The Syrian Leader's Curious World
Mark dameli | 03.12.2003 23:09 | Indymedia | London | Oxford
03/12/03
New York times
President Bashar al-Assad of Syria understands that he no longer lives in his father's Middle East, where brutal repression at home, the refusal to deal with Israel and cozy relations with terrorist groups and rogue regimes were enough to ensure decades of unchallenged power. That much comes across in an interview with our colleague Neil MacFarquhar in The Times on Monday. What is less clear is whether Mr. Assad, the son and successor of Hafez al-Assad, fully grasps the magnitude of the challenge he has inherited, and so far failed to meet.
New York times
President Bashar al-Assad of Syria understands that he no longer lives in his father's Middle East, where brutal repression at home, the refusal to deal with Israel and cozy relations with terrorist groups and rogue regimes were enough to ensure decades of unchallenged power. That much comes across in an interview with our colleague Neil MacFarquhar in The Times on Monday. What is less clear is whether Mr. Assad, the son and successor of Hafez al-Assad, fully grasps the magnitude of the challenge he has inherited, and so far failed to meet.
Bashar al-Assad seems to have a rose-tinted view of Syrian reality. Unless he quickly begins to recognize the increasingly desperate situation Syrians face as a result of his family's failed policies, it is hard to see how he can make needed changes.
For example, Mr. Assad disingenuously claims that there would be no problems between Syria and the United States were it not for Israel. That is hard to swallow just months after Syria's lax policing of its border with Iraq may have permitted hundreds of Arab fighters to cross over and join
attacks on American troops. It also overlooks Syria's persistent attempts over the years to manufacture, buy or trade unconventional arms, including chemical and biological weapons and long-range missiles. Syria has a long and nasty history of sheltering and cooperating with
not only Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas but also international terrorists - including, at one point, Abu Nidal, a man believed responsible for some 900 deaths in at least 20 countries.
Despite this, Washington has tried to broker peace deals that would have let Syria recover virtually all of the Golan Heights from Israel. Shortly before Hafez al-Assad died in 2000, he turned down a promising offer conveyed by President Bill Clinton. Bashar al-Assad now says he wants
to resume negotiations from that point, as if his father's failure to follow through, along with subsequent changes in leadership and policies in both Israel and the United States, had never happened.
Good-faith negotiations over the Golan Heights would indeed be welcome, especially since Mr. Assad now offers full normal relations with Israel if an agreement is reached. He should show Syria's good faith by reining in the guerrillas and terrorists his father periodically unleashed to prove
that peace was impossible without satisfying Syria.
The most surreal part of the interview came when Mr. Assad argued that the Iraqi people should choose their government through elections. This admirable suggestion would carry some weight if he tested it out first in Syria, where free elections are never allowed and where open political
discussion has once again, after a brief thaw, become an almost certain ticket to prison.
For example, Mr. Assad disingenuously claims that there would be no problems between Syria and the United States were it not for Israel. That is hard to swallow just months after Syria's lax policing of its border with Iraq may have permitted hundreds of Arab fighters to cross over and join
attacks on American troops. It also overlooks Syria's persistent attempts over the years to manufacture, buy or trade unconventional arms, including chemical and biological weapons and long-range missiles. Syria has a long and nasty history of sheltering and cooperating with
not only Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas but also international terrorists - including, at one point, Abu Nidal, a man believed responsible for some 900 deaths in at least 20 countries.
Despite this, Washington has tried to broker peace deals that would have let Syria recover virtually all of the Golan Heights from Israel. Shortly before Hafez al-Assad died in 2000, he turned down a promising offer conveyed by President Bill Clinton. Bashar al-Assad now says he wants
to resume negotiations from that point, as if his father's failure to follow through, along with subsequent changes in leadership and policies in both Israel and the United States, had never happened.
Good-faith negotiations over the Golan Heights would indeed be welcome, especially since Mr. Assad now offers full normal relations with Israel if an agreement is reached. He should show Syria's good faith by reining in the guerrillas and terrorists his father periodically unleashed to prove
that peace was impossible without satisfying Syria.
The most surreal part of the interview came when Mr. Assad argued that the Iraqi people should choose their government through elections. This admirable suggestion would carry some weight if he tested it out first in Syria, where free elections are never allowed and where open political
discussion has once again, after a brief thaw, become an almost certain ticket to prison.
Mark dameli
Homepage:
http://2la.org/syria/index.php
Comments
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2LA.ORG ARE ZIONIST SLAVES
05.12.2003 01:07
Was posted on IndyMedia. This site also contains the following "news":
02/11/03 Why Syria has to be next - Website that draws parallels betweens Saddams Iraq and Assads Syria, which is currentely believed to be the leading exporter of terrorists into Iraq. ( Gary, Israel )
This "news" story posted by Gary from "israel" links to:
www.2la.org WHOIS:
Domain ID:D98158816-LROR
Domain Name: 2LA.ORG
Created On:14-May-2003 07:08:26 UTC
Last Updated On:12-Aug-2003 10:59:05 UTC
Expiration Date:14-May-2004 07:08:26 UTC
Sponsoring Registrar:R39-LROR
Status:CLIENT TRANSFER PROHIBITED
Registrant ID:13F9D27B23EBD016
Registrant Name:Joseph Khoury
Registrant Street1:1 camino santa maria
Registrant City:San Antonio
Registrant Postal Code:78228
Registrant Country:US
Registrant Email:
Admin ID:13F9D27B23EBD016
Admin Name:Joseph Khoury
Admin Street1:1 camino santa maria
Admin City:San Antonio
Admin Postal Code:78228
Admin Country:US
Admin Email:
Billing ID:13F9D27B23EBD016
Billing Name:Joseph Khoury
Billing Street1:1 camino santa maria
Billing City:San Antonio
Billing Postal Code:78228
Billing Country:US
Billing Email:
Tech ID:13F9D27B23EBD016
Tech Name:Joseph Khoury
Tech Street1:1 camino santa maria
Tech City:San Antonio
Tech Postal Code:78228
Tech Country:US
Tech Email:
Name Server:NS1.DNSSERVER8.COM
Name Server:NS2.DNSSERVER8.COM
The motivation to produce this propaganda against Syria is documented here:
The message on left on this guestbook reads:
"From: Joseph
For Dani his family, Bashir, Kamal jomblat and all who were killed by syrians I dedicate those websites
Joseph also left a comment on this guest book:
"A great website. When someone is a true lebanese, for sure they will not be happy to have him in lebanon. But, soon every thing will change, and we will go back, to a free Lebanon. Support the syria accountability Act, click here
Joseph
Lebanon"
The site www.gotc.org (that the motherfucker Joseph loves) belongs to "The Guardians of the Cedars" who are a nationalist Lebanese movement. They state on their site:
The ideological framework was based on three principles:
1. The nature of the Lebanese war and that it is a war between strangers and the Lebanese.
**************************************************************************************
2. Identifying the true enemies of Lebanon. They are the Syrians, the Palestinians and the rest of the Arab regimes.
**************************************************************************************
3. The essence of the Lebanese cause, which the fighters are fighting for.
The motto of the Guardians of the Cedars came to light: The Word was married to the Gun and it gave birth to the Guardians of the Cedars.
Here is Joseph's Yahoo profile - feel free to tell this little slave what you think of his propaganda that he hopes will encourage the Bush Monkey to attack Syria next so that his shitty little state of Lebanon can be ethnically cleansed:
FUCK OFF ZIONIST NAZI 2LA.ORG - YOUR SHIT ARAB-HATING SITE RUN BY LEBANESE TERRORIST JOSEPH IS A LOAD OF PRO-WAR BULLSHIT - ZIONIST SLAVE.
The zionist scum from "israel" (the fake "state" - actually the zionazi entity occupying Palestine) has again been threatening to launch another illegal attack on Syria like the last unprovoked attack. This "israel" truely is a rogue "state" with no respect for international law and fake "evidence" against Syria.
ABOUT MARK DAMELI (the moron promoting this anti-Syrian propaganda):
Comments by the following can be ignored as they are the ravings of the ONE zionist nazi spook who infests IndyMedia ...
Rick
Kelly
Pies for peace and justice
Smarta
DR
Ken
Alf
Blandhanband
Clairvoyant
Mike dodd
Mark
mark dameli
john
I don't ride with Arabs on airplanes (SIC)
Kate Faber's underwear
Elmia
Frankenstein
Black Power
j
k
Dave
Pariaisn
Tiger White
Buddah
Charles
Charles Johnson
Robert
Wahid
Kahled
- THEY ARE ALL THE SAME ZIONIST NAZI SPOOK ... WATCH HOW THEY ALL COME TOGETHER AND LEAVE TOGETHER ... AND SPEAK THE SAME ZIONIST LIES ...
Angry Manc
e-mail:
angry_manc@hotmail.com