The Arabs suffer from underdevelopment and repressive regimes many which are proped up against their people will by the West. We can agree that almost none of the Regimes are popular and would not last for more than a few days without external support. There are many Arabs and Lebanese who want change and there are others that profit from the status quo or are afraid of what change may bring.

As a footnote, I was told the other day that the former Defence Minister A.R. Mrad’s 15000 votes in the last election came mainly from the Christians in the Western Beqaa. I was surprised that they would as a community vote for someone as pro-Syrian as Mrad. My informant told me that they were comfortable with him because he represented the establihed order.

No, The West is not responsible for all our problems but they should just leave us alone to develop without their interference .

We have the talent, the brains and the money to do it. However ,I don’t think that they will leave us alone as long as we are cursed by oil.

I was not in Lebanon in March but had I been I would have gone to both demonstrations. Both demos were well attended and represented a sea change in political culture in Lebanon. What we need now is a leadership that can synthesize the two movements and unite them in positive fashion. This is not a zero-sum game.

Help yourself first but be independent.

BTW,Tell me me where the West was with their Human Rights for the last 30 years while we were under occupation?

Issam

As I said, help yourself first, than the West will help you.

Your error is to consider that the West is responsible for everything. This is infantile thinking, help yourself first if you want the world to help you.