be concerned. We have good reasons not to trust the Bush administration. Public opinion polls have borne out the truth about our deep-rooted suspicion. These sound like unnecessary war drums coming from the Bush administration. Please, do your sworn duty to the people of America this time. Let's not allow President Bush to lead us to unnecessary war with Syria.
