Playing the hand you’ve been dealt.
I don’t know why everyone is so hard on Qaddafi these days. He officially represents “the road travelled” while Saddam is now a symol of “the road less travelled”. The choices are you either stand up to America or become the court jester.
I think dictatorships in the Arab world are a melting iceberg. The problem is when ice bergs melt the sea level usually rises and global warming follows. In other words, I’m not sure if the Arab world is ready for the consequences. Judging by Iraq I would say it’s not going as smoothly as predicted.
The Arab world is a house of cards that is on the verge of collapse.
Tarawneh,
I think it’s not the tyrants, it is the society that got such people in power!
I mean if people were not cowards and half-educated there is no way such peopele would have ruled for ages and ages! It’s not that people don’t have the power to topple them or these tyrants were ruling with an iron fest, they are simply cowards,wimps,and are used to live in humillation, and never to stand up for themselves!
My hat goes to the Lebanese, who keep proving that they are free and brave, though sometimes idiots (regarding the civil war thing).
Nas, I don’t quite understand the concept of “pulling a Qaddafi”, do you mean that Bashar will try to deviate the US by exposing Libya somehow or what? I would appreciate it if you could expalin.
Firas, lol yeah i am with you on this, but you have to acknowledge the underlying social mindset of the Arab world that has grown accustomed to centuries of dictatorships, and though the term itself has become a negative thing in recent years, some have been good and some have been bad in our history. Though above all we’ve become used to this mindset and this is one of those moments where it has betrayed us.
SC, what I was refering to was sort of what Emad was pointing out in this cartoon. Qaddafi who was once known for standing up to US, Qaddafi who was the thorn in the backside. The Qaddafi who had America impose sanctions on Libya. That Qaddafi is slowley fading and turning more into an acceptance of American policies. This could be out of fear for being toppled like Saddam or the need to release Libya from a closed off market.
So Bashar can go his way which would mean the death of any Arab strong men opposing the US, or go the way of Saddam and resist until it breaks him. In the former scenerio he looses face and in the latter he looses his chair. So it’s a tough call.
Oh, now I got it. Thanks
Why Qaddafi? Why can’t he be like His Majesty our King? Or is Hajjaj implicitly making the claim that the two (Qaddafi/King) are the same?
Syria is tough, they’ve been lurking in the shadows for ages now. Nobody cared about their involvement in Lebannon and I’m talking about almost everyone around the World who is not a Lebanese. Until now, when Condi is running around and trying to make a case for the US (read Israel) against Syria. The Security Council will definitely buy it, but I doubt the public anywhere is gonna buy it to the point of supporting a war.
The most likely scenario is economic sanctions, but those won’t hurt the Syrians much, unless the European union finds a way to force Turkey to sever its economic ties with Syria which I find almost as painful to Turkey as it is for Syria.
In case war errupts (very very unlikely in the short term) and the Americans (maybe the French will be there this time) invade Syria, then I think it will be just as bad as Iraq if not worse. Syrians in general are very attached to their leaders, and they believe strongly in pan Arabism and the Arab cause. The Syrians (just like us :p) have a hard time smiling to begin with, I think the Americans will find it very hard finding Syrians smiling back at them.
But I guess this is mostly about what Assad (or the Baathists in general) are gonna do. I think the Syrian leaders should start catering more to the silent opposition in their country. They should start serious reform plans. I’m not talking about doing things on paper, but actually winning the Syrian opposition to their side by actually delivering on their promises before it’s too late and the Americans have an ally inside.
Hamzeh, I agree with most of what you said. Its a good analysis of the situation. About Qaddafi, the monarchy has been traditionally pro-western, we’ve never really clashed with the united states. Qaddafi on the other hand is known for one thing only and that is his clash with the Americans, his turnaround lately is something else.
Actually I take back what I said. I was thinking about US economic sanctions, not full international sanctions like the ones Iraq went through. Turkey might get a deal similar to the one Jordan got during the sanctions on Iraq. The rest of the World will probably cut most ties with Syria. It could be very bad.
Hamzeh, you are right in this regard. Should such sanctions be imposed Jordan stands to benefit the most (at least economically) as it did during the Iraqi sanctions. But sadly, not at an expense worth measuring