By David Lesch, Special to CNN
David W. Lesch is professor of Middle East History at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. He is the author of many books, among them Syria: The Fall of the House of Assad, released this month from Yale University Press. The views expressed are his own.
High expectations are both a blessing and a curse. They are the former in that usually something worthwhile about someone has raised the expectations in the first place. They are the latter when someone fails to meet those expectations. Heightened, maybe even unwarranted, expectations were a serious problem for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from the very beginning of his rise to power in 2000 following the death of his father, Hafiz al-Assad.
As I noted in Middle East Policy Council a couple of years back, I half jokingly told Bashar the first time we met in 2004 that I thought he had made a mistake in letting the media know that he enjoyed Phil Collins’ music. This anecdote fed into an emerging narrative of the relatively unknown al-Assad that he was a pro-West modernizer who was very different from his father. Indeed, Bashar was also the chairman of the Syrian Computer Society and was actually a bit of a geek himself.
Maybe Bashar is partially to blame for these increased expectations, dedicating himself as he did to the Damascus spring, which saw a period of unprecedented political openness. However, this was soon followed by political repression, and the misplaced profiling of the Syrian president in the West clearly missed the point. Indeed, much of the disappointment in Bashar in the West stems from the gap in understanding between the Syrian leadership and much of the rest of the world. When al-Assad delivered his first address to the country on March 30, 2011 in reaction to the growing protests in Syria, he singled out armed terrorist gangs and conspirators for the unrest. Indeed, he still does.
And while many outside Syria dismissed this apparent misdirection, many Syrians, including al-Assad, are actually quick to believe such views. Their perception of the nature of threat, from a dangerous part of the world, is vastly different from what we see outside of Syria. And as I wrote in Foreign Policy several months into the uprising last year, it is this gap in perceptions that is at the root of the impasse between what the international community has demanded of the Syrian regime and what al-Assad has actually done to end the violence.
Based on experience, al-Assad does not trust the West nor its instruments of diplomacy such as the United Nations or the Arab League, the latter dominated, in his view, by pro-U.S. allies Saudi Arabia and Qatar. He is operating from a reality that is quite different from that which much of the rest of world envisions. Some of this is simply the result of different spins on the exact same events by the Western-based press and the Syrian government. Some of it is the alternate reality that typically is constructed around authoritarian leaders by sycophants and access-seekers who surround the ruler. But whatever the case may be, all that matters is that he believes his reality to be true – and right.
But it isn’t only a matter of different realities. Somewhere along the road al-Assad lost his way. The arrogance of authoritarianism will do that; indeed, power is an aphrodisiac. Either he convinced himself or was convinced by his supporters that his well-being was synonymous with the well-being of the country, and that what he was doing in terms of violently putting down protests and not meeting the demands for change were both necessary and correct. The Syrian government’s crackdown was a push button, convulsive response to domestic threat. It is business as usual. It is not as though al-Assad does not control the security forces. It is that this has been the way Syria works under the al-Assads. They reach into their historical pocket and pull out what worked for them in the past, and what they found was much closer to Hama in 1982 than anything else.
Bashar was not willing to reduce the tremendous amount of leeway he has given the security forces to deal with threats. As I note in the Fall of the House of Assad, this empowered thuggish security forces who only know one way to deal with threats. Bashar has gone along with this instead of understanding the new circumstances created by the Arab Spring. In addition, the regimes of Hafiz and Bashar al-Assad simply do not make concessions from a perceived position of weakness. "They will only make concessions from a perceived position of strength, so cracking down hard on demonstrators while offering political reforms are two sides of the same coin. This is the Syrian way under the al-Assads."
I saw personally how Bashar al-Assad grew more comfortable as president over the years I met him. Maybe too comfortable. In May 2007, amid Bashar’s re-election in a referendum to another seven-year term, I noticed something in him that I had not detected before: self-satisfaction, even arrogance. Maybe this is inevitable in such an authoritarian state. However, when I first met him, Bashar was unpretentious and even self-deprecating.
The election of 2007 generated tremendous mass support for al-Assad, even though he was the only candidate in the referendum. The pomp and pageantry in Damascus belied his eschewing of a personality cult up until that time. It seemed that Bashar had finally been able to tap into that aquifer of support he had built up, and for the first time he was able to experience it in grand style.
It was a cathartic experience for him. In a personal meeting with him on “election day,” he seemed genuinely touched by the celebrations, and more importantly, he absorbed it fully. This is the first time I felt that Bashar began to believe the press and propaganda, that to lead the country was his destiny. He had drunk the Kool-Aid of power. He was going to be president for life. His view of his position had certainly evolved since the early years of his rule. Given the dilapidated and corrupt system he inherited – and then perpetuated – perhaps he was destined to disappoint. Unfortunately, that disappointment became manifest for many with a brutal crackdown that has killed thousands, significantly degraded his country, and made his rule untenable.
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When it comes to Christianity and Western World, all fanatics Arabs have the same goal, similar to Jewish.
They all prepared to destroyed Christians and Western values. Arabs doing this to take revenge and to expand Muslim faith. And Jewish will do it to take revenge and to fulfil their Jewish Religion requirements, according to Jewish Talmud.
Currently, Jewish has been foolishly trusted by Christians and Westerners and has easy accesses of all Government and Public information, as well as has enormous accesses of Biological, Chemical and Radiological Weapons in America, Canada, Europe and Middle East.
Jews repeatedly accused Western and Romans. Jew wrote many books against Western and secretly, they teach their Children to take revenge.
Now, the Christians enemy are Western, who are raising Jewish to destroyed Christians, when they will get good chance.
The West always wake, when it becomes too late.
You're retarded.
I'm rubber, you're glue... it bounces off me and sticks to you!
yeah, buddy, I had to go back to 4th grade to respond to your infantile reply... grow up.
U got that right!
Yep. Completely retarded. Idiots like this guy don't warrant a nuanced response. Bigots should be ridiculed.
The west is based on Judeo-Christian values, so I really don't know what you are talking about, and apparently, neither do you. Time to see your psychiatrist and get an increase in your medication dosage!
do you make this krapola up as you go along???
he a chink troll!
When was last time a candidate was elected president without first begging permission from AIPAC? Unfortunate but they run the show.
The AIPAC runs the country? ohhh really? Hmm let me see: Big Oil, Big Pharma, Insurance Industry, Finances/Banks lobbies, Food Industry, Evangelical vote (which btw elected Bush), what else? Congress and Senate are entirely influenced by lobbies and you blame on AIPAC on an article that is not even related to Jews?
Umm, You know Bush hasn't been President for 4 years, don't you?
No you have it backwards, AIPAC does not give permission they accept what they are handed like a dog at treat time. The Arab street just likes to subscribe to such conspiracy theories as a way of rationalizing their plight.
Never could quite understand how people like you think that 15 million jews run the world. Sorry, while they do have much wealth and influence. They do not remotely even have the numbers to rule the world.
You are wrong, and retarded. We don't live our lives driven by revenge like you apparently must. We live on hope, faith and kindness.
Please, take a moment to let go of the dogma you have been poisoned with, and think of what is right. There is still hope for you.
not without significant amount of therapy, and perhaps a lobotomy
In answer to foo2u–neither has Obama
Read a-not-so-children's-book on the issue of Human Tendencies. Last Book of Harry Potter on how Dumbledor feared what a taste of power might do to a person.
While I do agree that the quran requires the muslim to spread his faith by violence, the jewish bible is the christians old testiment and does none of the things you state. There may be a Jew has published a book who hates christians but as a religion they certainly are not taught to hate christians or muslims as you seem to be a promoter of hate with your unfounded rhetoric. I might add that a number of Jews have been persecuted through out history by individuals who were supposedly christians, they and their children have reason to be guarded and suspecious and I apologizefor the behavior of those people who claimed to be christian.
Could you point out those parts of the Quran to us.
I do not know about the Bible however both the Old Tastement and Quran permitted believers to spread their belief – or take more land- by killing other people. Israelit fighters of those days were purified by a seperate rituat; whereas Islam fighters who died for God-Allah's causes secured a place in heaven. Both seems to be better ways for leading young men into wars . Since veterans of modern wars are not quite the same afterwards.
Qur'an:8:7 "Allah wished to confirm the truth by His words: 'Wipe the infidels out to the last.'"
The Jews bellive that they are God's chosen people, The Christians belive that youcan only go to heaven if you accept Christ as your saviour- meaning all the rest will go to hell!!! The Quran is the onlyreligous book that teaches that every person will be accountable for his deeds and how he has practised his faith > In other words a Christian or a Jew or a Hindu or a Budhist will also go to heaven as long as their deeds are good and they have lived as their faith has taught them. And a Muslim can and will also go to hell if his deeds are bad and he has not abided by his faith. Now before any disagrees ,please read all 3 scriptures then discuss. I have read all of them thoroughyl and many times.
You are so ignorant you probably need help to wash. You can only be qualified as an Iteki. Go to school for about 15 years and you have the hope of not being Iteki anymore.
David tell me right if I am wrong. I am born Muslim and have heard enough of the teachings. I later read Tao Te Ching, Practiced Yoga, and Read the Old Testemant (To a degree; I got bored where the history ended and 3rd generation preachers started). Also read about Myths History and Shamanism. Yep most religions say you go to heaven if you do right. Only eastern ones say you live in hell in life if you do wrong. Well before your death. Most religions give you very good advises health and social-wise. I wander just when in the history of religion did these rituals of 400 B.C. exampt people of guilt of killing others.It was B.C. 350 for God's sake. 2362 years ago.
Syria must be destroyed in order to save it from the terrorists. This seems to be al-Assad's position. When all is said and done, al-Assad will be President of a pile of rubble.
SAY WHAT?!!!!
As they all row on the same river towards oblivion. Give it a few hundred more years and it'll get straightened out. The first move that we need to make is to get rid of religion completely. Once we get rid of this rubbish and free ourselves of the ridiculous and primitive ideas that it fosters, then we've got a chance to have the world move forward and away from the collective ignorance that binds it.
You are a fool and one who needs to learn to correctly write English to express your hateful; views.
What a load of crap. Man you are a psychotic, dangerous, deluded individual. Go seek help ASAP before you hear more voices or see demons in the backyard.
Typical conspiracy theory drivel that is patently false.
What about Buddaism?
Barak Obamas foreign policy called Bashar a reformer , and while thousands of people are dying he is not doing nothing. when things will clear up they will blame the usa for not doing nothing and Israel and the Jews for controlling the usa and not letting them help
and Bashar knows that if he loses the rebels will slaughter his tribe that's the middle east only one normal country there Israel
I believe you fail to understand what Christians really represent in this here world.... we represent the next life..even while we live in this present world.. we cannot be defeated and our values are fixed on what Jesus says... we are always better suited for what Jesus' agenda is than the powers of this present evil world.. the world is not our home.
we are passing through.. when you defend Christianity you should keep this in mind.. we are not of this world... to thin otherwise is blasphemous... though harmless , can still leave the world with a false idea of Christ which it already has.. 
Give it to them, they were the masters promotion and advertising. I read and cried my eyes out on the "Anne Frank's Diary". It looked so genuine.
The Talmud says nothing about enacting revenge. The Protocols of the Elders of Zion is a a hoax. Look it up. It does not exist in any Talmud in the world.
The Talmud says nothing about enacting revenge. The Protocols of the Elders of Zion is a a hoax.
You are too stupid to live...kill yourself today.
Delusion alert!
Haha this response is hilarious. What kind of an opinion is this?
Ladies and Gents, I present OpenedSpy, the latest flavor of stupid. Pure nuts.
This commentary is probably right, but this view of Assad doesn't really change anything.
I'm not so sure Assad will fall. Whatever the outcome, history will judge us harshly for standing by so tepidly.
we are standing by so tepidly? c'mon. you know who is in charge and you know he doesnt have the courage to do anything. we have a very weak commander in chief. if they were waiting for help from us they had better look elswhere at least until next year when obama is out.
I suppose if you had your way we would invade Iran, Syria, and other countries as well? Why not invade Darfur, Republic of the Congo, and others? Are you too stupid to realize that our recession and economy are suffering largely because of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? If Bin Laden had been killed under Bush's watch, people like you would have been praising him left and right, but Obama is just a wuss who is too afraid to go to war? For the life of me I cannot understand the hatred toward Obama by conservatives, who seem to have no problem with the fact that Bush lied to America to go to war and has caused the death of thousands of U.S. troops. Ridiculous!!
More yipping from the Right.
Not weak..smart. Libya and drones and Syria will be utterly destroyed without us lifting a finger. A terrorist state disappears. And no American casualties.
he's not weak...he has vastly increased drone attacks...approved the bin laden raid...initiated a surge in Afghanistan...dude McCain is the only guy who thinks we should go in their....and guess what...I already paid for one phukkd up stupid worthless war I ain't pay'in for another.
I doubt that History will likely be real kind to the USA.. we are the light to the world in spite of all our human weaknesses as a nation of many kinds
From your writing one would think that the 22 million Syrians have no say in the matter!
Outsourcing regime protection to Iran, Lebanon, China and Russia means that he never liked or trusted his countrymen. No one lives or rules forever but this man is trying to do so. Over 20 thousand have been murdered & 200,000 are missing. When tall of that did not work now genocide is the flavor of every day
When you have a republic you have a say, when you have a king you do not. Wake up and smell the coffee.
Christians were being brutally beaten and murdered by those associated with the Syrian Rebels. Prior to this so-called rebellion, Christians were relatively safe. In fact, many Christians in Iraq fled to Syria for safety. Because of those associated with the rebels, Christians are being killed!.
We should not be helping the rebels, nor should we be helping the Assad regime. It's not our war and it's not our country. And neither the Syrian regime, nor the Syrian rebels are our allies.
We shouldn't be involved at all in Syria other than to try to assist the Christians who are being brutally beaten and killed simply because they follow Christ
Right on mom. God bless you.
It's always shocking to see/read a self-professed Christian acting anything but Christian. Christ would accept and love all people, regardless of religion. To suggest the only reason to be in Syria is to protect Christians is a depressing and decidedly un-Christlike worldview.
If 22 million Syrians are uprising then you have an argument but so far it's only a few in light of the 22 million you speak of
where are all the rest... I suspect this is Islamic s who want the same power as the Muslim Brother hood has in Egypt... that would put to flight those Syrians who are Christian along with those from Iraq, to where? Turkey? Israel ? You cannot tell me that Christians in Egypt have it better under the Muslim brotherhood..
Glad that you are O.K.
this site is jammed!
Assad's short-lived reform was nothing but a liberalised totalitarianism.
Instinct told him, it wouldn't go wrong to stick to family tradition – the hardline policy of his father!
its about US policy,not anything Assad has done-–
I generally subscribe to these comments: "He is operating from a reality that is quite different from that which much of the rest of world envisions." But the author's silence on Assad's enslavement to Russia is deafening! It's Russia, stupid! And it's by extension, China! Syria's "different reality" is born and raised in Russia!
Why don't the Russians then just intervene ? That would be better than an Islamic regime which will repress Syrians Christians like in Egypt..
Articles like this are pointless because if he knows so much, why is at Yale and not in the Middle East? Coward.
Because he is making commentary on the Middle East he is a coward for not going there?? Huh? Your comments are about as stupid as Rush Limbaugh (who is probably your hero)
csv, probably because he loves America. How DARE he! He just happens to be a preeminent expert on Middle Eastern affairs, and we're lucky to have him. How about YOU leave?
yeah !
Translated:
Even though Bashir is a physician who lived in London and married an English wife, he is still his father's son.
But then I don't get paid by the word.
pish posh
al-assman
Assad is correct in many respects that many attack civilians in Syria are, indeed, terrorist organizations. The majority, of his enemies, however, are soldiers who defected. He also has turned a blind eye to the atrocities that his own army has inflicted on the civilian population, if not directing it himself. Assads claim of terrorists would have more veracity if he was not acting like a thug to his own people.
Assad clan was groomed to be an ant-hill of Russian stooges. Where is this in the Article? No, Mr Leash, you have no clue who was Assad 'you knew"!
I can't wait until these rediculous, money wasting, conventions are done. As soon as Oboma is re-elected his hands will be untied, and you will see leadership.
Assad, beware you sad little man.
So all it takes is being re-elected before we see leadership? What was he doing for the first 4 years besides being "transparent" behind closed doors?
Typical President for Life mass murderer.
How many people in the world care about Syria and it's people. Most people in the US could not locate it on a map if their lives depended on it. It's not well known, or well understood.
What we need to remember is that there are kids like yours, men like you, woman like me that are dieing and suffering right now. More than almost any other place in the universe!
The world needs to wake up and stop this now! Now. Do whatever you can do today please.
The suffering and killing to a great extent is a result of Western powers and certain oil regimes inflaming tensions inside Syria by sending money and weapons to Islamic Jihadists and constantly cheering them on no matter how atrocious their acts are like slitting the throats of their blindfolded opponents or throwing them alive off roofs and balconies.
Do you propose a government where radical muslims blow those same women and children up.
Still, by comparison to other despotic Middle East rulers, he is better than average. Try sending money, weapons, and fighters to one of the Persian Gulf Kingdoms to topple their regime and see what happens.
The US is supporting the infliction of Islamic fanaticism (anti secularism) in the region, which is why CNN is stabbing Assad in the back and trying to make him look like a monster for defending Syrians from the US's jihadists.
Well he did that by ditching his Blackberry, I maganed that by doing the following things:- No sound for new mail- Mobile phone set to silent- Work phone set to a very low but noticeable levelI discovered that ring tone of my mobile and the ringing of my work phone irritated me a lot when I was coding. So, silencing the former (actually to just one beep) and lowering the level of the later, gave me my keyboard back plus some KLOCs to my employer.
The west (based on judeo-christian "values") is really "disappointed" in Assad, because when west goes to war number of dead people is measured in millions not thousands. That is where the west is mostly disappointed in Assad.
The other disappointment with Assad is that he is still in power, and "friends of Syria" (combination of judeo-christian "vallues" and autocratic ME monarchies loaded with oil money + former christian menece Turkey) do not want him there. They would rather install somebody obedient like Reza Pahlavi in 1953 Iran coup or like puppet Karzai in Afganistan.
People are much smarter today and information flows faster so regime change guys have to change their techniques,. This is boring. We have already seen this with Sadam Husein and Gaddafi. Invent something new. You can learn from Russians. They learned their lesson in 1990s and are now winning. "Friends of Syria" are becoming nervous, and then you make mistakes. Brain washing is not going to help much. Good guys, bad guys....bla, bla, bla. Boring.
...which Assad is this, I think I know, his house is well protected though, he will not see me stopping here, to watch the blood of his citizen's flow...
It's a little late to hire someone to whisper in his ear, "You are mortal!"
poetic. That might have helped if he truly once was the self-depreciating young ruler.
Be careful who you snuggle up to. Syria's relationship with Iran and Hezbollah pretty much sealed her eventual demise. Bashad should have known that.
Obama must be enjoying the violence in Syria. It is a little worse than Chicago. Shootings and murder – how nice! Iran has admitted helping kill innocent people Just like the Democrats in Chicago. Why doesn't the media show Obama for what he is – a corrupt Democrat who supports drug gangs and violence as long as the campaign money comes in.
what drugs are you on? let me know please.
a LITTLE worse? Reality check, please. Violence and suffering is inherent to human-kind. However, it is incredibly ignorant to say that a national uprising is a little worse than gang violence. Democrat or Republican makes no difference.
This is just another case of one branch of Islam killing members of another branch of Islam. I think this has been going on since the mid 12th century. The crusades were the first attempt to stop this madness and that did not work and nothing has worked since. If muslim's are not killing each other then they are raping any women that dares to step out of her house without permission.
Dan: You obviously didn't read any history related to the Crusades. If you did, you'd know that the Christians marched an army from Europe to cleanse the world of the 'infidels' and during the siege and invasion of Jerusalem (1099) committed one of the biggest massacres of all history against Muslims and Jews who lived there. It was the Muslims who after besieging the city in 1187 let the Christians leave without slaughtering all of them as an act of chivalry and forgiveness as dictated by the Koran.
Obviously OpenedSpy is illiterate and/or doesn't have a green card
Once again CNN Shows its One sided narrative as they did during the Balkan wars its no wonder why its losing its viewers. Good riddance.
This article shows how desperate the westren mainstream news outlets are by installing another Ismic goverment into power as they did with Egypt, i am not suprised that
Once again CNN Shows its One sided narrative as they did during the Balkan wars its no wonder why its losing its viewers. Good riddance.
This article shows how desperate the western mainstream news outlets are by installing another Islamic goverment into power as they did with Egypt, i am not surprised that CNN now is avoiding Egypt and its women problems.
Assad was ALWAYS a power-hungry tyrant and terrorist. Nothing has changed.
History is littered with tales of warfare and massacres from this region of the world. Nothing will ever change ,the Arabs are the children of Cain...It's in their blood.
Is Lesch Jewish? Spelled thusly, that name usually is.
If so, his innate biases would render him unreliable as a commenter on the Syrian situation in particular, and ME affairs in general.
Do you really think Assad would meet a Jewish writer (or any profession for that matter)? Do you need bias to describe the Assad regime in power for over 40 years. Or do you believe they really won elections? What other facts you need ?
Assad is no different than Chavez, Castro, Saddam, the Ayatolahs, Ahemdinejah, Ghadafi, Morales, Kim Il-sung and a parade of corrupt dictators that will never let power go, no matter what. Power is the most addicting drug in the universe which eventually leads to their destruction too.
Just ask Darth Vader.
I subscribe below this comment also. Asma, especially, cannot probably bring herself to see her children cleaning toilets after they were groomed to be princes for four decades.. My own step mother succeeded in dispossessing me for that very reason, to save the inheritance for her natural children! This is how scores of women are in this world, and Asha is prime example!
All the author is describing is that Bashar just needed a few years of time to learn to follow in his father's footsteps and master the art of butchering those who disagree with business as usual. Basically, Assad was just a bit of a slow learner.
"The Hitler I Know" by Eva Braun.
All Bashy need do is call an election.
I agree with this comment by Sam Kohen. Assad could have avoided this bloodshed 15 months ago by calling an election. He is probably the dumbest peson on earth, given that he had right before his eyes what happened to his buddies Mubarak and Qadhafi! Yet his "call for elections" (there was one), was a whisper low grunt that wasn't enough, given the nature of "Arab Spring"!
yep
Syria did hold an election - on 26 Feb 2012. We ignored the result.
Assad has the support of women, Christians, Alewites, and many Sunnis. Women do not want to lose their rights. Christians and Alewites do not want to be massacred. And Sunnis do not want Syria to become another Iraq.
Please tell me what were the results of that election?
Do you have any idea how the elections are handle in a (any) country with dictator regime?! This how the Assad Klan was able to hold the power in Syria, through "elections" , heavily sprinkled with fear and decorated with nationalism. Syrian's have "no founding fathers", perhaps until now.
SANA (HOMS) – Authorities Raid Terrorists' Dens in Bab Hood Neighborhood, Homs
After receiving calls from residents, authorities stormed a terrorist den in al-Khandaq Street in Bab Hood neighborhood in the city of Homs, killing six and injuring several others.
An official source told SANA that authorities also stormed a terrorists' den near al-Walidiyeh school and cleared it of more than twenty terrorists.
Authorities also eliminated an armed terrorist group that was attacking citizens and law enforcement in al-Qseir city during when six terrorists were killed according to the source.
SANA (LEBANON) – Army Unit Foils Infiltration Attempt from Lebanon into Syria
An army unit dislodged an armed terrorist group from their attempt to infiltrate from the Lebanese territories into Syria in Tal-Kalakh city in the countryside of Homs.
SANA reports that terrorists riding four DShK-equipped vehicles tried to infiltrate from Lebanon to Syria butwere repelled by Syrian armed forces.
Don't they say that even Adlof Hitler was nice to his nephews and neices–or was that his pets?
History will remember both of these men as vicious and evil people, and just imagine what the Almighty has planned for both of them!
Hopefully, one of these days not far away, Bashar Al Assad and his wife will suffer the same fate as Nicolae Ceaucescu and his awful mate. They are both buried in unmarked graves in Romania now.
How long will the civilized world allow Russia and China to prop up Assad, while he commits more atrocities?
The civilized world should expell Rusia and China from the UN.
Assad,
How does it feel to be a pariah and one of the most despised humans on the planet?
History books will tell of your brutality, long after you’ve been deposed.
And just imagine what the Almighty is going to do with you, when you meet him, face-to-face.
Say hello to Hitler, when you get there. You two will have a lot to discuss, and a lot of time (eternity) during which to discuss your wicked deeds.
I cannot believe that the Armenian lobby is actively seeking and blocking any USA intervention in syria. Their scare tactic is the jehadist and islamist will take over. In all my heart how viscious is that. The Armenian forgot their massacre and forgot how the syrian muslims who gave them refuge and allow them to prosper and built their life. Again some syrian christians are backing the Assad regime don't they see how many innocent children and women killed how could they detach themself from feeling for their muslims country men and women....shame..... shame
Since almost all of our information comes from the "rebels" themselves, we have a totally one-sided view of the situation. The "rebels" include:
* prominent SNC members groomed here in the U.S. since 2005 by the neo-con war-front
* Islamists from Libya and Wahhabis from Saudi Arabia
* FSA defectors from the Syrian Army
* Al Qaeda
What happens when these gentlemen murder Assad loyalists (as they did in Houla)? They blame the killing on Assad, and since we have no other source of information, we conclude that Assad is a Butcher and a Madman who is "Killing His Own People" just for the fun of it. Our conclusion makes no sense, but we believe it because it's all we know! The much simpler explanation - that we are being lied to and kept in the dark - never occurs to us.
Bashar Al Assad is a criminal that should be charged with genocide and stiring ethnics violence. In fact if you closely look at his face he is a replica of Hitler. The fight in syria is a fight between evil and good. It is a matter of time when he will face what he deserve he and his family and all the thugs that supported him.
SANA (TEHRAN) – India and Azerbaijan Reiterate Rejection of Foreign Interference in Syria
India's Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, reiterated his country's rejection of foreign interference in the internal affairs of Syria, saying the solution to the crisis in Syria should be through a comprehensive political process that achieves the aspirations of the Syrian people.
During his meeting with Prime Minister Dr. Wael al-Halqi, on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) meeting in Tehran, Singh stressed that the main goal now is halting the violence, strongly pushing forward the reform process and widening the political participation of all the spectra of the Syrian people.
Singh hailed the deep cultural and historical ties binding India and Syria.
Al-Halqi, for his part, said Damascus values the Indian role in support of Syria at the international forums, particularly at the Security Council and the UN General Assembly, hailing the cooperation relations between Syria and India.
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Stresses Rejection of Military Interference in Syria, Calls for Maintaining Sovereignty and Territorial Unity
During meeting in Tehran with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign and Expatriates Minister, Walid al-Moallem, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister, Elmar Mammadyarov, underlined his country's rejection of military interference in Syria and the need for maintaining its sovereignty and territorial unity and ending violence by all sides.
Mammadyarov, whose country occupies a non-permanent seat in the UN Security Council, stressed that the political solution to the crisis in Syria should be carried out through a national dialogue.
Minister al-Moallem clarified to Mammadyarov the violations committed by the armed terrorist groups and their responsibility of the continuity of violence in Syria.
At the end of the meeting, the importance of the ongoing coordination between the two countries' delegations to the UN in New York was stressed.
We ridiculed Saddam when he told us Iraq had no WMDs. But it turns out that Saddam was telling the truth, and the trusted Colin Powell was lying like a rug. Had we listened to Saddam, we could have saved a million Iraqi lives, 4,500 American lives, and several trillion dollars.
We ridicule Assad when he tells us that he is fighting terrorists and Islamists, and we trust Obama and Clinton and Cameron and Sarkozy. So along with Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Al Qaeda, we arm the "rebels" and wait for them to "Democratize" the country.
Why would Saudi Arabia be supporting "Democracy"? What do most Syrians want? Somehow we forget to ask these questions. We live in a different reality. We can't find Syria on a map, but WE know what is best for the Syrian people!
I think we are in for another big surprise, comparable to the surprise in Iraq.
> Later, [David Kay] told the Senate Armed Services Committee that "we were almost all wrong - and I certainly include myself here," in believing that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.
– David Kay, "We Were Almost All Wrong", 28 Jan 2004
SPRINGTIME in Damascus – The Bloodthirsty Monster I've grown to Love – what Crap
ass-ad is a waste of genetic material and needs to be erased from this earth. He is personally responsible for the needless deaths of tens of thousands of people. He allowed and possibly encouraged the torture of innocent children. Killing him humanely would be too kind.
Assuming, those children are Sbahi Hamdo's, a Syrian professor's children.Turn out to be mastermind expert professor. Hamdo attemted to kidnap Syrian generals, that defected from Syria and fled to Turkey. The rest of Syrian children are under fire and brutally killed. Do not be deceived with this picture above.! The real dictator kills his people children day after day, as CNN reports it as well. The real Assad want's his former generals heads served on platter plate, presumablly. No smiles here!
Great piece. A side we don't see providing a perspective we don't have. I couldn't tell if the writer believed that the threat to Syria was from foreign forces or not, only that Syrians believe that, which would only be the resonance of effective propaganda. It's moot now; this is messy and bloody and there's no picking sides for the west as indeed the west doesn't bother to understand the sides. Just hope and pray for minimum casualties and cooler heads to find their way to prominence and thus, prevail. But it's very dark in Syria right now.
Like Saddam Hussein, the Assad Family has ruled Syria as strongmen, dictators, thieves of the national treasury and thugs. His removal from power and the decline of the Alowite Clan will be a tragic outcome of Basshar losing power, but a critical step forward for the nation. Whether a new regime will be more willing to sue for peace with Israel or seek compromises is unlikely, but at this stage disconnecting the relationship between Syria and Iran is essential. The point of no return has been passed. If the Assad Family used its collective brains, they would seek exile away from Syria. But like most dictatorial regimes, it is more likely that this family will face the same demise as Gadhafi of Libya or Mubarak of Eqypt.
Did any of you actually read the article??????????????????
It gives a genuine on-site observation of a person who has actually been there 5 years.
He/she may be wrong on his/her perspective; bet nonoftheless it is better than us. And perhaps there is a group who thinks like him/her.
It seems likely to me since ı lived through this elite/commons bulls-heat.
It is actually the latest trend leeway of the western concept on eastern culture. Easier you see... then actually understanding the culture.
Arab's and Semites are the same, Arabs come in differnt forms of religion, including Christianity, Judasim and the largest wchich is Islam. Christians are actually the safest religion amongst all these Arab dictators over the years, including Iraq and Syria, Palestinians and labense have huge christian populations as well, and i can tell you they are more opposed to the state of Isreal than most muslims in the region. This Garbage of christian and muslim wars only started when the Europe launched its crusades a 1000 years ago, it last roughly a hundred years and eventually the christians, jews and muslims learned to live together upto the early 1900's when Europe again through britian started carving up the middle east agian and helped create the state of Isreal in a an Arab land which all lived togther for thousands of years in a happy state, Europe has only been the disturnbance in the area since the time of the Romans, than french and british than again the US and britain and cretaing Isreal with White Euroean jews , not semite arab local jews. History 101 please tell this opened spy and all you other haters Islam grew through commerce and good trade practices with its neighbors, not conquests like crusaders and the Romans and the Brits who killed under the name of God.
All arabs are sand rats to most Americans.
Do you think we have time to even care about what you just said?
Assad is a victim of a Sunni insurgency spreading across the middle east, funded by not only wealthy Sunni nations but promoted by the USA and Europe.
Nothing good will come of this, Syria will end up with a Taliban style regime.
A very precise illuminating Article.
A very open forum glad to have read it.
"A Pool of Blood only goes more Thick."
Please reply(it's that crazy radio jockey–SOS for your feeds)
Turkey can with tanks and helicopters against terrorists, and Syria can not, why????