01 Feb 2012 By Tariq Alhomayed It is clear that the al-Assad regime is losing its
senses, particularly as the regime intensified the
wave of violence which has struck a number of Syrian
regions, with the death toll exceeding 80. This is not
to mention the return of the car bomb, which appears
to be a phenomenon that only occurs on Fridays, and we
must thank God Almighty that vehicles do not have
beards, otherwise the al-Assad regime would have
brought such vehicles out onto the street as evidence
of the presence of terrorists! The question that must be asked now is: why has the
al-Assad regime lost its senses in this manner,
intensifying its violent practices to the point that
the head of the Arab League observer mission General
Mohammed al-Dabi was forced to issue a statement? Al-Dabi
issued a statement saying that the violence has
increased dramatically over the past three days,
particularly in Homs, Hama and Idlib, calling for "an
immediate end to the violence to protect the Syrian
people and clear the way for peaceful resolutions."
To answer the question, it is clear that the Arab
League initiative calling on Bashar al-Assad to step
down is the cause for the tyrant of Damascus losing
his senses, particularly as this initiative opens new
avenues for dealing with the Syrian file, such as
transferring this issue to the UN Security Council. We
are now witnessing a grand battle being fought within
the UN for the Security Council to adopt this Arab
initiative. The al-Assad regime's fear is now focused
on its dread that the Russians will sell them out,
particularly in the event that the Russian demands are
met, which is to be expected, for this is something
that the Russians have done before, whether with
regards to the Iranians or others. We must also not
forget an important statement issued by [Russian Prime
Minister] Vladimir Putin a few weeks ago in which he
said that the West must take Russia's strategic
interests into account in any decision they take.
Therefore the al-Assad regime today wants to quickly
change the situation on the ground to convince Moscow
of their capability of surviving the revolution, and
ensuring that this is a fait accompli for the Arab
states. However it is clear today that the time has run out
for Bashar al-Assad, whose regime is making one
mistake after another on the ground. Indeed even
Aleppo, which had distanced itself from the Syrian
revolution, saw dozens of people being killed at the
hands of the al-Assad regime yesterday, whilst the
involvement of Iranian officers in supporting the al-Assad
regime in Syria was also confirmed by a video
recording released by the Free Syrian Army [FSA]. As
we mentioned above, even General al-Dabi was forced to
break his silence in the face of the violence and
killings being carried out against Syrian citizens. He
finally said a word of truth, after his previous
reports about the situation in Syria were met with
widespread rejection and condemnation. This is
something that confirms that Saudi Arabia took the
correct position to withdraw its observers from this
mission; Riyadh announced that it would not bear false
witness to what is happening in Syria, and this
position was later adopted by the majority of other
Gulf States. In summary, the al-Assad regime is now racing
against time to survive, but it is clear that the
wheel of change has turned, and that the situation on
the ground has changed and escalated, even
outstripping Arab and international diplomatic
efforts. Therefore, we will no doubt see more
massacres being carried out by the al-Assad regime.
May God help the people of Syria! Tariq Alhomayed is the Editor-in-Chief of Asharq
Al-Awsat, the youngest person to be appointed that
position. He holds a BA degree in Media studies from
King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah, and has also
completed his Introductory courses towards a Master's
degree from George Washington University in Washington
D.C. He is based in London. Comments 💬 التعليقات |