A French taxi driver of Syrian origin, who left his country 30 years ago and whose whole family is still in Syria, said: "I left Syria to live free, and away from the secret police and the difficulty of making a living. When President Bashar Assad took power I said to myself, this president is a young man who studied abroad and can only be modern in his policies. I will prepare to return, if he changes things. But now, I see what has happened in Syria, and I say that he is worse than Hitler against his people. I prefer to remain a taxi driver in France rather than live under that regime." The news out of Syria is truly frightening. The regime is using Russian and Iranian weapons on a daily basis to shell a city and kill its people by the dozen. Syrian government ministers praise the "patriotic efforts by the army to restore security and stability in the country." They lie to the Arab League, which gives them more time to kill and liquidate their people. The Arab League must move quickly and suspend this regime's membership in the body, in addition to taking action to protect people in Syrian cities, and refugees. The policy of the ruling group in Syria is truly Hitlerian, with ministers playing the role of Goebbels, to liquidate peaceful people who are calling for freedom and a dignified life. Despite the painful news coming from Syria, there is one encouraging and hopeful thing – the steadfastness and bravery of the Syrian people and their continued resistance in cities, facing the killing, torture and terror, and the fall of martyrs. The shameful thing is that in Lebanon, Syrian dissidents are being kidnapped and the Syrian refugees' movement is being restricted. This is disappointing, with regard to the remaining humanitarian values of officials in Lebanon. Prime Minister Mikati told the British prime minister that "Lebanon does not want to be a spearhead in an attack on Syria, just as it will not be a spearhead for attacking the international community, if it wants to vote for sanctions in the Security Council." However, the kidnapping of Syrian dissidents and the return of defecting Syrian soldiers to the Syrian regime renders Lebanon a spearhead for attacking the brave Syrian people. The stance of the Lebanese foreign minister at the Arab League was disappointing, as he constantly defended the acts of the Syrian regime. The problem in Lebanon is that the government and those it represents are a fundamental base of support for the Syrian regime's policy. They are not taking Syria's future into account, where the bold Syrian people will win in the end and the agents of the corrupt, repressive regime will pay the price in the end. Syria is not Libya, or Tunisia, or Egypt, but its people are showing themselves to be like the other peoples that have been liberated. A leading figure allied to General Michel Aoun was praising, during a television interview, the ability of the Syrian regime to safeguard its great international relations with Russia, China and Iran, which would allow it to continue, unlike what happened in Libya, Tunisia and Egypt. Aoun's alliances have always been with regimes that are doomed to fall because of their brutality. He allied with Saddam Hussein, who at the time was resisting the Syrian regime. He is now a strong ally of the Syrian regime, which cannot continue, although its fall may take time. The Lebanese government will not fall, as some expected, because its prime minister is forbidden from resigning, and western embassies are aware of this. The Syrian president needs him, and will force Syria's clients in the government to vote for funding the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, because the STL has not come near Assad. He is busy with destroying the tribunal of his people. The situation in Lebanon and Syria is painful, and the conscience of some Lebanese is in intensive care. The question today is, how will the people of Homs, Hama and other cities be protected, as they face daily shelling? Turkey, the nearby strong neighbor, has some ability to do this. This was discussed between Prime Minister Erdogan and President Obama during the G20 Summit in Cannes. More Turkish pressure on Syria is expected. However, the bankruptcy of the Security Council, as the French foreign minister put it, toward Syria might have changed, if Russia has realized that the future of its relations with the Syrian people is being damaged by the killing of people with Russian weapons.
