The Cedar Revolution: Syria and Lebanon

Following World War I, the territories now occupied by Lebanon and Syria were taken from the defunct Ottoman Empire and placed under French control as League of Nations Mandates. In actuality, they were treated as colonies by France, and remained so until after World War II, when the two nations gained independence. The larger of the two, Syria came to dominate Lebanon, especially after the creation of Israel in 1948.

In successive wars - 1948, 1967, and 1973 - Israel defeated Syria and her Arab allies. As a result, Syria changed policies and began using proxy organizations based in Lebanon to attack Israel rather than risk open war. In the late 70s, Syria began financing the militant group Hizbullah, which attacked Israel using rockets and suicide bombers from its bases in southern Lebanon. Syria installed leaders sympathetic to its cause in Lebanon, and those who resisted or protested Syrian control of Lebanon became victims of Syrian violence, often at the hands of Hizbullah thugs.

In 1982, Israel responded to Hizbullah provocations by invading Lebanon. Under the leadership of Ariel Sharon - then Defense Minister in Israel - the IDF entered Beirut and deposed the Lebanese government, installing leaders sympathetic to their cause and opposed to Syria. While there, the IDF used local pro-Israeli thugs to perpetrate massacres of Palestinians in refugee camps near Beirut.

Hizbullah resistance took a heavy toll on the Israeli military, however, and they were soon obliged to retreat unilaterally, leaving Hizbullah and Syria once again in control of Lebanon.

In February 2005, Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was assassinated when his motorcade was destroyed by a bomb estimated at over 2,000 lbs of TNT parked in a truck. The attack was widely believed to be a Syrian-ordered assassination to silence Hariri, who opposed Syrian control of Lebanon. The assassination sparked nation wide protests, with an estimated 500,000 civilians marching in the streets of Beirut. the Syrian army - which had occupied Lebanon for years - was forced to withdraw, and the pro-Syrian Lebanese government resigned.

Known as the Cedar Revolution, the popular uprising led to the hope that Lebanon would enter a period of greater political independence and openness. The period of hope was marred, however, by a month-long conflict the next year between Hizbullah and Israel in which Israeli airstrikes inflicted enormous damage on the Lebanese civilian infrastructure and killed an estimated 1,200 Lebanese civilians.

The international UN-led investigation into the assassination of Hariri is about to release an indictment of the guilty parties at the time of this writing. Lebanon is in crisis over the upcoming decision, as it is widely believed that Hizbullah leaders will be implicated; the resulting struggle to prosecute any indicted militants could plunge the country into civil war, as Syria is adamant that Hizbullah remain in southern Lebanon, and many elements in the Lebanese establishment are sympathetic to the organization's cause.