Assad Cracks Down

Syrian blogger Ammar Abdulhamid stated in a post this morning that any hope that the Syrian regime is capable of meaningful reform (there's a Baathist Party congress set for June) is wishful thinking, and dangerous as well. "We are waiting for our criminals to become saints and our idiots to become geniuses, and we are expecting this to happen overnight too," wrote Abdulhamid. (Tony Badran sent the link; here's his excellent site.)

As if on cue, the Assad regime this morning began a crackdown on Syrian dissidents. "At dawn this morning," writes Joshua Landis from Damascus, "Syrian authorities . . . arrested the Board of Directors of the Jamal Atassi Muntada (Forum)," a civil-society group.

"So long as individuals complain," wites Landis, "there is no threat. If they begin to organize, as they have been tentatively doing, there is a threat." Landis expects little from next month's party congress.

Syria has also cut whatever ties remain with the U.S. military and with U.S. intelligence.

Comments

sage | May 24, 2005, 2:58pm | #

Ass. Cracks. I get it. Good one.

Rick Barton | May 24, 2005, 6:48pm | #

But the good news is these Syrian government thugs don't get any of our tax dollars.

Recall that our government's support of the Israeli government's brutal occupation motivated the 9/11 attacks. Well, the seeds of another terror attack against us are being planted again, this time in Uzbekistan where our government is using our tax dollars to support the savage, soviet style dictatorship of Islam Karimov, the former head of the Uzbek Communist party. As the carnage that his regime inflicts on its own people mounts, so surely does the resentment that Uzbekis harbor toward Americans.

How many more 9/11s before our government's wanton interventionist stupidity comes to an end?

http://antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=5958

bendover | May 24, 2005, 9:34pm | #

Ah, spring is in the air and Rick is back at H&R blaming the jews again.

Rick Barton | May 24, 2005, 10:18pm | #

bendover,

Good, now spit it out. The Israeli government is not "the Jews". Blaming "the Jews" for anything is racist and nonsensical. I, of course, have never blamed any racial/ethnic or religious group and never would. Blaming the Israeli government's occupation, and our government's support of it, with our money, is consistent with evidence and principle.