I had written about the events in Syria at the onset of the protest movement eight months ago or so, and then wrote about it a week ago. In both my first and last pieces, and every piece in between, I called for an end to the killing before any other measure, for preserving human life is the first duty of any State. After each article I wrote, I found that the killings only increased in incidence. Even when the Arab League gave Syria a four-day ultimatum to implement the terms of the Arab group, most notably to put an end to the killing of demonstrators, the numbers of those killed increased on the following day. Finally, Syria's membership of the League was suspended, and its seat there became empty. The whole world supported this decision, including China, the country that was among those who defended Syria, and foreclosed a resolution against it in the Security Council over the past few months. The situation then became such that King Abdullah II said that if he were in President Bashar al-Assad's stead he would have resigned. I want to tell the readers a story. Two years ago in Davos, I sat with Queen Rania. She told me that she and the King went to Syria on a private visit, and were the guests of President Assad and his wife Asma al-Assad. She told me that the visit was the most beautiful she had made in years. It was free of protocol and official duties. Dr. Bashar was driving the car himself, and the King, the President and their wives went to restaurants in the city without reservation or previous notice, and visited tourist attractions in and around Damascus. The Queen also said that King Abdullah II and she intended to invite the Syrian President and First Lady to Jordan for a similar visit. A few months later, I was invited to attend the millennium celebrations for Saint Maroun in Aleppo. The program included a luncheon where President Assad hosted the participants in the celebrations. Both he and his wife Asmaa stood in the end to bid farewell to the guests, and I told them what Queen Rania had said to me. President Assad's answer was that they were extremely pleased to host the King and Queen of Jordan, and that they intended to accept their invitation in the near future. What happened afterwards was the exact opposite, however. The bloody confrontations prompted the Arab League, along with the countries of the world, to gradually abandon Syria, and King Abdullah II soon called on President Assad to step down. Here are some comparisons: When Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in a barbaric assault on a sisterly neighboring country, six members of the Arab League still supported him. By contrast, Dr. Bashar al-Assad did not find more than four countries to support him, as the League Member States sought to suspend Syria's membership in the organization. Never did it occur to me, in my wildest dreams, that I would see President Hosni Mubarak on a stretcher in the dock inside an Egyptian court. Nor did it ever occur to me that Bashar al-Assad would become less popular among the Arabs than Saddam Hussein became following the occupation of Kuwait. Does President Assad appreciate the magnitude of his losses, and does he realize that he has put himself on a road with a dead end? I thought that I knew him well, but I now question the extent of my knowledge of the President and his advisers, and I admit that I am apprehensive of what lies in store. In the beginning, the Syrian regime was saying that there were armed groups infiltrating the protesters and firing at and killing soldiers and security officers. But the reaction to these allegations was that they were not true or that they had been greatly exaggerated. Today and undeniably so, there is mutual killing, and we read that the armed elements include soldiers who have defected, and that many protesters now carry weapons that they have received from foreign countries. In other words, Syria is facing the threat of descending to civil war, or massacre, before the regime is ousted. The Syrian army will not stage a coup against the President, as in the Tunisian scenario, or even half a coup, as had happened in Egypt. If the Syrian regime wanted to commit suicide, would it have done anything worse than what it has been doing for eight months now? God help the Syrians. [email protected]
