America as a country has always rooted for the little guy. Its in our blood. The very foundation of our history is shrouded in the idea that an underdog, a darkhorse can not only win, but win against all odds. For this very reason, we should all be cheering on the little engine in the Middle East thats trying its heart out right now, Lebanon. In less than a full calendar year, Lebanon has been completely wracked by war. Starting with the Cedar Revolution in 2005, then what the Economist dubbed "The Accidental War" last year, in which Lebanon sustained 34 days of Israeli bombardment, and now an all out ground offensive against the Al Qaeda linked group Al-Fatah Islam in its own borders, this struggling democracy is putting up a tenacious fight against terrorists, adding its name to our list of allies in the War on Terror, which I believe is a euphemism for "War on Islamic Fascism."
Lets look at the past 2 years of Lebanon's history. After its immensely popular pro-democracy ex Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was assassinated by a massive car bomb in which Syrian agents and the Syrian government was widely implicated, the Lebanese underwent what was dubbed "The Cedar Revolution" as the ethnically and religiously divided country of Christians and Shi'ite Muslims took to the streets to denounce the Syrian occupation of that country. Influenced by longtime actor in Lebanese affairs, France along with the United States, forced Syrian troops out under diplomatic pressure, and Lebanon became a new democratic addition to a part of the world which desperately needs it.
Regardless of the removal of Syrian troops, Hezbollah remained. Known as the "Party of God" in Arabic, and widely regarded as one of the top 3 armies in the entire Middle East, behind the Israeli Defense Force and Iranian Al Quds force, Hezbollah remained entrenched in Lebanese soil. This made, and continues to make the situation difficult. Hezbollah is not in Lebanon at the Lebanese governments request, although it does have some backing from the Shi'ite population. A shrewd politician and rabble rouser, Hassan Nasrallah, the head of Hezbollah, provides many day to day services to Lebanese Shi'ites and thus curries favor in certain corners of that country. Directly funded and supplied militarily by Iranian mullahs, Hezbollah will often engage with Israeli forces to provoke conflict in an attempt to provoke other Arab nations to engage Israel. This came to a forefront last summer, when two Israeli soldiers were abducted (and have yet to be released) by Hezbollah forces in an effort to prompt a prisoner swap, sparking the "Accidental War." Lebanon was not directly targeted by Israeli forces, yet sustained massive damage due to Hezbollah placing its rocket launching emplacements and bunkers purposefully next to civilian focal points, a practice known as "using human shields." Known as the "Paris of the Middle East" because of its beauty and festive night life, Beirut suffered monumental damage, even its international airport annihilated.
Now, just one year later after a devastating war, Lebanese Army forces are engaging Al Fatah Islam, a terror network directly linked to Al Qaeda which had infested Palestinian refugee camps. Known for being breeding grounds for terror recruiting due to a large number of unemployed young men, Palestinian Refugee camps are to terror recruiting stations what honey is to flies, attracting vast amounts of eager volunteers. AFI has promised that it will bring down the democratically elected Siniora government, or die in the process. Now this small country which is about the same size as Connecticut is fighting its heart out against an extremist element from within after no respite from war whatsoever. Prime Minister Fouad Siniora has promised that he will wipe out the terror group, and has asked for direct U.S. military assistance. In response the U.S. has directly shipped in $313 million in ammo, individual soldier gear, APC's (Armored Personnel Carriers), and other forms of logistics.
This all sounds like the same old tired song right, fighting raging in the Middle East, as it if never stops? This is different, this is monumental. This time, a small country which can barely support itself has dropped the gloves and said "You're the disease, I'm the cure" ($50 to anyone who can name what movie that is from) to a terrorist/radical Islamist movement while trying to protect democracy. Lebanese Christians and Muslims, without giving a second thought to each other's religious affiliation, are fighting side by side to wipe out extremism from their country. If the Arab world is ever going to have a chance at stabilization and walk away from the tyranny and extremism that currently has a stranglehold over its populace, countries like Lebanon and their cause must succeed. Without outside help, they cannot succeed, and thus we have to support their efforts if we truly want to evoke change and squash the disease known as Islamic Fascism. As history so often shows (repeatedly no less), it usually is the underdog which has the guts to bring about change, and we as Americans should encourage it to the fullest.
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