Fake "Revolutionaries" Attacking Moaz Alkhatib: Syrian National Coalition Chief falls Foul Of Double Standards
06 January 2013
By Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed
The al-Assad regime in Syria has survived for 40
years, dominating the country and regional politics
thanks to two things; secret security services that
kill without hesitation according to a strategy of
deterrence and subjection, and the creation of fake
institutions under various populist slogans. This is
how it all began when Hafez al-Assad carried out his
coup under the Baathist slogan "One Arab Nation,
Bearing an Eternal Message." At the time, this slogan
was viewed as being bright and patriotic; however in
reality it was nothing more than propaganda for al-Assad
to legitimize his coup, and later his reign, during
which he killed his comrades and rivals alike.
Following this, Hafez al-Assad invented other
entities, this time under the name of "Arab
nationalism", for those who were opposed to the
Baathist party. When he discovered that Iran's
Khomeinist regime was rallying popularity under the
banner of Islam, al-Assad created extremist Islamist
entities with the help of Tehran, establishing the
first Shiite entity in southern Lebanon, as well as a
Sunni entity in northern Lebanon, linking both groups
to Iran. As for the Sunni leadership in Lebanon, this
included late Sheikh Saeed Shaaban. There can also be
no doubt that Hafez al-Assad most traded on the
Palestinian blood and Cause, followed by Iran,
jeopardizing the region's people and imposing his
hegemony under the pretext of liberating Palestine.
However in reality, it was these two parties who most
traded with the Palestinian people's rights, utilizing
them to dominate Lebanon and the Palestinian forces,
and then strike at the Arab regimes that opposed them
whilst never actually threatening Israel.
Those who were shocked today by the acts of Ahmed
Jibril and the "Popular Front for the Liberation of
Palestine – General Command" [PFLP-GC] for openly
participating in the killing of the Syrian people as
well as Palestinian refugees in support of al-Assad
have failed to understand what we have been saying for
years regarding our doubts and rejection of these
groups that have been linked to Iran and Syria, and
prior to this, Saddam Hussein's Iraq, including the
"Abu Nidal Organization". Those who refuse to believe
what we are saying today about other similar groups
will tomorrow discover something that will not please
them at all, because there can be no doubt that all
the entities that have worked with the Syrian and
Iranian regimes have stained their hands with the
Syria people's blood. It is difficult for people like
me to believe that such groups are independent whilst
at the same time working with al-Assad's security
apparatus. This is what we have been saying about
Hassan Nasrallah and Hezbollah, namely that when he
raised the slogans of Palestine and Lebanon, he was
actually nothing more than an Iranian-Syrian
battalion, and if Israel wanted to eradicate him, it
would not have failed. The Palestinian, Turkish, Iraqi
and Gulf organizations that previously developed in
Damascus were employed under the same Syrian hegemony
and leadership, but when some of them saw al-Assad's
predicament they ran away just like rats fleeing a
sinking ship.
But what does all of the above have to do with this
article's title and Moaz Alkhatib, the President of
the National Coalition for Opposition Forces and the
Syrian Revolution, i.e. the man primarily responsible
for the Syrian uprising today?
When he took over the leadership of this coalition, we
saw many figures and groups issue statements opposing
him. These statements were directed towards the West
claiming that Alkhatib is a Muslim radical who has
secret links to Al Qaeda, whilst contradictory
statements were also issued by Islamist, national and
revolutionary groups, attacking him and claiming that
he is an agent of Israel and the US. In reality all of
these statements can be traced back to a single
source; the Syrian regime. The al-Assad regime has
mastered the art of propaganda and fabrication. This
is similar to what the Syrian regime previous did in
Iraq namely issuing statements on behalf of Al Qaeda
and the various national Iraqi forces, whilst at the
same time working with Iran to secure Nouri al-Maliki's
appointment as prime minister despite Iyad Allawi's
election majority; this is a documented story that has
only been revealed lately. For years, al-Assad misled
a superpower – the United States – claiming he was
against radical Islamic groups and Al Qaeda. The
Americans were taken in by this to the point that they
shared their intelligence with him and sent Al Qaeda
suspects for interrogation to his security services.
At the same time as this, Syrian intelligence
officers, wearing false beards, claimed to be jihadist
leaders secretly working in Syria, receiving Arab,
Gulf and Libyans recruits and training them to kill
and carry out terrorist operations that were
unprecedented in the history of our region.
The Al-Assad regime has long experience in
"reincarnating" groups, something that began in
Lebanon. Back in the eighties, the regime used to
train Lebanese groups to abduct Arab and foreign
diplomats, and carry out suicide operations under
Shiite, national and Palestinian banners. Through
these violence workshops, al-Assad was able to control
Lebanon for three decades, then al-Assad the son tried
to imitate his father. He he ordered the assassination
of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and 20 other Lebanese
figures in order to intimidate his opponents and take
control of the entire country however this plan
ultimately back-fired. Militarily, Hariri was the
weakest of the Lebanese leader, because he had no
militia; nevertheless his assassination represented
the beginning of the end, and the fire that was
ignited by al-Assad in Lebanon spread into Syria, as
we are witnessing today.
As for those who are engaged in the Syrian revolution
and its millions of sympathizers, we should stress
that you must not judge a book by its cover. There are
jihadist and national groups that have been fabricated
or infiltrated and their major objective is to
dismantle the revolution's gains and turn the rebels'
weapons against each other so that the Syrian people
will be preoccupied by discord and sedition for long
years to come and the Syrian people will wish to
return to the al-Assad era.
We have to realize, based on this huge amount of
evidence, that al-Assad is not stupid, as some like to
portray him, and that he has been well aware – for
more than a year – this his regime will collapse but
has refused to step down before he has completely
destroyed Syria and its tolerant and reconciliatory
society. He has refused to step down before ensuring
that the Syrian people inherit a civil war based on
religion, identity, history and conflicting interests.
Therefore those who accuse Alkhatib of being an agent
are nothing but fake revolutionaries employed by al-Assad
to crush his opponents.
Al
Rashed is the general manager of Al -Arabiya
television. He is also the former editor-in-chief of
Asharq Al- Awsat, and the leading Arabic weekly
magazine, Al Majalla. He is also a senior Columnist in
the daily newspapers of Al Madina and Al Bilad. He is
a US post-graduate degree in mass communications. He
has been a guest on many TV current affairs programs.
He is currently based in Dubai.
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EsinIslam.Com
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