New Kind of Awe in the Mideast

Youssef M. Ibrahim, USA Today:

In many ways, these Iraqi elections will further connect the dots among rebellious Arab populations. The sea change commenced with Arab satellites about a decade ago, when Al-Jazeera and its ilk began to free the Arab mind, challenging conventions of both rulers and the ruled. This has grown into a cacophony of demands:

• The Lebanese, with French and U.S. support, are openly shouting for an end to nearly two decades of Syrian occupation.

• Egyptians are loudly protesting a perennial presidency by one man, Hosni Mubarak, sitting atop power since 1981.

• Moroccans are aghast at the cost of their royal family, $272 million per year — published by domestic newspapers a couple of weeks ago — when many live on $2 a day.

• The nightmarish ruling family of 5,000 greedy royal Saudi princes — the al-Sauds, who have ruled and looted the oil-rich kingdom of Arabia with impunity for more than five decades — is under the worst pressure it has ever faced from Islamic terrorists and homegrown liberals.

If anything, Iraq's successful elections will raise the temperature all around. ...