Tag: Assassinations

The Difference between Kuwait & Syria

First posted on my short-lived blog Tharwalizations. 

In the year 2000, it took the Syrian parliament, the so-called People’s Assembly, less than 30 minutes to amend the country’s long-standing constitution in order to make way for Bashar al-Assad to succeed his recently deceased father, Hafiz al-Assad, as the country’s new president. Not a single voice of dissention was heard. But one MP did have the bravery to suggest that the debate should last longer and that the process of amending the constitution needs to be elaborate somehow in order to safeguard the country’s image, not to mention that to the upcoming president. The brave MP was severely rebuked for even thinking that. MPs in Baathist Syria were not meant to think, period. Continue reading “The Difference between Kuwait & Syria” →

My Big Heretical Heart!

Or, How I Can Love Hariri, Tweini & Syria all at the same Time!

I thought this dialogue is too important and needs to be given more visibility. For it gives me the chance to clarify further my position on why I oppose the Syrian regime.  Continue reading “My Big Heretical Heart!” →

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!” →

From Mehlis II to Phase II!

The procedural nature of the Mehlis’s Second Report is encouraging some Arab analysts to conclude that a deal has been struck with the Syrian regime or that the crisis is over.

 

Indeed, it is quite likely that Bashar & Co. themselves might be tempted to think along these lines in due course of time, believing that their scare tactics in Lebanon have had the desired effect.  Continue reading “From Mehlis II to Phase II!” →