Can my eyes and ears be deceiving me? Today, Syria’s dictator-for-life Bashar al-Assad promised that his troops will evacuate Lebanon completely “in the next few months.” This pronouncement came only hours after “Lebanese opposition leaders ... demanded the withdrawal of Syrian forces and the immediate resignation of Lebanese securiy chiefs,” while Brave Lebanese have continued their anti-Syrian-occupation rallies in Beirut.

This is absolutely momentous news. We may be witnessing the birth of the Middle East’s second Arab/Muslim/Christian democracy within the spam of only two months. Are the region’s remaining dictators shitting bricks or what? You can be sure that some of Syria’s hardliners have been pushing al-Assad to commit a Tiananmen-Square like clamp-down. But I’m not so sure Assad has the cojones to pull it off. Pressure has been building on Syria to leave Lebanon, mainly from the U.S., but even from the UN – especially after the cowardly assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Hariri. Does Assad want to be the Arab leader who slaughters other Arabs?

President Bush’s Middle East Initiative is working. The satellite images being shown on Lebanese TV sets of Iraqis voting has started a fire that will not die easily. Who says Arabs/Muslims do not want self-determination?

The Lebanese are a brave people with a noble history. They have protested against Syria’s illegal occupation peacefully. Lebanese opposition parties have been talking and planning, not strapping on explosive belts. It is once again time for Beirut to be called the “Paris of the Middle East.”