Introduction to the evening news 14-03-2012

March, a month with many points of importance both at home and abroad.

March 14 forces has been marking this month since 2005, the year of the Cedar Revolution while MP Michel Aoun has been celebrating it since 1989, when his Liberation War was waged against the Syrian presence in Lebanon. These is how the day was marked domestically.

Outside of our borders, March 14 marks the eve of the Syrian revolution. What will the regime have to say tomorrow? What will the opposition have to say? On the ground, the regime has seized Baba Amro and Idlib so will it say that it has regained the initiative? What do the opposition have to say about the ground they have lost? Will it move the fight to another front? Where will it be?

On March 14 everyone is following the Syrian calendar: Lebanon is impatiently waiting  for the latest developments in Syria while the superpowers, from Washington and Moscow alll the way to Paris, London and Beijing, are weighing their decisions based on events on the Syrian battlefield.

For its part, Syria is torn between the regime’s persistent attempts for its own brand of progress and the opposition’s refusal to back down.

Far away from commemorations, the daily issues are taking center stage. The spectre of rotten food is growing ever more frightful. When will safety measures stop being knee-jerk reactions to disastrous events and actually be protect citizens premptively?