Chatting with Farid Ghadry, president of the U.S.-based Reform Party of Syria, this morning about the latest in Lebanon—the reinstatement of the pro-Syrian premier, here’s what he said (bold is my emphasis):

The difference between the Cedar Revolution and the staged pro-Syria demonstrations we have seen in the last two days is that the Cedar Revolution is a grass root movement nurtured by the will to seek freedom. On the other hand, the staged demonstrations in support for the Syrian Ba’ath party are instigated by fear. People are ordered to participate. Therefore, they can only do one or two of these demonstrations at the most while the Cedar Revolution will continue.
We are far from considering what happened as a set-back. Rather, it is a comeback by the forces of evil in the Syrian Ba’ath party that is looking to confront the UN and the world community and to challenge the Bush administration to a duel. The stupidity of the Ba’athists lies in their miniature understanding of the capabilities of the West to harness immense economic and political powers against the Syrian regime. Even the Soviet Union faltered but the Syrian regime forgot how and when it seems.
An Iraqi friend told me that the Iraqi intelligence used to look up to the superiority of the Syrian intelligence apparatus. It is a worthy enemy that must be dealt with accordingly.
We expect more pressure on the Syrian regime that will weaken it further. Their biggest assets have been deployed for all of us to see while the United States has yet to deploy its arsenal to show the Ba’athists in Damascus our capabilities. The patience the President is showing is leading him down the path of a united and concerted effort by the US and Europe to destroy Ba’athism once and for all. We believe that the Syrian Ba’ath party is a terrorist party that must be dealt with swiftly. It is far richer, more organized, and still has a legitimate country from which it can fight democracy and freedom. The United States must know that if Ba’athism goes, so will Hezbollah’s powers and possibly the Mullahs in Tehran who will be standing all alone in a sea of democracy.