Al-Assad At The Opera! There Is No Hope Of Reaching A Peaceful Solution With This Tyrant
18 January 2013By Tariq Alhomayed
For nearly an hour Bashar al-Assad spoke at the Syrian
Opera House in Damascus, presenting his discordant
speech full of pride and arrogance. He showed that he
is a man out of touch with reality, with whom one
cannot expect to reach any sort of agreement or
settlement, even if al-Assad himself has become
convinced that matters in Syria are not going in his
favor.
Al-Assad's speech was an arrogant one and it came in
direct response to the Russians and others, telling
them that he refuses to settle, or if there is to be a
settlement al-Assad would be laying down the terms and
conditions. It was as if al-Assad was saying to the
Russians "go to hell", but al-Assad is aware, as he
said in his speech, that the situation in Syria is no
longer going in his favor. This was especially
apparent when he said: "We meet today and suffering is
overwhelming Syrian land. There is no place for joy
while security and stability are absent on the streets
of our country". These were the only true words in the
whole speech, but it does not mean that al-Assad will
learn from the experiences of others, rather it means
that he will commit more crimes. What al-Assad
proposed in his initiative was nothing but a clear
game, which the foreign ministers of both Britain and
Turkey were quick to pick up on, as was the EU, when
they called for al-Assad to step down and described
his speech as hypocrisy.
Al-Assad was trying to convince what remains of his
supporters that what is happening in Syria is the work
of terrorists, and Islamists seeking to return Syria
to the middle ages, but the truth is that anyone who
has visited Syria in recent years is aware that the
country, under the shadow of the father al-Assad and
the son, has lived through centuries of
underdevelopment, and far from being a civil state it
is a backwards police state used to ensure the rule of
al-Assad and nothing more. Therefore, everything
proposed by al-Assad is nothing but the age-old game
that has already been used in Lebanon and Iraq, and
Syria throughout his reign, and throughout the Syrian
revolution.
What al-Assad said shows there is no hope of reaching
a peaceful agreement; for he is fundamentally
incapable of absorbing the gravity of what is going on
around him. In his latest speech he was like Gaddafi,
without the comedic element but with the clear
arrogance and the desperate attempt to outsmart
everyone, including those who support him such as the
Russians, whom it is clear al-Assad embarrassed in his
latest speech.
Today, after al-Assad's speech, it is inevitable that
we must return to advocating the need for foreign
intervention, in a variety of forms, the simplest of
which being to act now to support the rebels with
quality weaponry, specifically weapons capable of
disabling the tyrant of Damascus' aircraft. This would
accelerate the fall of al-Assad, especially as the
revolutionaries are now surrounding him from
everywhere, yet the aircraft remain the decisive
factor. Supporting the rebels with quality weaponry
would enable them to impose their control over
military airports and clear the Syrian skies from the
tyrant's aircraft.
Al-Assad's speech at the opera was discordant, but it
was a message to the international community that now
is the time to intervene in Syria, for there is no
hope of reaching a peaceful solution with this tyrant
in any way.
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.
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