Six Years Later!

The following is my new contribution to the Creative Syria Think Tank. Hope you find this week’s discussions interesting:

Rather than trying to list the series of phantom reforms and promises of reforms that Bashar has introduced into our lives over the last six years, or embark on another debunking of the whole concept of voodoo economics, I will simply mention the following impressions: Continue reading “Six Years Later!” →

Was it Worth it?

Having followed the arguments on Joshua’s blog over the lat few days, I find myself finally temped to attempt my own debunking of the thesis he expounded on Creative Syria and which assigns an A to the Assads on matters of security. But I shall brief. Continue reading →

More than Words!

The ongoing crackdown in Syria is not the result of some haphazard uncalculated move by the Assads. Rather it reflects a deliberate policy on their part and a definite decision that seems to have been made in the immediate aftermath of the Baath Congress in May 2005. The delay in implementation seems to reflect the desire to wait for the “right” circumstances and conditions, and from the regime’s standpoint, there could be no better time than now, seeing that the alliance with Iran seems to have been crystallized more clearly and that the US and the EU seem to be more preoccupied now with the ongoing nuclear stand-off with the Iranian regime. Continue reading →

Why I am Not Surprised! Or, the Cowardly Heretic!

During my second and final encounter with Assef Chawkat, the one that sealed my fate, as it were, the desk of the Illustrious General was covered with black and yellow files and old law books with small white cardboard bookmarks sticking from their sides. The General has done his homework it seems. He has researched all the old law books in search of legal ways for intimidating activists while avoiding recourse to the discredited emergency laws and security courts. Continue reading “Why I am Not Surprised! Or, the Cowardly Heretic!” →