Democracy on the march?

It's time I logged a few lines on the ongoing developments in the Middle East, specifically Lebanon. My gut instinct is cautioned optimism, bordering on excitement. I can't believe I'm saying it, but it does feel like something is happening. Categorically, I don't support a foreign policy of "nation-building". But the outcome of the Iraq adventure is, at this point at least, appearing to vindicate almost everything Bush had to say about the positive role a democratic Iraq could play in the region. I am far from thinking that any of the problems faced by the nations of the region are solved, but these steps in the right direction are encouraging. So, I have to hand it to Bush and the pro-war hawks: so far, they've got the objective high ground (although I doubt many of them really had this in mind even when they conceived of it as a way to sell the war).

I've long been hesitant to try and understand what's going on in the Middle East, because it seems that the issues are incredibly complex, but I'll try and stick with this story and see if I can reach a moderate level of comprehension about at least some aspects of the most insane region on Earth.