Version imprimableBashar al Asad is a dictator ; his regime is a dictatorship. During the first days of repression, some voices attempted to exonerate him of responsibility for the torture and the killing of hundreds of civilian protesters, including many women and children. He was not to blame, they said, but some old torturers still in charge since his father’s time. What a lie, what a distortion of the facts and the crude political reality ! Then the truth began to unfold, day after day, through eyewitness accounts, images and reports. Human Rights Watch, and many other organizations, revealed (and are still revealing) the extent of the atrocities.
Young boys, aged no more than 9, 10 or 12, have been arrested and tortured, their nails pulled out, teeth broken, sexually abused and mutilated. What shame ! In the streets, unarmed protesters have been shot down as they marched. Men, women, innocent people —portrayed by the regime as conspirators, terrorists, radical Islamists—were killed in cold blood ; entire villages and cities have been “cleansed” of the “plague.” On Monday June 20, Bashar al Asad gave an unbelievable speech promising “national dialogue,” “reform” through “consultative meetings.” Journalist Robert Fisk was right in describing the speech as “insulting both the living and the dead.” Two days later, Bashar’s army was marching toward the Turkish border where thousands of refugees were trying to escape the horror. Some have reached safety in Turkey ; others are still on Syrian soil and fear the worst.
The so-called international community is almost silent, and/or paralyzed. The Tunisian and Egyptian uprisings received wide coverage, and help. Why is nothing being done in the Syrian case ? The cruelty of the successive Asad’s regimes, of both the father Hafez and his son Bashar (with his brother Maher in command of the army’s elite Fourth Division) is well documented. In Tunisia and Egypt, the revolutions were saluted ; the “new era of democratization” brought hope to Western capitals. We even heard talk of “the Arab spring”. Yet, this spring seems to have turned into winter in Syria (as well as in Bahrain). So many geopolitical and economic considerations have primacy over the people’s freedom and the dignity. In the Arab world (and the Global South) democracy is a good thing as long as Western interests are protected. By the same token, in the Arab world (and the Global South), dictatorship is not a bad thing, as long as Western interests are protected. The so-called “Arab spring” reeks of cold calculation and profit. It has nothing to do with ethics and morality ; everything to do with power and money.
Syria is a crucial and complex country. Beyond the Alawite minority’s monopoly of power through a mixture of autocracy and terror, nobody can predict possible political alternatives. The opposition forces, from the Left to the Muslim Brotherhood, are not sympathetic to either the US or Israel. While Israel has long understood how it could benefit from the Syrian dictator as a useful enemy, it concerned about a democratic regime that would give voice to the people’s anger over the humiliation of the Palestinians and the ongoing colonization of Palestinian lands. As with Egypt, so also in Syria : Israel cannot tolerate democratic regimes in the Arab world and prefers to deal with merciless autocrats who can guarantee a controlled peace. There is also the Iranian factor ; potential new alliances may emerge if a new regime comes to power in Syria. Bashar, following in his father’s footsteps, agreed to play a contradictory role in the region, one that suited both the United States and Israel : he was the “bad guy” with whom they could keep talking and who accepted the status quo by (usefully) questioning the peace process—a complex and contradictory role, but a very useful one.
The Kurdish equation is critical in the region and may explain—among other factors—Turkish hesitations. If Bashar’s regime collapses, new alliances and claims could be created that could be very difficult for Turkey and the role it wants to uphold regionally and internationally. Syria’s allies, Russia and China, see in the current regime the channel through which they can access, and are accessing, the wealth and markets of the Middle East. Syria is a key factor in the region ; if the “Arab Spring” takes hold in Damascus, it would generate concerns for several regional and foreign powers. There are many considerations, many challenges.
One thing seems clear, however. The Arab spring will only be a true spring if the Syrian regime collapses and paves the way for a truly democratic, non-corrupt political system. Such is the real path towards freedom and autonomy in the region. Tunisia and Egypt can still be controlled. The balance of power does not yet favor autonomy and free civil society. To achieve the first step toward that “spring”, Bashar and his regime must be dumped… if not, the “spring” would be nothing but empty words while behind the scenes nothing would change. Syria is critical—and will be a revealing factor
Today, the Syrian people are the victims of both a cruel regime and very cynical political and economic calculations. Even if intervention is difficult, current international passivity is intolerable. We need to remember that there is no place for naivety in politics. Powers are driven by interests and it is the duty of the democratic forces—around the world, whatever their culture and religion—to prove that, on the long run, dignity, freedom and democratization are not just fine words to manipulate but also policies to implement in the interest of all. Oppressed people will never forget. History will always remember.
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