First the revolution; now the aftermath. Well, for Syria that is. Just about everyone and their mother is taking shots at what soon will be the next regime to surrender in the war of ideas.

NEWS:
The Lebanese opposition is keeping up the front, and have put forward a list of several basic demands that must be met to continue the activities of government:

After a joint meeting at the mountain home of opposition leader Walid Jumblatt, they called on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to announce a troop pullout from the country and for the resignation of security officials there.

They also demanded the “immediate” resignation of Lebanon’s public prosecutor and the country’s six top security and intelligence officials to ensure the integrity of the probe into the February 14 assassination of ex-premier Rafiq Hariri.

“These are the basis for our participation in anything in the future,” said MP Ahmad Fatfat, reading the joint opposition statement.

He said that once President Emile Lahoud sets a date for parliamentary consultations to name a new prime minister to replace Omar Karameh who resigned Monday, the opposition will be collectively represented by two MPs.

“The names of the delegation will be announced in due time,” he said.

“They will present a similar statement including these demands …which are the political basis upon which we can engage in discussions…and that precede any serious (political) participation” by the opposition, he said.

Two MPs? I’m placing virtual money on Jumblatt for one of those spots. Overall good demands. Similar changes were made after Yushchenko was elected, with the changing around of the security services and getting a new Prosecutor General. The people have to believe that the law will be carried out fairly and justly.

The United States is putting on a huge amount of pressure. A bill proposed on Jan. 26 that was forwarded to the House Committee of International Relations was just approved:

WASHINGTON, March 2 (AFP) – A US House of Representatives subcommittee on Wednesday approved a resolution blasting the Syrian occupation of Lebanon, and called on President George W. Bush to tighten the screws on Damascus.

The resolution, introduced by Republican Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, expresses “the grave concern of Congress” regarding Syria’s occupation of Lebanon.

The resolution describes Lebanon as a “captive country” and states that Syria’s occupation “represents a long-term threat to the security of the Middle East, as well as US efforts “to promote political and economic liberalization in the region.”

It urges Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to order the US ambassador to the United Nations to “present and secure” a UN Security Council resolution “classifying Lebanon as a ‘captive country.’”

The resolution also calls “for the immediate release of all Lebanese detainees in Syria and Lebanon,” and for Bush to “freeze all assets in the United States belonging to Lebanese government officials who are found to support and aid” Syria’s occupation of Lebanon.

The entire text of that resolution can be found here. Looks solid.

President Bush is now condemning Syria without regards any unneeded soft words:

ARNOLD, Maryland, March 2 (AFP) – President George W. Bush on Wednesday urged Syria to withdraw its troops from Lebanon and welcomed cooperation between Washington and Paris on the issue.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice “and the foreign affairs minister from France both stood up to say loud and clear to Syria ‘you get your troops and your secret services out of Lebanon for democracy to have a chance to flourish’,” Bush said in a speech in Arnold, Maryland.

“The world is working together for the sake of freedom and peace. The world is speaking with one voice when it comes to making sure that democracy has a chance to flourish, in Lebanon and throughout the greater Middle East,” Bush added.

“And when democracy takes hold the world becomes more peaceful, the world becomes a better place for our children and grandchildren. So I look forward to continue working with friends and allies to advance freedom — not American freedom but universal freedom,” Bush added.

The emir of Qatar met with Assad today, and you may remember him praising Lebanon yesterday. Even Egypt is supporting the pullout:

CAIRO, March 2 (AFP) – Egypt’s foreign minister said Wednesday the United Nations should be involved in a withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon and that a mechanism was under discussion.

“It is logical that since Resolution 1559 was initiated by the UN Security Council, its implementation should be carried out in cooperation with the UN, within the framework of Syrian-Lebanese relations,” Ahmed Abul Gheit said.

“A mechanism is being discussed for the implementation of Resolution 1559 and on ways in which the UN could be involved,” he told reporters after a meeting with his Saudi counterpart Prince Saud al-Faisal.

“Egypt encourages Syria to solve the situation in Lebanon as quickly as possible,” Abul Gheit added.

It is important to note that they are requesting pullout in accordance with resolution 1559, and not the Taef Accord that Syria has been using to its benefit for years. It’s only a matter of time now that even Syria’s neighbors have turned against it.

One thing to watch out for is the influence of Hezbollah during this whole thing. While considered a terrorist organization by the United States, they are a powerful political party in Lebanon that will give extra sway to whichever side they represent. They have been pro-government, but now the opposition is courting them.:

BEIRUT, March 2 (AFP) – Lebanon’s opposition Wednesday held talks with the Syrian-backed Shiite militia Hezbollah, which leads an anti-Israeli guerrilla struggle, in the hope of persuading the group to join its ranks to win a Syrian troop pullout.

With the country in crisis sparked by the February 14 assassination of ex-premier Rafiq Hariri, Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah met with MP Ghazi Aridi, a close aide to prominent opposition leader Druze MP Walid Jumblatt.

After the meeting, Aridi told reporters that his talks with Nasrallah and an earlier meeting with rival Shiite leader, parliament speaker Nabih Berri, were part of opposition efforts to “engage in dialogue …with people who can play a role in helping to save Lebanon.”

Nasrallah has also met with Christian opposition leaders.

Not just Hezbollah, but they are looking for any potential allies in this cause. I’m not so sure Hezbollah will want to change sides just so quickly, as getting rid of Syria would be getting rid of its biggest financier and backer. The opposition will need a sweet deal to woo them, but after all this they may not need to, as Hezbollah could lose some power in the upcoming elections. It’s too early in the game to tell. Michael Young, however, discusses what he sees as next for the opposition.

While Syria hadn’t picked out a candidate for the premiership, as these events unfolded so quickly, Naharnet seems to have a list of three possible candidates.

INTIFADA 2: It sounds like the name of a bad movie, but we may see the clean sweep of the entire administration. Yesterday I blogged an editorial by Chibli Mallat who thinks that the problem is the presidency; that the slate should be sweeped clean. Well, he may get his wish.

President Lahoud is pro-Syria, and while another candidate hasn’t been pushed forward by either him or his masters as of yet, many Lebanese are understandably suspicious of who the next candidate for prime minister will be. Put yourself at ease, because he may be protested out as well:

The opposition is inclined to boycott the mandatory consultations at the Baabda Palace for a new government and to unleash a fresh public drive to overthrow President Lahoud in the wake of Premier Karami’s resignation so that Syria’s reign over Lebanon is eliminated altogether, the Beirut media reported on Wednesday.
The final decision whether or not to boycott the consultations is to be taken at a meeting of the National Opposition Front at Druze leader Walid Jumblat’s ancestral residence in Mukhtara at 4 p.m. Beirut time Wednesday, An Nahar reported.

A top Jumblat aide, Ghazi Aridi, is scheduled to meet two hours earlier with Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah at his command headquarters in Beirut’s southern suburb of Ghobeiri and then report on the outcome of the talks to the conferees at Mukhtara.

“We have to agree because we have originally disputed the constitutionality of President Lahoud and we have rejected him,” Jumblat said in an interview aired by Al Jazeera satellite network Tuesday evening, which grabbed page-one headlines of the Beirut press Wednesday morning.

“Are we to enter into the consultations with a president we have disputed his constitutionality and rejected him, or we will say ‘no’ to the consultations?” Jumblat said. “This is what we have to decide at the opposition conference.”

The opposition standard-bearer said he personally preferred that Lahoud should go, “because he is part of the disorder, part of the security problem and part of the crime.” As for Karami, Jumblat went one “he is a helpless tool that was used and then tossed away.”

At any rate, Jumblat said, “if we decide to join the consultations, we will insist on knowing who killed Hariri and on bringing the commanders of all Lebanese and Syrian security services to reckoning.

It’s all coming together at least. While they were able to get the current government to resign, they would need considerable more to force President Lahoud out. That’s why they need Hezbollah. Is this a good thing? Time will tell, but if they can work together to get rid of the past, then they can address their sectional interests later. For now, they have held back on approving a new uprising.

To me, that seemed like the next step to take anyhow. But there was something else to it as I found. A witness, Lebanese commercial airplane pilot Mohammed Ghalayini, had been buried alive and the authorities did not permit rescue workers at the time to search for bodies.:

The decomposed corpse of a Lebanese commercial airplane pilot, Mohammed Ghalayini, classified missing since ex-Premier Hariri’s assassination Feb. 14, was unearthed Wednesday from the rubble of the murder scene by outraged civil defense volunteers screaming for President Lahoud’s resignation.
The death stench led the rescuer to discover Ghalayini still holding his mobile telephone from which he had called his brother before he perished under the wreckage caused by the assassination blast. His wife and two daughters, wearing masks against the stench, identified the victim from his clothes.

The two daughters wailed as the body was put on an ambulance and taken to the morgue of the American University Hospital from the scene at the St. George tourist resort near the Phoenicia Intercontinental Hotel.

Local TV stations covered the event live. Several civil defense activists shouted charges that the authorities had deliberately neglected appeals by Ghalayini’s family and several Hariri parliament bloc members to make sure a potential witness of the assassination operation is eliminated.

“When we were allowed onto the scene at last, it took us less than five minutes to find the body,” one volunteer clad in an orange uniform screamed. Others around him shouted “why hasn’t the president resigned yet?”

Things just aren’t going right for Syria today lately. Much to my glee.

BLOGS:
Tony from Across the Bay has just about everything your heart desires. There are several things I want you to read, including the transcript and analysis of the interview with Assad, his take on some terrible opinion pieces and events in general.

Via Instapundit, and interview with opposition figure Farid Ghadry.

Abu Aardvark has a post that has nothing to do with the political situation in Lebanon, but I couldn’t stop staring. Here’s why:

More of her here.

And Matt Rustler has more of the protest chicks featured at his blog.

Here is a blog that maintains a list of all Lebanese blogs. From there I found another blog called Beirut and Lebanon in a Nutshell which I anticipate I’ll be reading often.

UPDATE: I’d never seen this picture before. And my post on the Arab media is also done.

That’s it folks. I’ll be posting more on the main page later on about how the Arab media is covering the event.