Like their natural ally Bashar Assad, the thugs of Hezbollah could only build a "counter-protest" on impressment. From Rich in Beirut:

Future TV reports from eyewitnesses that Syrian and Lebanese intelligence agents have been conscripting participants for today's pro-Syria protest from villages in the north of Lebanon. Residents who have evaded pressure have also been pursued by units of the Lebanese army and handed over to Lebanese or Syrian intelligence, according to these reports. The village that Future TV focused on was Akkar (near the border with Syria), but eyewitnesses from other villages are reporting similar stories as well.

As part of the same story, Future TV also reports busloads of Syrian nationals coming across the northern border to attend the Hizbullah-organized demonstration to be held in downtown Beirut alongside opposition protests.

Few will be fooled, least of all Lebanon's authentic demonstrators. (Hat tip, Across the Bay.)

In the West, if there were a fine time to spell out Syria's punishment for stamping on Lebanon's will and flouting the free world's authority, it would be during or soon after President Bush's speech at the National Defense University, which is currently underway.

OUT: Cliff May reports that Bush is calling Damascus out. No word on whether the president has adopted a punitive stance.

FINER POINTS: From the text of the speech:

The Lebanese people have heard the speech by the Syrian president. They've seen these delaying tactics and half measures before.

The time has come for Syria to fully implement Security Council Resolution 1559. All Syrian military forces and intelligence personnel must withdraw before the Lebanese elections for those elections to be free and fair.

Meanwhile, Reuters draws a few conclusions from a tiny glimpse at ongoing work in the interim following the sixth exchange:

Options could include seeking a new U.N. resolution that would demand withdrawal and possibly threaten international sanctions, officials and diplomats have said. No decisions have been made and the international discussions are an early stage, an administration official said.

On one side the absurd; UNSCR 1559 is as complete and binding as can be, and strong arguments have been made for occupation difficulties arising precisely because of five months awarded the Baghdad dictator in late 2002 and early 2003 while the Security Council waxed dada.

If the seventh exchange on Lebanese independence is still in preparation, it remains to be seen how long the Bush administration and cohort can maintain the same posture and message before Bashar Assad disregards international pressure altogether and strikes at Beirut, politically or otherwise. We must believe he's itching to try.

GOOD FOR BRIT HUME: Special Report, specifically White House Correspondent Carl Cameron, rightly identified Hezbollah's throng as a coercive undertaking.

IN THE FACE OF A TAUNT: Says Rich, "this game will not be about numbers."

FINALLY: While two leftist news agencies were tickled by the prospect of terrorists herding a remarkably uniformly thirtysomething-male fascist's rally, Omar couldn't help but see shades of his days under Saddam Hussein — and something else.