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Syria has come under a tremendous amount of pressure from the international community to withdrawal from Lebanon since the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. It is widely believed that Syria is directly responsible for Hariri's death, however their plan clearly backfired. Instead of silencing an influential critic Syria has made Hariri a martyr and brought international attention to the situation in Lebanon. Hariri's death has breathed new life into the opposition. On Monday over 100,000 Lebanese took to the streets of Beirut in protest yelling "Out with Syria!" It was the largest demonstration in over 10 years.

Lebanon gained its independence from France in 1944, but in 1975 a civil war broke out between Lebanon's Muslim and Christian populations. The conflict left the country vulnerable to manipulation by neighboring states and terrorist groups. Many Syrians have long considered Lebanon rightfully part of "greater Syria," and in 1976, the Arab League supported a Syrian military intervention after attempts by Western and Arab countries to mediate Lebanon's civil war failed. In 1991, Syria's control of Lebanon was cemented by the Treaty of Brotherhood, Cooperation, and Coordination.

Syria has said that it will eventually withdraw its troops as agreed to under the 1989 Taif Accord, but that promise – much like its overtures of peace to Israel – are simply a tactic to relieve international pressure. The 1989 Taif Accord obliged Syria to withdraw its forces at the end of the civil war in 1990. But 14 years have passed and 14,000 Syrian troops remain in Lebanon. Last September, international pressure heightened after the United Nations passed Resolution 1559 calling for Syrian troops to leave. Resolution 1559 was sponsored by the United States and France and supported by Lebanese reformers like Hariri, it calls for the disarmament of militias, the withdrawal of Syrian troops, and the end of Syrian involvement in Lebanese politics.

Lebanon has long been a haven for terrorists. Terrorist organizations operating in Lebanon include the radical Shiite militia Hezbollah, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine among others. Armed Palestinian groups began launching attacks against Israel from Lebanon following the Six Day War in 1967. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians live in refugee camps in Lebanon.

President Bush and his European counterparts would like to see Lebanon make peace with Israel and become a strong, independent nation. However if Syria does withdraw there is a chance Lebanon could slip back into civil war. Experts also fear that Iran might attempt to fill the void left by Syria, effectively eliminating any possibility of peace with Israel. Lebanon is a poor, middle-eastern nation, smaller than the state of Connecticut. Most Americans probably couldn't identify it on a map, much less identify its importance in international politics. However the assassination of Rafik Hariri and the possible expulsion of Syrian troops from Lebanon could have serious repercussions for Israel, the Middle East, and the world as a whole.

This week the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned that the avian influenza (also known as the Bird Flu) could become a global epidemic if a new virulent strain of the virus emerges that can jump readily from human to human. If that happens health officials estimate that it would spread rapidly and could infect nearly one-third of the world's population and kill anywhere from 2 million to 50 million people. The recent statement by the CDC echoes a previous warning by the World Health Organization (WHO) and coincides with a new study on the virus published by the New England Journal of Medicine.

Avian has been known to mutate rapidly, and has resurfaced as an epidemic in eastern Asia. There are at least 15 different types of avian influenza that routinely infect birds around the world. The current outbreak is highly contagious among birds and rapidly fatal. Unlike many other strains of avian influenza, it can be transmitted to humans, causing severe illness and death. So far, the virus has only spread to those who came into close contact with infected birds or to people who have had close and prolonged exposure to infected humans. However, infectious disease experts fear the virus will soon mutate within a pig or some other animal which harbors both human and avian forms of the flu virus. The two viruses might then merge, creating an even more deadly virus that could spread rapidly among humans.

The current strain of avian flu has a mortality rate in humans of more than 33 percent - by comparison SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), which infected 8,400 and killed 800 in 2003, had a mortality rate of 15 percent. The avian flu killed approximately 32 people in the last year. Most of the humans were infected with the disease through direct contact with birds. However, there have been several isolated incidents in which the disease was reportedly transferred from human to human. According to the WHO the avian flu "...has gone through huge genetic changes and become more pathogenic. It has affected not only birds, but cats, pigs and tigers ..."

Researchers are currently working on a vaccine for the flu, but even if scientists are successful in finding a cure it may not stop the disease from becoming a pandemic. For financial reasons, the mass production of the vaccine would only happen after the onset of the epidemic and it would take time to distribute. Once an outbreak begins it could take months for the vaccine to reach the public. Public health specialists fear the next pandemic will likely be triggered in Asia, where health systems may not be able to cope.

Avian flu will likely be the cause of the next pandemic, which experts say will probably happen in the near future. There have been 4 pandemics during the last century, which emerge – on average – every 30 years. Between one and four million people died during the last flu pandemic, which hit Hong Kong in 1968. Health experts at the WHO have indicated that we are long overdue for an outbreak, the WHO spokesman recently made the statement that: "As with an earthquake or any other natural occurring phenomena, we cannot give an exact time but the situation now is particularly concerning in that we are so long after the last pandemic... and we have a virus circulating in Asia [speaking of avian]. We are living perhaps on borrowed time."

In 1918, just after the end of WWI, the so-called Spanish flu emerged. It was perhaps the most deadly pandemic in human history and killed between 20 and 50 million people, more than the Black Plague or AIDS. Surprisingly, new research suggests the 1918 flu epidemic was no more infectious than SARS. It was so deadly because the population was vulnerable and the virus was allowed to spread. If a new virulent form of the avian virus emerges health officials will need to act quickly to stop the pandemic in its earliest stages. A team of Harvard researchers concluded that an outbreak of the flu could only be combated effectively by vaccinating or distributing antiviral drugs to 50-75 percent of the population, but at present, vaccine production capacity and antiviral medication stockpiles are insufficient to provide such broad coverage, even in wealthy countries. The only option left is to isolate people with the disease, a time-honored tactic that worked well with the SARS outbreak in Asia last year. But SARS and the flu are different. People with SARS were only infectious when they had the symptoms. That meant people with fever, sneezing and coughing could be identified and isolated. The avian flu, however, can be substantially transmitted before the patient shows any symptoms. That problem is compounded by jet travel, which could help the virus to spread around the world within days.

A Kansas woman regained her ability to speak after having been in a coma for 20 years, a Florida woman could starve to death because of a court order, and over a period of 6 years 171 people in Oregon have died from legally administered drug overdoses. While none of these incidences may seem to be connected, they each raise important questions concerning the value of a human life.

SARAH
In 1984, 18-year-old Sarah Scantlin was severely injured when a drunk driver ran into her as she walked to her car. The accident damaged her body and her brain, and for the past 20 years Sarah has been able to communicate only through blinking her eyes. Two years ago, Sarah did start to make a variety of noises, but her parents had to learn to interpret them. Nobody knew how much mental capacity Sarah truly had, although she seemed alert and aware of her surroundings. Then, at the beginning of February - though the doctors still do not understand why - Sarah began to speak. She has steadily progressed, addressing family members and friends by name. Although Sarah is extremely handicapped in her damaged body and is still unable to swallow, her parents are overjoyed to speak with their daughter again

"There's just no words," said Sarah's mother, Betsy Scantlin. "Twenty years ago, I cried a lot. This week, all I've done is laugh because, when I heard her say, 'Hi Mom,' I said, 'Sarah, is that you?' And she said, 'Yeah.' And all I can do is just say - I've just laughed ever since, because it's just so amazing."

Sarah's miraculous recovery offers hope to the families and friends of severely brain-damaged people everywhere.

TERRI
Meanwhile, a few states away in Florida, Terri Schiavo has been granted another day of nutrition and hydration. Terri has been in a similar state as Sarah Scantlin -severely brain damaged and unable to speak, but aware of her surroundings - since she collapsed almost exactly 15 years ago on February 25, 1990. Terri's husband Michael Schiavo has been fighting a legal battle to have her feeding tube removed in spite of her parents' desire to care for their daughter and provide rehabilitation for her.

"I've watched [Terri] respond to her mother and father," David Gibbs, the attorney for the Schindler family told Fox's On The Record. "I have watched her make different noises. I've watched her curl up at her dad's moustache. I watched her get upset when you turn the music off. I was... candidly, quite shocked at how alive Terri was. And it's one of those profound things you see it in a video and that's two dimensional, but when you're in the room and she lights up and gets excited to see her mom, it's shocking to me to think that we would starve to death a human being that's that alive."

An emergency hearing on the case will be heard on Wednesday afternoon. Pinellas Circuit Judge George Greer agreed to issue a one-day stay to keep Michael from having Terri's tube removed on Tuesday afternoon as he had planned. Terri's parents are seeking every legal venue possible to keep their daughter alive and eventually to get her rehabilitation that would improve her condition. One of their next efforts will be to have Terri's brain activity medically tested, to prove that she is mentally aware even though she is physically disabled. At this point, Michael Schiavo could still have Terri's tube removed on Wednesday evening.

Terri's is a watershed case, paving the way for future court decisions on how to handle situations involving the severely disabled. Sitting in her bed in the hospice, still unable to vocalize her thoughts, Terri represents life and death to others in similar situations.

OREGON
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court agreed to hear a case to determine whether doctors may be held responsible for giving overdose prescriptions to ill patients to help them commit suicide, or whether Congress could prohibit physician assisted suicide.

In 1997, the US Supreme Court ruled to uphold state laws that prohibit physician-assisted suicide, arguing that the Constitution does not guarantee a "right to die". However, the case left open the door for individual states to legalize assisted suicide, and in 1998, Oregon's Death with Dignity Act went into effect. Over 170 people have died during the past 6 years under the protection of this law.

In today's relativistic society, human life has increasingly been treated as something that grows or dwindles in value depending on its "quality." People of compassion naturally want to ease or end the pain of those whose lives seem to be not worth living. However, there is great danger in making judgment calls on the value of any human life. God considers human life precious because God made humankind in His own image. Only He knows the purposes he has in our lives, even in our very last hours.

When we start killing off the terminally ill, it is easy to go on to the brain-damaged, and then on to the ill-but-not-terminally, and then on to any person who is perceived as inconvenient to society. If the terminally ill person's life has no value, if the brain-damaged person's life has no value, then no human life is guaranteed valuable, and it becomes easy to rationalize killing off just about anyone. Sarah Scantlin's miraculous recovery reminds us that there is always hope, even in the lives of those the world considers not worth living.