We have seen this movie before. In 2009 as brave young Iranians rioted in the street, Barack Obama sat on his hands. Yet he had no problems in saying that a friend such as Mubarak ought to go and is now intervening against Khadafy (who for all his faults is less a threat then the al-Qaeda backed rebels). Now with Syrians rioting, Obama and his ineffectual Sec. of State Hillary Clinton, is giving the horrible Assad Alawite clan the benefit of the doubt and has pronounced them to be “reformers”! What is it about Arab/Islamic tyrannies that appeals so much to that man? Recently, to show their hatred of George W. Bush, a whole slew of liberals have trekked to Damascus to give the seal of approval on the Assad family (an organized crime family if there ever was one0 – Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Hagel, John Kerry and Arlen Spector.
by Amir Taheri
Facing nationwide uprisings, Syrian despot Bashar al-Assad appears to be on the same trajectory of other Arab tyrants brought down by popular revolt in recent weeks.
With the regime’s security forces having killed more than 170 demonstrators in 14 cities over the last week, Assad yesterday tried to calm the situation by making four promises.
First, he said he’d lift the state of emergency the Ba’athist regime imposed in 1964. But it isn’t clear when and how that might be done — and Assad made the same promise almost 11 years ago, when he succeeded his father as Syrian president.
Sources in Damascus tell me that the emergency may be phased out in some provinces but would remain in force in major cities, including the capital.
Second, Assad vowed that he’d form a new Cabinet to replace that of Naji al-Atri, who has been forced to resign. Syrians, however, know that the prime minister and his Cabinet count for little: Power is concentrated in the hands of the president and his shadowy security services.
Third, he’s promising constitutional amendments to forbid anyone from becoming president for life. But he’s making it clear that any such reform wouldn’t apply to him. At age 45, he hopes to remain in power at least as long as his father did — 30 years.
Most opposition groups, however, are demanding a reform that Assad hasn’t mentioned: to drop Article 8 of the Constitution, which makes Syria a one-party system with the Ba’ath holding a monopoly on political power. (In practice, the Ba’ath has created a number of “partner parties,” including Communists, to give the impression that a coalition exercises power.)
Fourth, Assad promises to release more political prisoners. Last week, the regime tried to defuse unrest by announcing the freeing of 102 prisoners. Amnesty International estimates that Syria is holding more than 3,000 political prisoners, the largest number of any Arab country.
Opposition sources claim that most of those released last week were “ordinary criminals” and that for every prisoner set free, at least two are being arrested. The government admits it has recently arrested more than 400 people in eight cities on charges ranging from public disorder to high treason.
On top of all that, the state-owned media have been doing a song and dance about alleged “conspirators,” including a Syrian-American, trying to overthrow the regime with support from Saudi Arabia and America.
In fact, the United States has recently gone out of its way to court the Assad regime.
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Read the rest: Syrian showdown
Tags: Amir Taheri
