Bashar, We Didn't Know You Had It In You
It appears that Bashar al-Assad, mild-mannered ophthalmologist, genetic cousin of Beaker and accidental president of Syria, was the mastermind behind the wave of Muslim rioting that followed the publication of the Danish cartoons of Mohammed in 2006. If the Wikileak cable that revealed this information is to be believed, Bashar kicked off the demonstrations with a direct instruction -- and, even more strikingly, it was his word that brought the chaos to a halt.
Bashar is widely perceived as but a faint shadow of his father Hafez (who never, in fact, intended him to be president; that role was meant for Bashar's elder brother Basil, who died in a car crash). Gangly, soft-spoken, always slightly bewildered-looking, and rarely the generator of the kinds of hysterical headlines that characterize this region (purple proclamations are not his style), Bashar gives the impression of weakness. Yet here we have him apparently orchestrating a series of events that inflamed the entire Arab world and put the rest of us on notice that we'd damn well better toe the line when it comes to Muslim sensitivities: mock us and die, infidel.
That's just not the kind of thing many of us would have expected from quiet, blinking Bashar. Remember that he is a secularist, allegedly pro-democracy, and far from an intimate friend of Islamic fundamentalists. If he was indeed behind the rioting over the cartoons -- a risky move that could have backfired within Syria -- it suggests not only that he is controlling his home-grown Islamists with an iron hand but that he is capable of one hell of a slick double game. It suggests a rather impressively Machiavellian ability to straddle allegiances to further one's own political ends -- a talent we in Israel would do well to note.
Bashar has not performed acts of widespread ruthlessness on a par with his father (yet), but I'm starting to wonder what else he might be capable of. Note that he was almost certainly also involved in the assassination of Lebanese PM Rafik Hariri, and will probably get away with it. (The Hezbollah trigger men are on the UN hot seat, and that's fine by him.) He might be a much more cunning leader than he's been given credit for. If Bashar is able to light up -- and, more importantly, cool down -- the whole Arab world with a quiet word, he is worth a much more concerted courtship by Israel. Any substantive developments on that track would require tremendous bravery on Bashar's part -- no Arab leader can make peace with Israel lightly -- but he may well possess it. And if he does, he could be a formidable ally.
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Comments :
Sep '10
Re: Bashar, We Didn't Know You Had It In You
He was somebody's baby once.
Jul '10
Re: Bashar, We Didn't Know You Had It In You
So Bashar al-Assad was believed to be a "secularist." It was recently revealed that another so-called secularist, Saddam Hussein, was in his later years having the Koran written out in his own blood. Who awards the secularist label to these devout Muslims? I'm reading V.S. Naipul's 1981 "Among the Believers." If you want to understand the confused state of the Muslim mind, it is invaluable. They reject the modern world but depend on it. It is a balancing trick that, as you might think, creates fertile grounds for fanaticism and paranoia.
Sep '10
Re: Bashar, We Didn't Know You Had It In You
Unrelated comment: does anyone know an Opthamologist or even an Optometrist who isn't mild mannered? I have yet to meet one.
Jul '10
Re: Bashar, We Didn't Know You Had It In You
I had an opthamologist who was silent and tense and treated his employees badly. He didn't believe an hour and a half was too long for patients to wait. I left him for the mild-mannered guy down the street.
Oct '10
Re: Bashar, We Didn't Know You Had It In You
Let me see if I have this right... Bashar orchestrated Muslim riots by throwing a switch, then turned the switch off at his convenience. He engaged the Hezbollah terrorists who killed Rafik Hariri. He is an otherwise mild mannered ophthalmologist.
Therefor, he is a natural ally of Israel? This certainly sounds like the kind of diplomacy that Obama would naturally be drawn to. Please tell us again why it would be good for Israel??
May '10
Re: Bashar, We Didn't Know You Had It In You
Look at that cruel face, narrow lips and you wonder if he is not ruthless killer? Where was he during the Hama massacre. Alas, it is only when Jews kill Arabs that the press are outraged, not when Syrians and Jordanians slaughter their own citizens.
I think it profoundly unwise to trust him, or his government. Syria remains home to escaped Nazis (Alois Brunner), the country of "Ash-Shatat" (the dramatised version of the Protocols of Zion), and yet can be good for Israel?
Jun '10
Re: Bashar, We Didn't Know You Had It In You
Great book!
Nov '10
Re: Bashar, We Didn't Know You Had It In You
Forgive me for pointing out the obvious, but we would not have to worry quite so much about cooling down the Arab world if pencil-necked creeps like Bashar did not keep lighting it up. Do you honestly think he has any slightest possible interest in becoming an ally of Israel? The only thing Bashar is "worth" is a cruise missle with his GPS location programmed into the targeting mechanism.
Re: Bashar, We Didn't Know You Had It In You
Look, folks. Israel is in a bad neighborhood. She has no "natural allies" at all here. Does that mean she should refuse to pursue even a cold peace with neighbors whose strength against a common enemy (even if it cannot be publicly identified as such) can conceivably be turned to our advantage?
I’m not debating the necessity for Israel to remain in a constant state of maximum military readiness. There’s no question that that will be necessary for a very long time. My point is that it’s surely in our interest (and America's, too) for us to at least covertly pursue relationships with Arab leaders who are not (yet) beholden to the Islamist cause. If that puts a bad taste in your mouth, sorry. If your whole approach to Israeli sustainability is to tell us to reject out of hand the sliver of possibility of any potential alliances, overt or covert, with our enemies, and to fight them all ad infinitum rather than find ways to use their fights with each other to our advantage, I have news for you: we will lose.
Jul '10
Re: Bashar, We Didn't Know You Had It In You
Judith, I would love to bring a ray of hope into the discussion, but the neighborhood is not a good one and Israel's best diplomatic tool is the sort that hasn't been used in earnest since 1945. Yes, Israel needs to make the best deals it can with the neighborhood powers without losing its self. Especially, and its our national shame, while the White House is not your friend.
These neighbors have made Mein Kampf a world best seller for decades and would try another round of war making given a hope of success. But, as you say, their own rivalries keep them from risking the status quo and Israel can work those worries.
God speed.
Re: Bashar, We Didn't Know You Had It In You
Hear, hear. That said, the rumor reported in this cable seems implausible to me. What motivation would he have for taking this risk? As you point out, that would be a risky move with a high potential for backfiring, and what's the payoff?