King Bashar
Bashar Assad is in effect the King of Syria, not just its President. He "inherited" the title of President from his father, Hafez Assad, and in fact was second choice for the job after his older brother was injured in an assassination attempt. This process of dictators choosing their successors from among their sons is typical in the Arab world and elsewhere. But, whereas in Western Europe, the monarchies have lost all except ceremonial power, King Bashar has absolute power of life or death over his subjects. That is why his third speech to the Syrian people today was such a joke.
He spoke like a marionette, saying the right things and appearing almost human. But, he seemed devoid of reality. In the final analysis, does anyone believe a word he says. He claimed 64,000 opponents of the regime who are wanted! Can there be such a number wandering around the ruthless police state of Syria? He offered amnesty to anyone who comes forward who did not actually shoot a firearm, but does anyone think that someone would be stupid enough to show up at a secret police station and say "excuse me, but according to the President ..." He asked for the 10,000 refugees to return to their homes. He even intimated that the Ba'ath Party need not be the only political party in Syria (really!) and he offered a bright future with lots of Committees to solve problems. It was so much BS.
I am not a strong supporter of the opposition to Assad in Syria. If they were truly "democratic" I might be persuaded, but they consist of the usual mixture of Muslim Brotherhood and Sunni extremists, as well as some true democrats. I am not even convinced that "anything" would be better than Assad. His downfall could usher in a period of great instability in the Middle East. But, I for one would like to see the bastard toppled. He should go the way of his Ba'athist colleague Saddam Hussein. But, there is little to indicate that there is really an "Arab spring" brewing in Syria. Remember that after the Russian Spring of 1917 came Stalin, and after the German spring of 1933 came Hitler. What kind of ruthless extremism could emerge from a post-Bashar period of instability in Syria?
He spoke like a marionette, saying the right things and appearing almost human. But, he seemed devoid of reality. In the final analysis, does anyone believe a word he says. He claimed 64,000 opponents of the regime who are wanted! Can there be such a number wandering around the ruthless police state of Syria? He offered amnesty to anyone who comes forward who did not actually shoot a firearm, but does anyone think that someone would be stupid enough to show up at a secret police station and say "excuse me, but according to the President ..." He asked for the 10,000 refugees to return to their homes. He even intimated that the Ba'ath Party need not be the only political party in Syria (really!) and he offered a bright future with lots of Committees to solve problems. It was so much BS.
I am not a strong supporter of the opposition to Assad in Syria. If they were truly "democratic" I might be persuaded, but they consist of the usual mixture of Muslim Brotherhood and Sunni extremists, as well as some true democrats. I am not even convinced that "anything" would be better than Assad. His downfall could usher in a period of great instability in the Middle East. But, I for one would like to see the bastard toppled. He should go the way of his Ba'athist colleague Saddam Hussein. But, there is little to indicate that there is really an "Arab spring" brewing in Syria. Remember that after the Russian Spring of 1917 came Stalin, and after the German spring of 1933 came Hitler. What kind of ruthless extremism could emerge from a post-Bashar period of instability in Syria?
posted by Jack Cohen at 9:34 AM
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