Amidst the Cedar Revolution and withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon, which began in February 2005, “The resulting images of democracy on the march made for exhilarating days in the White House and temporarily won over some critics. Walid Jumblatt, a Lebanese Druze leader…credited [President] Bush for the wave of change sweeping the Middle East. ‘It’s strange for me to say it, but this process of change has started because of the American invasion of Iraq,’ he said [in a Washington Post article on February 23, 2005]. ‘I was cynical about Iraq. But when I saw the Iraqi people voting three weeks ago, eight million of them, it was the start of a new Arab world.’ ”
– Peter Baker, Days of Fire, Page 384