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“Bush Freed Lebanon” is the rather declarative statement of this Lebanese blogger who participated in the mass protests. “Bush had nothing to do with the impetus for our protests in Lebanon. He was the reason we went to bed afterward.”

Bush’s Iraq campaign may not have had an effect on us, but it sure had an effect on Syria. Would Syria have exited Lebanon without American pressure and proof that Bush means what he says in the Middle East? Probably not. Would Syria have left so quickly? Definitely not. Would Syrian soldiers have moved into place to crack down on Lebanese citizens? Probably. Would we have fought them? Definitely. Would this have caused a war? Quite likely.

Bush, Chirac, and the example of the Iraq War saved us from disaster. We were saved from incredible pain and a return to constant calamity.

It’s painful to share credit with Chirac, but in all fairness, he’s earned a share in this case. Of course, that’s probably attributable to the fact that he never had to lift a finger. Read the whole thing; it’s quite moving. I have to admit that for some of the worst reasons, I didn’t believe that democracy had any selling power in the Middle East. Perhaps I underestimated the market for it, but Lebanon is hardly a typical Middle Eastern country, and this new movement has yet to have much of an impact on fever-swamps like Palestine or Saudi Arabia. No one ever suggested that would happen overnight, of course, but many of us believed it wouldn’t happen at all.

It’s wonderful to have been proven (at least partially) wrong.