Assad’s problem is in Syria, not abroad

To understand the Syrian regime, I would advise anyone to read an article published in the New York Times entitled: “In Assad’s Syria, there is no imagination.” If the Syrian regime had been more imaginative, they would have avoided all these mistakes that led to the present situation. Assad would have stepped aside a long time ago had he realised that covering a crime with a bigger one would only lead to a disastrous escalation of events. Oppression and terrorism have spread fear among those who praise Bashar al-Assad, their “leader forever.” This article, written a year ago by the late Lebanese-American author Anthony Shadid, demonstrates from the start that the Syrian regime would never change. Anyone thinking that it can be reformed is gravely mistaken, because it is a regime from a past era: Syria is the last Stalinist regime in the whole of the Middle East. Sadly, Shadid passed away following a fatal asthma attack. He died in Syria, as he was attempting to leave the country. If you read his article a few times – it certainly deserves your attention – you will realise that the Syrian regime’s best policy is to ignore everyone. It was therefore natural for Assad’s authorities to issue arrest warrants against former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, MP Okab Sakr and the spokesman for the Free Syrian Army, Luay al-Miqdad.  Assad is still convinced he can fool the world claiming that his regime is victim of a conspiracy.   This “conspiracy” obviously required the appropriate means to be tackled: the Syrian people have been bombarded with all sorts of weapons, including Scud missiles in order to strike any place in the country.  Assad is persuaded his people worship him and that the problem comes from foreign interventions.  When they stop, surely Syrian people will take to the streets to chant his name. If Assad was ready for change, he would not believe the lies spread by his allies such, as Hezbollah or Lebanese MP Michel Aoun. Can you build a policy upon lies recorded in a phone conversation taken from Okab Sakr’s computer? These recordings have been tampered to incriminate Saad Hariri, Okab Sakr and Luay al-Miqdad in the smuggling of weapons into Syria. Bashar al-Assad will probably never understand that Syria’s problem has nothing to do with Saad Hariri or his late father. His problem is that the Syrian youth never complied with his policies, and Assad always ignored this particular segment of the population. Bashar al-Assad resorted to the means used by his father. He still abides by the old rules, although the late Syrian dictator would carefully scrutinise his potential decisions, such as ordering the assassination of Lebanese politicians Kamal Jumblatt, Bashir Gemayel, Rene Moawad and many others. Hafez al-Assad did not take office straight after the 1970 coup. Assad's father preferred to wait before taking bold decisions, and appointed an Alawite to become Syrian President. Ahmed Hassan al-Khatib president over the country for four months while Assad senior visited the Syrian cities, villages and towns and prayed in the mosques of Sunnis. Upon his return, Hafez al-Assad took office as President of the Republic. Al-Kathib disappeared as quickly as he came into the picture. His death in 1982 went unnoticed.   If you observed the actions of Bashar al-Assad since he inherited Syria, the arrest warrants against Saad al-Hariri and Saqr al-Miqdad will not surprise you. Who would have backed Emile Lahoud? Who would think that assassinating Rafik Hariri is not the act of a “crazy” person? Anyone who would think that could issue these arrest warrants.    A statement from Rami Makhlouf, a cousin of Bashar al-Assad and a prominent figure in the Syrian economy, revealed the reality of the regime when he said to Anthony Shadid: “If we go down, we won’t go down alone. “Don’t the Israelis know that if we suffer, they will suffer too? Aren’t America and Europe aware that we protect the region from Islamism and chaos?” These warrants were issued by people who think they can still blackmail the world while the insurgents are attacking the doors of the presidential palace. A regime without an imagination. If it had been more imaginative, the ruling family would be enjoying their wealth abroad... Rather than awaiting a fate similar to Saddam Hussein's family’s. --- The views expressed by the author do not necessarily represent or reflect the editorial policy of Arabstoday.