The 'Iron Hand' of Bashar al-Assad

Hi everyone!

Surprisingly, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad gave an address yesterday on Syrian state television, only the fourth such appearance he's made since the resistance struggle began last March. Not surprisingly, however, was the actual content of his message. If the free world--and the majority of the Syrian people--were hoping that Mr. Assad would boldly declare an end to the government crackdown and agree to Arab League demands that he withdraw his forces and end the daily massacre, they were sorely disappointed.

Mr. Assad did no such thing. In fact, his speech gave quite the opposite message. He reiterated his long-standing (and ludicrous) assertion that foreign elements were the ones responsible for inciting the uprising and that his troops were merely acting in defense of the realm. Moreover, he vowed to crush the rebellion with "an iron hand." And as for the Arab League-sponsored observers, Mr. Assad lumped them in with the supposed foreign rabble.

What does this tell us? Well, for one it further confirms the overall ineffectiveness of the Arab League mission. While Mr. Assad ridiculed them in his speech, he did say that the observers could stay in the country until the 19th, as scheduled. Secondly, Mr. Assad's address should serve as a wake-up call to the West and the Arab League, for that matter, that more needs to be done--and now--to protect the lives of the Syrian protesters, which I suspect comprise a majority of Syria's population.

Again, the West seems to be keeping to its "wait and see" approach. I've argued against this in previous columns, but it appears the powers-that-be are more concerned with not risking the ire of Russia or China than saving innocent men, women, and children from daily slaughter. Or perhaps some are still holding out hope that Mr. Assad will back down at the eleventh hour...not likely.

It seems Mr. Assad is under the misguided belief that he needs to evoke the ruthless behavior of his father who infamously put down an Islamic rebellion in Hama in 1982 that resulted in tens of thousands of deaths at the hands of the Syrian military. Bashar has been viewed by many as a weak leader. He was educated in the West and spent four years in London studying to become an ophthalmologist. His older brother, Basil, was originally next in line to rule but his assassination thrust Bashar to the top position. Some say Bashar is beholden to another brother, Maher, who is currently commander-in-chief of the Republican Guard.

Regardless, to the outside world, for all intents and purposes, Bashar is the guy in charge. Doesn't he realize that the use of his "iron hand" will only doom him and his cronies to a fate that will ultimately prove as ignominious as that of Muammar Qadaffi, one of his former dictatorial peers? But perhaps not. Perhaps Bashar will be allowed to remain in power as the death toll mounts and the West merely looks the other way, not wanting to be accused of interfering in the internal affairs of another country that has nothing in particular to offer because it doesn't have oil? I hate to say this, but this response isn't all that out of the question.

Ciao.