Syria to start withdrawing from Lebanon

A hardline Middle East policy pays off again for Dubya (via Slings & Arrows): BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria indicated on Monday it would start withdrawing some of its troops from Lebanon soon, but President Bush insisted it should "end its occupation" of its neighbor... "Just as the Syrian regime must take stronger action to stop those who support violence and subversion in Iraq and must end its support for terrorist groups seeking to destroy the hope of peace between Israelis and Palestinians, Syria must also end its occupation of Lebanon," Bush said in a speech in Belgium at the start of a trip to meet European Union and NATO leaders... Thousands of Lebanese protesters chanted "Syria out" as they marched in Beirut a week after Hariri's assassination. Protesters carrying Lebanese flags and wearing red-and-white scarves, a symbol of the opposition, converged on an exclusive seafront area where the bomb tore through Hariri's motorcade. They observed a one-minute silence at 12:55 p.m. (5:55 a.m. EST), the exact time Hariri was killed a week ago. "The truth is, we can't stand Syria," protesters chanted, as well as "Syria out" and "Freedom, sovereignty, independence." When you knock out a couple of corrupt regimes, the rest of them just start to crumble. First Libya, then Palestinian leadership started to move away from being under the thumb of Hamas, and now Syria. The rest of the region better watch out; it looks like that democracy thing is contagious.