Reply #7: Good clear summary of the situation.

[enough]

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Neo-conservatives around Bush were working to overthrow Syria’s isolated regime. But just as another “regime change” appeared likely, they pulled back when it was clear the only alternative to Syria’s Asad regime was the long-persecuted underground Muslim Brotherhood.

Washington’s support of minority, anti-Syrian factions in Lebanon and clumsy political machinations there risk re-igniting the ferocious civil war of 1975-1990.

Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s recent Mideast trip designed to financially and politically strangle the democratically elected Hamas government in Palestine roused widespread rage and contempt.

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Egypt’s formerly petrified political system is beginning to wobble as Islamists gain momentum in spite of repression and vote-rigging. The Saudis escaped a potentially serious attack last week on their main oil complex. In Jordan, security is intense after the recent deadly bombing of an Amman hotel. The Danish cartoon drama enflamed anti-government passions from Morocco to Pakistan, shaking the entire region.

America’s allies in the Arab world and Pakistan are pleading with Washington to show some support for Palestinian rights and tone down what is seen across the Mideast as Bush’s anti-Islamic crusade. But Washington is heedless to the dangers faced by its allies.

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