John Boehner, March 4, 2005

In Lebanon today, thousands of protestors have taken to the streets to call for an end to Syria's ever-present military and political dominance of their country. It's an exciting time and an important one not only for the Lebanese, but for America's safety and security.

This process of change began not with September 11th, but with America's response to it. The swift and total destruction of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan paved the way for last year's successful elections. The country's first democratically elected leader, President Hamid Karzai, had this to say at his inauguration:

"Whatever we have achieved in Afghanistan--the peace, the election, the reconstruction, the life that the Afghans are living today in peace, the children going to school, the businesses, the fact that Afghanistan is again a respected member of the international community--is from the help that the United States of America gave us. Without that help Afghanistan would be in the hands of terrorists--destroyed, poverty-stricken, and without its children going to school or getting an education. We are very, very grateful, to put it in the simple words that we know, to the people of the United States of America for bringing us this day."

In response to electoral fraud, the meddling of Russian President Vladmir Putin, and the poisoning of a popular presidential candidate, the people of Ukraine soon took to the streets in their own peaceful "Orange Revolution." Ukraine is yet another in a long line of ex-communist countries working to bring itself out of the shadows of its Soviet-dominated past. The election of the pro-western Viktor Yushchenko is a strong indicator of the direction the country is headed.

The invasion of Iraq and toppling of Saddam Hussein's Baathist regime was a key component of the U.S. led War on Terror. It led to the elections of January 30th where Iraqis freely chose their representatives on a Transitional National Assembly. For all the work that's left to be done, we have an Iraq more hopeful, more prosperous, and more likely to live in peace with us and its neighbors. "I don't just see light at the end of the tunnel, I see light at the start and throughout the tunnel," says Mohammed Hanash Abbas, 41, a bookstore owner in Baghdad.

Abbas' business partner, Attallah Zeidan, 39, said, "We must live like other people. Let a million of us die. That's the price of freedom. Have you heard of any society that gained freedom without sacrifices?"

Which brings us back to Lebanon, where the desire for liberty has spurred the population into directly challenging the terrorist-sponsoring Syrians. Walid Jumblatt, a leading Lebanese politician, recently discussed the changing nature of Arab politics with David Ignatius, a columnist for the Washington Post. Mr. Jumblatt was known as a supporter of Syria's occupation of Lebanon, and as man who despised President Bush and Operation: Iraqi Freedom. In November 2003, he called Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz a "virus" that should have died in a rocket attack on his Baghdad hotel. But in his interview with Ignatius, he struck a different chord altogether:

"It's strange for me to say this, but this process of change has started because of the American invasion of Iraq. 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. The Syrian people, the Egyptian people, all say that something is changing."

Our causes are one in the same; their success is our success, and their victory is another for us in the War on Terror. It might be too early to tell what the future holds for the people of Lebanon, Iraq, or even Ukraine. But one thing is for certain: this is a revolutionary time, and America is on the side of the revolutionaries.

Congressman John Boehner, a Republican, represents Ohio's Eighth Congressional District, which includes Miami, Butler, Preble, Darke, and Mercer Counties.