Riding the tiger! Now that obstinacy, on one side of the negotiating table, and servitude to western patrons, on the other, prevented Syrians from reaching a Modus Vivendi before matters worsened by new international logs being thrown into the fire…both camps withdrew to their bases; the government, threatening military onslaughts that would presumably force the rebels to submission, and the rebels hoping to hoard advanced arms and foreign troops enough to invade and conquer Damascus! The west advanced the Ukraine “rooch” … Russia countered by taking Crimea… the west might play Venezuela; I do not presume to know how Russia will respond in this chess game…many moves are still to come! One thing is certain… it is difficult to imagine how a bankrupt West can sustain any prolonged military game when its economy is at rock bottom level… in which case matters could be hastily concluded… possibly, compromising our national unity… when this may serve greater international interests! Be that what it may…one might suggest… shouldn’t fighting Syrians have enough sense to attempt sailing towards the nearest safe shore, away from the raging storm, before getting totally engulfed by an oncoming rampant tornado?! Even though this may read like sound wishful thinking to some; unfortunately, it is not!! Once mutineers are on land, they will waste no time before getting even with their cruel Captain and his arrogant officers!! And the Captain fully knows it!! It is the parable of the man riding the tiger through a forest fire; if the man is to survive the raging tiger’s fangs, he will have to keep riding the tiger till he brings about its death! Let us suppose for the argument’s sake that the fighting does stop… and a prolonged truce is imposed on both warring parties… those in power, out of self preservation, will hold more firmly to their executive high positions than before … while their opponents, out of legitimate worsened rancor, will gather forces… and, constituting the majority of the population, will never rest till they lawfully regain supremacy of their country… at the cost of abandoning the nation to religious zealots! Signs of the oncoming future are already at hand! Illiterate rebels are decreeing decrepit religious laws where ever they rule…practicing manslaughter at their slightest whim! While dormant organized pro-regime manifestations are on the loose again; Baathist clichés, once again, top our newspapers, and old worn-out slogans are repeatedly in use on talk-shows by trembling and perspiring fanatic regime supporters! Those on high echelons seem unaware of the fact that it is precisely this kind of narrow minded blind arrogance that brought about the antipathy and repugnance of the people! “Love me… or… go to jail… if you don’t!!” seems to be the motto for the future! Paint your walls with our national flag…or else! Follow me …or die!! Surely… our President is not behind such elementary propaganda tactics and harmful slogans invented by amateurish supporters!! The Public image of a leader is an important national responsibility that should be allotted to a “Goering”… not to faithful native villagers!! Those who decree those ineptitudes in use do little to enhance the popularity of the regime; in fact… they create adverse reactions among those who refuse being dictated whom to love… or whom to hate!! We, citizens enduring the hardships of displacement from our homes, who nonetheless support the patriotic foreign policy of our country, are deeply hurt and heart-stricken when we see that the regime still cannot, or will not make amends by changing the cruel and sectarian policy it has enforced on the country during the past four decades of its rule! We wish the regime would do that on its own…and not be induced by others!! We do not understand why it hasn’t begun taking effective steps to amend past grievances! Why it hasn’t enforced “meaningful” reforms, by its own accord, rather than being forced to do so!! Three years of bloodshed have produced very little meaningful reforms; what was decreed remains only on paper!! It is vain to enumerate the few publicized reforms; people are still very worried about their precarious safety…the roads to prisons are one-way… their doors are still firmly bolted on those inside!! Corruption is still rampant, if not worse than before! Nepotism still dominates the political-economic scene! Those allowed to practice these vices are not the foundations of the regime!! Why keep them?!! Why allow them to dismantle the foundations of government!! Surely…The establishment will not crumble if leading goons are replaced… or eliminated!! It has been done before by our late president!! If such steps were to be taken… if significant measures of goodwill were displayed… it would draw important numbers of active opponents back to the folds of the nation! It would unite and rally an authentic majority around the President! Syria has adopted a patriotic path towards all Arab issues that united all its sects and ethnicities…It helped formulate a brilliant alliance… creating the Resistance Front… becoming one of its founding pillars! Unfortunately … it hasn’t done so well on the interior front! Admittedly; power-politics recognizes some measure of force are needed to secure any interior front against infiltrating manipulations of colonial forces!! Meanwhile; occasional involuntary mistakes can, and should be overlooked… However; sadism, megalomania, and blind brutality at the lower echelons are another thing!! Those are deadly viruses whose cancerous effects never fail to bounce back at the leaders! Why should we maintain a tarnished interior image that the whole world watches with justified contempt and satisfaction?!! Why should freeing political prisoners be a bargaining element for future negotiations, rather than a dignified spontaneous humane act!? The fact that the regime’s war against Wahhabi terrorists is fully justified… does not absolve it from practicing perpetual imprisonment and inhuman cruelty against its opponents on the interior front! Do we have to hang to the other ugly side of the coin… forever?!! Presidential elections are in sight…A vast majority of the nation would eagerly support the President if only his top advisers would free him from his parasitic retinue… inducing them… to visit Marbella!! I repeat… it has been done before!!
Posted on: Wed, 05 Mar 2014 09:30:12 +0000