w a l l s t r e e t j o u r n a l o p i n i o n
Fouad Ajami
•
America and the Solitude of the Syrians
Hoover Institution
•
Stanford University
by Fouad AjamiJanuary 6, 2012Nearly a year into Syria’s agony, the Arab League last week dispatched a small group o monitors headed by a man o the Sudanese security services with a brutal record in thekilling elds o Darur. Gen. Mohammed alDabi, a trusted aide o Sudan’s notorious ruler,Omar alBashir, didn’t see anything “rightening” in the embattled city o Homs, nor did hesee the snipers on the rootops in the southern town o Deraa.A banner in Homs, held up by a group o women protesters, saw into the heart o thematter: “All doors are closed, except yours, Oh God.” Indeed, the solitude o the Syrians,their noble deance o the most entrenched dictatorship in the Arab world, has played outagainst the background o a sterile international diplomacy.Libya had led us all astray. Rescue started or the Libyans weeks into their ordeal. Not soor the Syrians. Don’t look or Bashar alAssad orewarning the subjects o his kingdom—averitable North Korea on the Mediterranean—that his orces are on the way to hunt themdown and slaughter them like rats, as did Moammar Gadha. There is ice in this ruler’s veins. His people are struck down, thousands o them arekidnapped, killed and even tortured in state hospitals i they turn up or care. Children arebrutalized or scribbling grati on the walls. And still the man sits down or an interviewlast month with celebrity journalist Barbara Walters to say these killer orces on the looseare not his.In a revealing slip, the Syrian dictator told Ms. Walters that he didn’t own the country, thathe was merely its president. But the truth is that the House o Assad and the intelligencebarons around them are owners o a tormented country. Haez alAssad, Bashar’s ather,was a wicked genius. He rose rom poverty and destitution through the ranks o the Syrianarmy to absolute power. He took a tumultuous country apart, reduced it to submission,died a natural death in 2000, and bequeathed his son a kingdom in all but name. Thirty years ago, Assad the ather rode out a erocious rebellion by the MuslimBrotherhood, devastated the city o Hama in Syrian’s central plains, and came to rule arightened population that accepted the bargain he oered—political servitude in returnor a drab, cruel stability.Now the son retraces the ather’s arc: Overwhelm the rebellion in Homs, recreate thekingdom o ear, and the world will orgive and make its way back to Damascus.A WALL STREET JOURNAL OP-ED
America and the Solitude of the Syrians
Fouad Ajami
•
America and the Solitude of the Syrians
2 Hoover Institution
•
Stanord University
A legend has taken hold regarding the strategic importance o Syria—bordered byLebanon, Israel, Jordan, Turkey and Iraq—and the Assad regime has made the besto it. Last October, the Syrian ruler, with a mix o cunning and bluster, played o thistheme: “Syria is the hub now in this region. It is the ault line, and i you play with theground you will cause an earthquake. Do you want to see another Aghanistan, ortens o Aghanistans? Any problem in Syria will burn the whole region.” There is no denying the eectiveness o this argument. The two big autocracies inthe world—Russia and China—have given this regime cover and sustenance at theUnited Nations. A toothless resolution brought to the Security Council last Octoberwas turned back, courtesy o these two authoritarian states, and with the aid andacquiescence o Brazil, India and South Arica. (So much or the moral sway o the“emerging” powers.)For its part, the Arab world treated the Syrian despotism rather gingerly. For months,the Arab League ducked or cover and averted its gaze rom the barbarisms.Shamed by the spectacle o the shabiha (the vigilantes o the regime) desecratingmosques, beating and killing worshippers, the Arab League nally suspended Syria’smembership.An Arab League “Peace Plan” was signed on Dec. 19, but still the slaughter continued. The Damascus dictatorship oered the Arab League the concession o allowing ateam o monitors into the country. Bravely, the Syrians came out in large numberslast week to greet them and demonstrate the depth o their opposition to theregime. Some 250,000 people reportedly greeted them in the northern city o Idlib;70,000 deed the regime in Douma, on the outskirts o Damascus. Nevertheless, thekillings went on. The Western democracies have been hoping or deliverance. There is talk in Paris o “humanitarian corridors” to supply the embattled Syrian cities with ood and waterand uel. There has been a muted discussion o the imposition o a nofy zone thatwould embolden and protect the deectors who compose the Free Syrian Army. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been a true cynic throughout.An erstwhile ally and patron o Assad, he nally broke with the Syrian ruler last all,saying “You can remain in power with tanks and cannons only up to a certain point.”But the help Ankara can give is always a day away. The Syrian exiles and deectorsneed Turkey, and its sanctuary, but they have despaired o the alse promises givenby Mr. Erdogan. The U.S. response has been similarly shameul. From the outset o the Syrianrebellion, the Obama administration has shown remarkable timidity. Ater all, theAssad dictatorship was a regime that President Obama had set out to “engage” (the
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America and the Solitude of the Syrians, by Fouad Ajami
Appeared in the Wall Street Journal January 6, 2012.
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