Wanted: The Opponent's Intellectuals

I've been browsing through the myriad of Lebanese Blogs that have recently been created, and one thing struck me: we all seem to see eye-to-eye on the Lebanese/Syrian Issue. The tones are different, some are more emotional and some are more rational, some are well informed and some rely on rumors, some have a big picture view and some are caught in details, some rely on photographs, others on words and others on numbers and statistics.
Yet, more or less, we all seem to agree on the crust of the matter: The Syrian's presence in Lebanon is pure evil and anathema to our feelings...

Throughout history, even the most oppressive and morally questionable orders and regimes had a driving philosophical and intellectual force behind them. Hitler had Frederick Nietzsche, Staline had Karl Marx, and the Bush team has Thomas Hobbs and Natan Sharansky. Even Saddam Hussein was said to be greatly influenced by Salheddin el Ayyoubi. These intellectuals have been the functioning cores of most rulers in history and are the single most reason why those regime seem to be behaving with such conviction and more importantly, having the ability to amass popular support.

Still, I am yet to find one single blogger that is willing, with conviction, to defend the 'Syrian Doctrine'.

Hey, intellectual opponent, I am begging you to show your face. I refuse to believe that hundreds of thousands of Lebanese are gathering today in Riad al Solh simply because they were intimidated, I want you to answer me: what drives them?

Hey, intellectual opponent, don't be afraid to be an agent provocateur; we do not want to replace a single-opinion regime with another, we cherish opinion diversity, we are all citizens and we believe in the universal suffrage...

Hey, intellectual opponent, don't be afraid to be outnumbered in the blogosphere; nothing enriches the ultra-liberal New York Times like their conservative columnist David Brooks, who incidentally is my favorite Op-ed Columnist... sometimes you might see things differently in a way that benefits our common well-being...

Hey, intellectual opponent, (and I'm not talking to you Nasser Kandil), who are you? What do you stand for? Why do you think we're wrong? Tell us, I challenge you to show your face.

Hey, intellectual opponent, Start a blog! talk to us!

We are all waiting...

(this opinion piece also appears on The Beirut Spring)