While things might appear good for the Assad regime as result of the recent congressional visits to Syria, the positions of the both Bush and Cheney in this regard, indicate that a backlash is to be expected. The recent relaxation that the Bush administration has shown vis-à-vis contact with Syrian officials, a development evident in the Baghdad conference, the meeting with the Syrian Ambassador in the US in the Sate Department, and the ensuing talks in Damascus between US and Syrian officials with regard to the situation of Iraqi refugees, will now cease and desist. The Bush Administration is likely to resume its isolationist policies with regard to the Assads, and will probably pursue them with a greater vim. So, do let the Syrian Ambassador pursue his congressional activities, he is only helping the Opposition’s cause as well. Continue reading “The Backlash!”
Tag: The Assad Regime
Friendship and Hope?
Of her visit to Syria and her three-hour meeting with the Syrian President, Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the US House of Representatives, had this to say:
“We came in friendship, hope, and determined that the road to Damascus is a road to peace.” Continue reading “Friendship and Hope?”
Reaching Out for the Impossible!
Under certain conditions, autocrats can indeed ensure stability. But this stability is always borrowed somehow, borrowed from the future. The more stable an autocratic society today, the more catastrophic its implosion in the not-so-distant morrow. For autocrats are like termites, the structures they infest continue to look impressive right until they fall on their heads, and ours. Betting on Middle Eastern autocrats to ward off the evils of Islamist threats and popular revolts is not only misplaced but will serve as a catalyst of these very evils. We tend to seal our fates in various ways, some with a handshake, others with a kiss.
And So It Begins!
The dabbling in the electoral process by the usual suspects begins. The Governor of Homs in Central Syria has just issued what he describes as a “loan” or a “refundable fee” that each independent candidate that seeks to run in the upcoming elections has to pay. The purpose of this bizarre procedure, Governor Ghazal explains, is to prevent irregularities. If the candidate can prove at the end of the campaign that he had run a clean campaign then the fee will allegedly be refunded. Continue reading “And So It Begins!”
The Ammar Abdulhamid Archive 