Syria leaves Lebanon: Is it an Illusion?

Fire of Liberty

Well it seems that The Cedar Revolution and the public outcry from the US and France for Syria's military and intelligence services to leave Lebanon might be coming true. According to this article in The Financial Times, only a small contingent out of the 15,000 Syrian troops/intelligence officers remain in Lebanon. Just read what the paper had to say:

In the last few weeks, dozens of Syrian posts have been abandoned all over the country. In the Bekaa valley, artillery and air defence positions were dismantled. Statues and pictures of the Assads have been taken away. Syrian army slogans have been blacked out on walls. Army trucks have been seen taking away furniture, files and even door and window frames.

In Shtaura, a busy commercial town that relies heavily on Syrian shoppers, one of the few remaining Syrian intelligence checkpoints was still manned yesterday. But the statue of Basel al-Assad, the son of Hafez who died in a car crash in the mid 1990s, was gone. "They came in the middle of the night, like thieves, to take it away. They knew that if they left it behind, it would be blown up," said Kamal Hayek, owner of a cafe.

"They tried to brainwash us, they tried to make Lebanon look like it was Syria, putting posters and statues of the Syrian president everywhere. It's a miracle they're gone but we had to pay a heavy price to get here," said Mr Hayek.

I think Mr. Hayek (How ironic that someone in Lebanon who talks about what freedoms they have lost to an oppressive government is named Hayek) pretty much lays out the grievances that the million plus people who showed up in Beirut last month to denounce Syria's occupation. Though it is amazing that the Syrian forces have effectively pulled up stakes in Lebanon, there are indications that the Syrians might be pulling the wool over the World's eyes. Thanks to the work of Olivier Guitta in this short piece over at The Weekly Standard, we learn that Syria's withdrawal from Lebanon is far from certain. Take a look:

TWO RECENT REPORTS in the Lebanese press suggest that there may be less to Syria's withdrawal from Lebanon than meets the eye. First, the daily Al Seyassah (a Kuwaiti paper which carries a Lebanese edition) reported that, according to sources close to the Lebanese Ministry of Interior, tens of thousands of Syrians have recently been naturalized. And among them are 5,000 Syrian Secret Service personnel. So, technically these officers are now Lebanese citizens with no reason to leave their "own country." Second, according to An-Nahar, one of the leading and oldest Lebanese dailies, dating from 1933, Lebanese police in Beirut arrested a Lebanese Army car occupied by two Syrian military officers. Meaning that Syrians can also infiltrate the Lebanese Army and pose as legitimate Lebanese.

So, I guess we shouldn't always base our news on what the Syrians want us to see publicly. Remember they are a terrorist state with an iron fisted dictator running the show thus anything is possible. Just ask the Iraqis if you want to know what a terror state can do when it sets its mind to do something.