As goes Lebanon, so goes the Middle East. That’s why Lebanon’s democracy must not be allowed to succumb to Syrian dominance and, more ominous, the growing influence of Iran’s theocracy. Yet many don’t recognise just how serious the situation is.

The 2005 Cedar Revolution, which restored democracy to the only Arab country that has ever truly experienced it, is in great jeopardy. To the public eye, Lebanon’s democratically elected leaders are merely locked in a contest of wills with mass demonstrations. But these protests are fuelled by Hizbullah, the Shiite militia group sponsored by Iran.

That makes this nothing short of a Tehran-backed coup attempt - a counter-revolution with grave consequences for the region: Democracy gone from Lebanon; Israel under increased threat; Middle East democracy advocates beleaguered and isolated; the addition of another state to the Shiite crescent, further fuelling the Shiite-Sunni conflict in Iraq and throughout the region; and Saudi Arabia and other friendly Arab regimes compelled to match Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

In all, the domino theory would become a reality — but not in the order democracy advocates desired. To help prevent this course of events, US officials must make clear that they are not selling out Lebanon by considering talks with Syria and Iran, as recommended by the Iraq Study Group (ISG). It’s also imperative that US senators stop making “fact-finding” trips to Syria and talking with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, as Sen. Bill Nelson (D) of Florida did last week. With enormous financial and military support from oil-rich Iran, Hizbullah is said to have restored its military capabilities after suffering major losses this past July.

With it, Hizbullah mobilises the masses to call for increasing the opposition’s share in the cabinet. If this expansion isn’t granted, counter-revolutionaries threaten to demand PM Fouad Siniora’s resignation or create their own shadow cabinet. That’s why it’s so frustrating to hear some United States news reports characterise this counter-revolution as something akin to America’s civil rights movements in the 1960s. Hizbullah’s supporters are wrongly labelled as poor, disenfranchised citizens trying to get their non-responsive, non-representative government to notice them. Hizbullah and its cronies have misrepresented Siniora’s attempts to govern by consensus as weakness. They have also misinterpreted the ISG report, which calls for talks with Iran and Syria, as a sign of America’s “need” for those countries’ cooperation. They see a US “deal” in the offing that would allow them to control Lebanon.

Bush administration officials must appear on Arab media to make it clear that the US is not selling out Lebanon to Syria, as the pro-Syrians in Lebanon are suggesting. At the same time, members of Congress must halt travel to Syria right now, as that would embolden the enemies of democracy in the Middle East. — The Christian Science Monitor