Managing Transition: Few Guidelines For A Velvet Revolution In Syria

Towards A Jasmine Revolution in Syria

(The paper was also presented during an opposition conference that was held in Washington, D.C. in late January, 2006)

The preceding four decades of the history of our country have been marked by tyrannical rule, unbridled corruption and gross mismanagement on part of the ruling military junta and their civilian lackeys. The last five years in particular have witnessed much political and economic adventurism by our current rulers, the so-called New Guard, with their policies leading to a further narrowing down of the power base of the regime. Indeed, it has become obvious now that the decision-making process was, in effect, reduced to a small and corrupt clique centered on the President and his immediate family members and friends. Continue reading “Managing Transition: Few Guidelines For A Velvet Revolution In Syria” →

The Vice-Predator!

The Arabic Satellite News Channel Al-Arabiyah has just aired an interview with the former Syrian Vice-President, Abdul Haleem Khaddam, currently living in Paris ostensibly to work on his memoirs in the quiet peace of the Parisian suburbs (the BBC also covered this in English).

In truth, of course, Mr. Khaddam, who resigned his post back in May 2005, is actually living in exile in Paris, his growing disenchantment with the current regime and its President having reaching a certain climax with the assassination of former Lebanese PM Rafic al-Hariri, his longtime friend and business partner. Continue reading “The Vice-Predator!” →

The Lion Cub in Winter!

Our President still can’t make up his mind as to how he wants the world to see him. He tries his best to come off looking smart and reasonable, only to look foolish and dumb. He bends over backwards to get a deal with the US, only to get none. What’s a dumb petty dictator to do in this world to get the powers-that-be to buy into his most obvious and ludicrous lies? Oh why, oh why, oh why, has life changed so much from the time when his father was still alive, at least in theory, and when the world seemed so willing to buy any shit that the regime had to peddle?

I think the lion cub will never know. He may not live long enough for that.

Merry Heresies!

I never believed in the homeland. I never liked the people. I never really had a cause. I don’t think I ever will. If I seem principled to some, it is because I was born this way. If I seem dedicated, it is because I am compulsive. I never really had a choice in these matters. My opposition to the Syrian regime, among others, is born out of the intrinsic “assholeness” of its members, not out of any hypothetical patriotic sentiment on my part. I prefer practical working arrangements to principled stands. But I also realize that no such arrangements can be made with idiots, not to mention bloodthirsty idiots. Continue reading →