Syrian criminal court convicted 12 dissidents on a phony charge of "fomenting sectarian strife" Wednesday and sentenced them to two and a half years in prison. The dissidents arrested last December, were part of a pro-democracy group known as the Damascus Declaration.Assad's decision convict the dissidents despite international pressure is further confirmation that the hopes of some Western countries that Assad would liberalize Syria and reduce political oppression aren't likely to be fulfilled...
Former Syrian vice President Abdul-Halim Khaddam called on the US and Europe force non-violent regime change in Syria.In 2006 Khaddam, who resigned from the Syrian government in 2005, called Assad a traitor for humiliating Syria and alienating it from the Arab world through its actions in Lebanon.
Bashar Assad has been left red facedafter an ill-conceived attempt to restart the Cold War was quickly rejected by Russia. Assad misread the Russia- Georgia war to mean that Russia was ready to rebuild the Soviet Union. He embarked on a hasty misadventure to offer Syrian territory to Russia to re-open former Soviet military bases in exchange for advanced weapons. Instead of coming home with a goodie bag of weapons and a stronger alliance with a major world power, Assad received a luke warm reception and returned having reinforced the his image an inexperienced and weak leader. Still coping with the global backlash over its invasion of Georgia, Russia only agreed to sell Syria defensive weapons that wouldn’t upset the balance of power in the Middle East.
Assad “‘exposed his weakness as a reckless gamblerhaving bet too much on the wrong number as he further raised suspicions in Tehran’ that he was ready to sell his participation in the Iran-led axis for an alliance with a bigger power such as Russia." Assad drew harsh criticism from the US for his lack of judgment and appears to have only truly succeeded in demonstrating his impulsiveness. Looks like even though Putin may want to resurrect the Soviet Union, he is smarter than Assad when it comes to actually making that happen. No wonder Assad hasn't been able to get a cult following among Syrians the way Russians just want someone like Putin.
Brigadier General Mohammad Suleiman, a top Syrian military intelligence official, was shot and killed at a beach resort on the Mediterranean coast on August 1st. Suleiman wasn't just any general, he grew up with Assad, was one of his closest advisors and held some of the regime's most sensitive secrets. He was chief of its nuclear facility and its point man in Lebanon.
There are many theories as to who killed Suleiman. Iranian media claims Assad was shot by an Israeli sniper on a yacht off the coast as revenge for his role in supplying arms to Hezbollah duiring the 2006 war. But as Britian's Sky News reported, Israel wouldn't risk killing Suleiman in the midst of indirect peace talks with Assad and experts point out that it would be nearly impossible for even a skilled sniper to hit Suleiman from a yacht bobbing in the water at the distance claimed. Another theory is that Hezbollah killed him as revenge for Syria's assassination of Mughniyeh.
But the two most likely scenarios both make one wonder how in control of his regime Assad really is. The first is that Assad himself had Suleiman killed because he knew too much about the Hariri killing in 2005. If that's the case it demonstrates that Assad has so ineptly handled Syria's affairs that he was forced to murder someone described as his personal mentor and "senior even to the defence minister."
If the second is correct, that Syrian opposition figures inside the regime itself murdered Suleiman as revenge for Assad sacking Shawkat, it makes one wonder if Assad has what it takes to survive. Having overseen the removal of Shawkat for Assad, Suleiman would be a natural target for Assad's opposition. One of his closest allies being murdered on the heals of his sister and brother-in-law's betrayal must not only make Assad feel very unsure of who he can trust but it exposes his inability to maintain the ironclad grip required to maintain power and may encourage yet more opposition. No wonder Syrian authorities were silent about the murder and tried to suppress the news from spreading. Assad may be a dictator but it looks like his attempts to tighten his grip on power haven't inspired the deterring fear he had hoped..
Several Arab leaders are very angry with a particular world leader.Who you ask?U.S. President Bush?Another Western leader?Those would be obvious logical guesses given the anti-American and anti-Western sentiments prevalent throughout the Mid-East.But the world leader they’re angry at turns out to be none other than Syria’s favorite dictator, Bashir Assad.While Assad’s charisma has managed to woo French and German leaders, Arab leaders are apparently not so naïve.
This anger is showing as the annual Arab Summit kicks for the first time ever in Damascus, Syria.What was supposed to be Assad’s chance to shine is turning out to be what the Jerusalem Post his calling a “slap in the face” of Assad. Several Arab nations including Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan are only sending low-level officials to the summit.Earlier in the month they threatened to boycott the Arab summit meeting altogether.
Part of the Arab nations’ anger at Assad has been evident in their recent chastising of Syria for prolonging instability in Lebanon.However the frustration runs deeper than Lebanon, and in some cases such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt, it personal.Saudi King Abduallah is actually reported to hate Assad for several personal insults.Turns out Assad’s brilliant idea to repeatedly chastise other Arab leaders as “half men” may not have been as the best way to win him friends…
Assad has placed his own brother in law, Chief of Military Intelligence General Assef Shawkat, under house arrest for plotting a coup against Assad. A split reportedly developed between Assad and Shawkat after former Hezbollah military chief Imad Mughniyeh warned Assad that Shawkat was plotting to seize power. Assad suspected Shawkat in the Mughniyeh assassination and put Shawkat’s rival, the head of General Intelligence in charge of the assassination investigation. The affair even led to Assad to a falling out with own sister Bushra, who is Shawkat’s husband. Assad slapped his sister in the face.after an argument about Shawkat’s plotting against Assad. Bushra has since moved to Paris with her kids leaving us wondering if Assad can’t keep his own house in order, is he capable of running Syria?
Last month Syria vehemently denied reports that its “president” promised two US congressmen it would release some of the dozens of political prisoners it has arrested since a crackdown on dissidents began in December.In an apparent demonstration of his sincerity and devotion to continued repression, Assad topped off the spectacle this week by arresting another dissident, Riad Seif, a leading organizer of the pro-democracy opposition meeting that spurred the recent crackdown.
Syria has jailed dozens pro-democracy dissidents since they met in December to form a joint opposition front.
The quick, strong Syrian rebuttal and further arrests confirm that Assad’s image as a moderate and reformer is nothing more than a carefully crafted scam.Rather than Assad reducing Syrian authoritarianism as many in the West had predicted would occur, he has increased repression, with the number of political prisoners in Syria rising by over a thousand since 2005.Assad’ increasing moves to eliminate any and all voices of opposition, regardless of whether they represent a true political threat makes one wonder if he is taking history lessons from another famous world dictator... Hitler himself...
If the past two months are any indication, such a comparison may not be as far off as some imagine…
