Syria's president portrays a commanding presence, but perhaps only because politics remain foreign to everyday life, writes Sami Moubayed from Damascus President Bashar Al-Assad's speech has been viewed with mixed emotions in Syria. The majority of Syria's 18 million loved it, because it struck an emotional nerve in the Syrian capital. It spoke about big ideas that are still popular in Syria, such as Arab nationalism, anti-colonialism and Syrian patriotism. Some Syrians were worried after the speech, however, claiming that Al-Assad was very defiant, fearing a bitter American response. This response indeed came the next day, with President George W Bush demanding the release of political prisoners in Syria. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice echoed Bush's calls at a conference in Bahrain. They were primarily speaking about Kamal Labwani, a dissident who had just held meetings with high profile US officials at the White House, only to be arrested at Damascus Airport upon his return to Syria. All Syrians, however -- even the opposition -- were indifferent to his arrest, arguing that even in the healthiest of democracies, a man working with a foreign power to topple his government would be classified as a traitor; it would have been wrong not to arrest him. Even Shokri Al-Quwatli, president of Syria during the democratic 1950s, would have arrested a dissident wanting to topple his regime with the help of a foreign power. This context explains why Bush and Rice's calls fell on deaf ears in Syria. Worried Syrians who seek appeasement with the United States are not a majority. The street is defiant and wanted the country's president to voice its views vis-à-vis the Americans. It happens that the government is Arab nationalist and believes in these slogans, as does the opposition. That is why members of the opposition -- being Nasserists, early Baathists, Muslim Brotherhood, etc. -- had nothing but praise for the steadfastness of Al-Assad's speech. Nonetheless, many in Syria were worried in recent weeks about the gridlock in Syrian-US relations. Rumours were proliferating in the streets of Damascus, some as farfetched as saying that the president was about to resign, triggered by the veteran communist and opposition leader Riyad Al-Tork. The economy was grinding to a halt, with the street troubled by the unknown, threatening a breakdown of security, and civil disorder. Al-Assad came out and proved the opposite. He showed the world that he was still, as leader, in firm command of Syria, still visible on the international stage, and certainly not thinking of slinking away. A government official put it this way: "Leaders lead. It's that simple. And Al-Assad showed the world that he was a leader in his speech at Damascus University." The outside world, meanwhile, perhaps due to the media campaign against the president and Syria, expected a defeated Al-Assad to come out and say that having learned from the lesson in Iraq, he was about to surrender to the United States. Al-Assad declined to satisfy such fantasies, calling on the Syrians to support him and have faith in his leadership. He said: "Trust the credibility of the position of your country. Trust that when national cohesion is strong between the people and their leader, it will surround the country with a wall of immunity to face the difficulties and challenges." It is politically incorrect for any leader to show, in times of crisis and war, weakness to his people. In times of crisis, people look for strength in leadership. They want a president who can silence echoes of negativity and raise their morale. Al-Assad did that by showing them that the government was neither weak nor passive relative to events taking place around it. Any leader would have done that. Denied any showing of contrition, the international media concentrated on Al-Assad's harsh criticism of Lebanon's parliament and Prime Minister Fouad Al-Siniora, who Al-Assad described as a "slave" who receives orders, in reference to MP Saad Al-Hariri. Al-Assad also said that Lebanon had become "a route, a manufacturer, and financier" of conspiracies against Syria, and that most of its politicians were "blood traders". The new leaders of Lebanon, he said, "had made a stock market of Al-Hariri's blood, and this stock market is yielding money and positions". Al-Assad explained that the late Rafik Al-Hariri had been "the good son" of Syria who had "supported this (Syrian) era; marketed it and defended it." This fiery statement was intended for local consumption because the Syrian street had been greatly troubled by anti-Syrian rhetoric coming out of Beirut since the assassination of Al-Hariri in February 2005. Many Syrians considered it understandable that the Lebanese would be anti-Syrian, but believed that this sentiment should come to an end the minute the Syrian Army evacuated from Lebanon on 26 April 2005. When it did not, the Syrians became bitter. The street did not really care if it was Syria who had wronged the Lebanese in the first place. As far as they were concerned, this was now history and Syria today was out of Lebanon, leaving no reason for the Lebanese to criticise Syria or lash out at innocent Syrians visiting Lebanon. As the anti-Syrian talk increased the Syrians began demanding that their government respond with the same magnitude. There is a general consensus in Syria that after February 2005, the Syrians had no role to play whatsoever in Lebanon. They are completely innocent of the blood of Samir Kassir and George Hawi, and the attempted murder of May Chidiak and Elias Al-Murr. When scores of Lebanese accused Syria of orchestrating these killings, the Syrians became furious. That is why the backlash against Al-Siniora was seen as understandable in the Syrian street. The parts of Al-Assad's speech that were meant for the world to hear were his warm embrace of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and his articulate support for the post-Saddam order in Iraq. He did not refer to the insurgency as "resistance" and clearly said: "We say to the Iraqi people very clearly that as far as we are concerned, the blood of every Iraqi is exactly the same as the blood of every Syrian." He then revealed that Syria had tried to set up a diplomatic mission in Iraq and renewed his invitation to President Jalal Talabani and Prime Minister Ibrahim Al-Jaafari to visit Syria. He was saying that Syria's refusal to cooperate with or recognise the pro-American leadership of Iraq is now effectively over. As for the Palestinians, Al-Assad said that, "Syria agrees to whatever our Palestinian brothers agree to," showing that Syria's role was not to obstruct the reform campaign of Abbas, nor his attempts to disarm the resistance, incorporate them into political life, and end the Intifada. It is these two points that Al-Assad wanted the Western world to hear, and his confirmation that Syria was willing to cooperate with the UN Investigation Committee into the Al-Hariri murder. Despite his moderation on Iraq and Palestine, Al-Assad warned the Syrians to expect the worst saying, "whatever we do, and no matter how much we cooperate, the result will show in a month's time or a year's time that Syria did not cooperate. We have to know this fact, whether we like it or not." He then said that Syria has two options, to either kill itself, or be killed by the enemy. Killing itself means surrender, saying that this "deprives you of two things: first, the honour of defending yourself; and second, the possibility of harming or defeating him [the enemy]." If Syria surrenders, he added, it would be turned into "a dough that they can form in any way they like from the outside". He said that Syria tried to avoid the "well-set outlaw" (in reference to the US) who is "without any principals". But "the outlaw had followed" Syria wherever it went, "forced himself into the house, and attacked the father, the mother, the brother, the sister, the daughter." He asked, "Can we avoid him? Is it wise to let him do this?" Responding passively to this outlaw was "unacceptable". He added: "Those who accept it become social outcasts. We cannot give in to anything that could enter our houses and try to humiliate us from the inside." He further pointed out that Syria supports the international community, "but not at the expense of our national commitments". He signed off telling his people not to fear because fear "is the condition which paralyses us and pushes us towards certain defeat." Due to Al-Assad's popularity among a majority of Syrians, especially the youth, most Syrians smiled in relief. Some, however, did not know how to react. Over the past four decades, the people have been taught to leave politics to the Baathists because "they know best what is in Syria's interest". The Syrians have been indoctrinated to believe that political activity is not a job for the masses. They have been taught to trust the judgement and wisdom of their government and not to question its decisions. And once again they have proved their obedience.
