Something really is going on with the proverbial «Arab street.» The automatic assumption that the «Arab street» will always rally to the local king or dictator – if that king or dictator just waves around some bogus threat or insult from «America,» «Israel» or «the West» – is no longer valid. Yes, the Iraq invasion probably brought more anti-American terrorists to the surface. But it also certainly brought more pro-democracy advocates to the surface.

Call it the «Baghdad Spring.»

But we have to be very sober about what is ahead. There will be no velvet revolutions in this part of the world. The walls of autocracy will not collapse with just one good push. As the head-chopping insurgents in Iraq, the suicide bombers in Saudi Arabia and the murderers of Mr. Hariri have all signaled: The old order in this part of the world will not go quietly into this good night. You put a flower in the barrel of their gun and they’ll blow your hand and your head right off.

When Camels Fly
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN