"Let us congratulate the Lebanese, not those in Washington who would take credit for their accomplishments." – Ed Kilgore guesting at TPM.

I really, really, hope the Lebanese get rid of the Syrians and move closer towards proper democracy. I hope the Iranians get rid of the theocrats and move towards proper democracy (and that we don’t fuck it all up by bombing them in the meantime). I hope the Egyptians, the Tunisians, and ultimately even the Saudis, follow suit.

However, should these great events come to pass, I still reserve the right to be very, very angry about the fact that George W Bush, despite having done nothing of value to further democracy in the Middle East, will get much of the credit.

It will happen. Consider the praise Ronnie Reagan received for the collapse of the Soviet Union – which was caused almost entirely by the inherent unsustainability of the regime. The bravery of Eastern European dissidents played a significant part in ensuring that what came after was broadly good rather than bad, and rhetorical and financial support from the US had some impact on keeping dissident groups going, but this hardly warrants primary credit. And the current administration’s Middle Eastern policy is *at absolute best* no more significant.

Update: as one might expect, Stephen Pollard is first in the queue to insult the Arab world and praise the Monkey God.