LEBANESE ORANGE REVOLUTION BEGINS!

Perhaps we won't have to invade Lebanon (in order to expel Syrian troops and the Hizb'allah neojihadist terrorists), after all. From the BBC:

Lebanon's opposition has called for an peaceful "independence uprising" and called for the government to step down. The opposition holds both the Lebanese and Syrian governments responsible for the assassination on Monday of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Hariri's death in an explosion in Beirut has sparked anti-Syrian feeling. Tourism Minister Farid al-Khazen resigned on Friday, saying the government was unable to "remedy the dangerous situation in the country". He said his decision was in line with his convictions and his "obligation to the nation". ... The opposition says it wants a representative government to be formed which would then oversee the departure of Syrian troops from Lebanon.

VIVA LA REVOLUCION - the DEMOCRATIC REVOLUTION!

Welcome Le Sabot Moderne readers. And if your not one yet - YOU SHOULD BE, EVERYDAY! Start now with his LINK-FILLED post on the situation In Lebanon . For those of you unfamiliar with him, he has a great perspective on how popular democratic movements lead to real REVOLUTIONARY change: he's been living through, and been blogging on, the current ORANGE REVOLUTION in Ukraine.

ADDENDUM: I was looking for the Arabic word for ORANGE (in order to make a clever post) when I found this:

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

orange

SYLLABICATION: or·ange

PRONUNCIATION: ôrnj, r-

ETYMOLOGY: mela, fruit + arancio, orange tree (alteration of Arabic naranj...

WORD HISTORY:

... the orange , originating in China, then being introduced to India, and traveling on to the Middle East, into Europe, and finally to the New World. ... As the fruit passed westward, so did the word, as evidenced by Persian narang and Arabic naranj. Arabs brought the first oranges to Spain, and the fruit rapidly spread throughout Europe. The important word for the development of our term is Old Italian melarancio, derived from mela, “fruit,” and arancio, “orange tree,” from Arabic naranj.

It seems as if democracy is flowing back - in reverse - along the very same route that oranges took: from the New World, to Europe, and now Arabia. CHINA: get ready... you're next!

UPDATE - 2/19 - (FOX/AP):BEIRUT, Lebanon — The Lebanese opposition stepped up its campaign against the pro-Syrian government Friday, calling for a peaceful uprising to force the resignation of Prime Minister Omar Karami (search) and the withdrawal of Syrian troops. ... the Lebanese opposition, in a statement read to reporters by Samir Franjieh, urged residents to continue gathering daily at Hariri's gravesite in Beirut's Martyrs' Square to light candles and pray near the mosque there that Hariri built. The government should resign and a transitional Cabinet should be formed "to protect the people, and to ensure an immediate and full withdrawal of the Syrian army from Lebanon as a prelude for free and fair elections," said Franjieh, a second cousin of the interior minister. ... The grave of Hariri, a self-made billionaire businessman credited with rebuilding Lebanon after the 1975-90 civil war, has become a pilgrimage destination.

I can hear the protesters at Hariri's grave: "POWER TO THE PEOPLE! THE PEOPLE UNITED CAN NEVER BE DEFEATED! ORANGE POWER! FREE LEBANON FROM HIZB'ALLAH AND SYRIA AND IRAN! ORANGE POWER!: And, of course: "WHAT DO WE WANT? DEMOCRACY! WHEN DO WE WANT IT? NOW!"