2005 Cedar Revolution
With scenes of Cossack-like Mubarak supporters on horse- and camel-back whipping unarmed, nonviolent demonstrators, the repeated appeal for a gentle change of regime at the top is proving insufficient. From my experience with the Lebanese Cedar Revolution, and the history of popular revolutions in the modern age, one does not persuade dictators to step down. One forces them down by moving on them, and by insisting as they falter that they should be put to trial.
