CAN SYRIA THROW OFF ITS DRAGON?
J. Grant Swank, Jr.
It’s antiquated. It’s powerful. It’s stuck.
Can Syria ever see through an actual democracy? Can it toss off its worn back the dragon that claws day in and day out? With that, can anyone ever believe the Syrian President Bashar Assad? Ever?
Yet the pressure from the administration of US President George W. Bush is remarkable in its leverage. Mr. Bush continues to hark for freedom spread global. That includes Syria.
Mr. Bush is relentless. His convictions dig deeply into his every agenda. There is no budge when it comes to releasing mortals from the despots’ cages. That includes Syria.
Syria has felt the Bush administration press upon its nerve endings. And now Assad promises the world that he is honestly determined to make the necessary changes in order to establish a true freedom base for all. Can one ever believe Assad’s cordiality toward his own society? Can those within his imbedded power structure ever trust a man to yield his clutch upon the populace?
If he is sincere, it will take a major miracle to cut through a mold that has crusted itself into cement. Mostly cement to cage in the people rather than provide them the sound democracy platform from which to breath liberty’s breezes.
Yet Mr. Bush believes that the miracle can happen. In fact, he echoes himself in speeches delivered worldwide. It is a refrain now that can be sung in his sleep. And for the captive persons of the world, that is one refrain that must be sung louder and longer than any other.
"Beset by U.S. attempts to isolate his country and facing popular expectations of change, Syrian President Bashar Assad will move to begin legalizing political parties, purge the ruling Baath Party, sponsor free municipal elections in 2007 and formally endorse a market economy, according to officials, diplomats and analysts." This is reported by Anthony Shadid of The Washington Post Foreign Service.
Can it happen? Legalize political parties? Cleanse the Baath Party? Insure free municipal ballot casts? Establish a market economy? All by 2007?
May Assad live to see it through. May it be so. Democracy deserves it. Syrians surely do deserve the break from a long, long past of being squeezed inside the Assad vice.
"Assad's five-year-old government is heralding the reforms as a turning point in a long-promised campaign of liberalizing a state that, while far less dictatorial than Iraq under Saddam Hussein, remains one of the region's most repressive. His officials see the moves, however tentative and drawn out, as the start of a transitional period that will lead to a more liberal, democratic Syria."
Are Muslim countries actually reaching out to freedom realized? There’s not a Muslim country on the planet that is truly democratic.
When Meet the Press moderator asked last Sunday the representative from Egypt why that is so, the Egyptian politician answered that democracies within Muslim nations will be forthcoming. Is that a public relations stunt or is it a reality that could come to pass? Time surely will spell it out. In the meantime, Assad joins the chorus for freedoms personalized.
"Emboldened opposition leaders, many of whom openly support pressure by the United States even if they mistrust its intentions, said the measures were the last gasp of a government staggering after its hasty and embarrassing troop withdrawal last month from neighboring Lebanon.
"The debate over the changes comes during a remarkable surge in what constitutes dissent in this country of 18 million. For the first time in years, opposition figures and even government allies are openly speculating on the fate of a party that, in some fashion, has ruled Syria since 1963 in the name of Arab nationalism, and today faces perhaps its greatest crisis. The debate points to the most pressing questions in the country today: Can Syria truly reform itself and what might follow?"
Where does one begin with such an old, worn, mighty system? Who does one trust? What government agency provides the start-up? Where do you hold the democracy seminar? Who conducts it? How do you get to the grassroots?
"’We understand that democracy is a process -- a historical and political process -- but we are on the right track, and we have begun the mechanisms that will take us forward,’ said Imad Shueibi, who directs the Data and Strategic Studies Center in Damascus and says he is aligned with reformers within Assad's government. ‘This will be the first step.’"
It is certain that Mr. Bush will keep his watchful eye on Syria. He’s given enough energy for that part of the world to maintain daily vigilance. As he has proven with his Freedom Watch elsewhere, Mr. Bush does not relent. His colleagues remain just as loyal to the liberty banner as he. Therefore, it can be guaranteed Syrians beckoning for freedom established that Mr. Bush and team will be their companions till the journey closes only to open to liberty’s skies unlimited.
How much parental control does Assad need to keep the civility while assuring freedoms begun? That’s the juggling act yet to be performed. May it be center stage and acted out as perfectly as possible in a spiritually damaged sphere.
At least one would hope one could trust the motives of the juggler. Yet that is exactly what remains to be seen. Can one truly trust the juggler’s motives, power hungry as they have been up to this very moment?
"Dissidents are dismissive of the government's capacity to sincerely reform. They see similarities between government moves here and in Egypt, the Arab world's most populous country, where President Hosni Mubarak has sought to introduce measured but controlled change.
"’We have an archaic authoritarian regime, which is now a burden on itself. They want to streamline it and make it more attractive,’ said Yassin Hajj Saleh, a leftist dissident imprisoned for 16 years and freed in 1996. He calls the moves ‘the modernization of authoritarianism.’"
Yet hope springs eternal.
And those caged in still dream of being let out. Those pressed down dream of easing the press, eventually to be fully freed. So it is with Syrian freedom fighters who are willing to die for the release of the despot’s heel.
"’The old model has ended, it is outdated, its age has passed,’ Saleh said, ‘and they want to renew it.’"
Time till tell.
Stay tuned.
It’s antiquated. It’s powerful. It’s stuck.
Can Syria ever see through an actual democracy? Can it toss off its worn back the dragon that claws day in and day out? With that, can anyone ever believe the Syrian President Bashar Assad? Ever?
Yet the pressure from the administration of US President George W. Bush is remarkable in its leverage. Mr. Bush continues to hark for freedom spread global. That includes Syria.
Mr. Bush is relentless. His convictions dig deeply into his every agenda. There is no budge when it comes to releasing mortals from the despots’ cages. That includes Syria.
Syria has felt the Bush administration press upon its nerve endings. And now Assad promises the world that he is honestly determined to make the necessary changes in order to establish a true freedom base for all. Can one ever believe Assad’s cordiality toward his own society? Can those within his imbedded power structure ever trust a man to yield his clutch upon the populace?
If he is sincere, it will take a major miracle to cut through a mold that has crusted itself into cement. Mostly cement to cage in the people rather than provide them the sound democracy platform from which to breath liberty’s breezes.
Yet Mr. Bush believes that the miracle can happen. In fact, he echoes himself in speeches delivered worldwide. It is a refrain now that can be sung in his sleep. And for the captive persons of the world, that is one refrain that must be sung louder and longer than any other.
"Beset by U.S. attempts to isolate his country and facing popular expectations of change, Syrian President Bashar Assad will move to begin legalizing political parties, purge the ruling Baath Party, sponsor free municipal elections in 2007 and formally endorse a market economy, according to officials, diplomats and analysts." This is reported by Anthony Shadid of The Washington Post Foreign Service.
Can it happen? Legalize political parties? Cleanse the Baath Party? Insure free municipal ballot casts? Establish a market economy? All by 2007?
May Assad live to see it through. May it be so. Democracy deserves it. Syrians surely do deserve the break from a long, long past of being squeezed inside the Assad vice.
"Assad's five-year-old government is heralding the reforms as a turning point in a long-promised campaign of liberalizing a state that, while far less dictatorial than Iraq under Saddam Hussein, remains one of the region's most repressive. His officials see the moves, however tentative and drawn out, as the start of a transitional period that will lead to a more liberal, democratic Syria."
Are Muslim countries actually reaching out to freedom realized? There’s not a Muslim country on the planet that is truly democratic.
When Meet the Press moderator asked last Sunday the representative from Egypt why that is so, the Egyptian politician answered that democracies within Muslim nations will be forthcoming. Is that a public relations stunt or is it a reality that could come to pass? Time surely will spell it out. In the meantime, Assad joins the chorus for freedoms personalized.
"Emboldened opposition leaders, many of whom openly support pressure by the United States even if they mistrust its intentions, said the measures were the last gasp of a government staggering after its hasty and embarrassing troop withdrawal last month from neighboring Lebanon.
"The debate over the changes comes during a remarkable surge in what constitutes dissent in this country of 18 million. For the first time in years, opposition figures and even government allies are openly speculating on the fate of a party that, in some fashion, has ruled Syria since 1963 in the name of Arab nationalism, and today faces perhaps its greatest crisis. The debate points to the most pressing questions in the country today: Can Syria truly reform itself and what might follow?"
Where does one begin with such an old, worn, mighty system? Who does one trust? What government agency provides the start-up? Where do you hold the democracy seminar? Who conducts it? How do you get to the grassroots?
"’We understand that democracy is a process -- a historical and political process -- but we are on the right track, and we have begun the mechanisms that will take us forward,’ said Imad Shueibi, who directs the Data and Strategic Studies Center in Damascus and says he is aligned with reformers within Assad's government. ‘This will be the first step.’"
It is certain that Mr. Bush will keep his watchful eye on Syria. He’s given enough energy for that part of the world to maintain daily vigilance. As he has proven with his Freedom Watch elsewhere, Mr. Bush does not relent. His colleagues remain just as loyal to the liberty banner as he. Therefore, it can be guaranteed Syrians beckoning for freedom established that Mr. Bush and team will be their companions till the journey closes only to open to liberty’s skies unlimited.
How much parental control does Assad need to keep the civility while assuring freedoms begun? That’s the juggling act yet to be performed. May it be center stage and acted out as perfectly as possible in a spiritually damaged sphere.
At least one would hope one could trust the motives of the juggler. Yet that is exactly what remains to be seen. Can one truly trust the juggler’s motives, power hungry as they have been up to this very moment?
"Dissidents are dismissive of the government's capacity to sincerely reform. They see similarities between government moves here and in Egypt, the Arab world's most populous country, where President Hosni Mubarak has sought to introduce measured but controlled change.
"’We have an archaic authoritarian regime, which is now a burden on itself. They want to streamline it and make it more attractive,’ said Yassin Hajj Saleh, a leftist dissident imprisoned for 16 years and freed in 1996. He calls the moves ‘the modernization of authoritarianism.’"
Yet hope springs eternal.
And those caged in still dream of being let out. Those pressed down dream of easing the press, eventually to be fully freed. So it is with Syrian freedom fighters who are willing to die for the release of the despot’s heel.
"’The old model has ended, it is outdated, its age has passed,’ Saleh said, ‘and they want to renew it.’"
Time till tell.
Stay tuned.
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