"Reformists" in the Middle East

This is in part a response to Nadav's post re: Lebanon and Syria cozying up, and also, part comment on the importance of scrutinizing so-called "reformers" in the Middle East and challenging their portrayal as the next Jeffersons of the desert.

Four years after his father was blown up by thugs associated with the Alawites, Saad Hariri decides to visit Bashar Assad and committs Lebanon to the usual economic cooperation, and of course, a few lines about the plight of the Palestinians and Israel's role as menace to the region. Next to Bashar, Hariri made clear his belief that "Israel violates the rights of Arabs." That he stands next to the man who has run around the UN request for investigating the death of his father looks insane to me. But Israel unites all. And Hariri is the reformer.

What is most disturbing to me is watching the March 14 coalition evolve, the scion of Saad Hariri and the Lebanese democrats that brought hundreds of thousands to downtown Beirut and, in no small part, led to Syria's withdrawal. I have not done enough research on March 14 to reasonably comment on the evolution of their goals, however, let it be said that these movements should not be mistaken for movements that will, b/c they are composed of men wearing deisel jeans and silk screen t-shirts, be good for Israel.

There is this false assumption which assumes that becasue the movement looks pretty, becasue its adherents look like people you'd see in Queens, then they are probably sans danger. I see a similiar thing happeneing in Iran. So much of the commentary (maybe even my own) is so naive, and very very superficial. Do we really know where these movements stand when it comes to Israel? Mousavi in Iran: do we expect this guy to offer the olive branch? Same things goes for the democrats in Egypt. In short, lets just do a little more research before we think these guys are the answer.

This is why the Hariri visit was so disheartening and leads me to be even more skeptical of these reformers we hail as answers to the region.