CAIRO – The butcher of Syria treats his people as if he is their God, not their President. Because he has inherited his power and the Syrian Constitution has been changed so that his family can continue ruling the country against the wishes of the Sunni majority, he considers himself untouchable. He punishes his people because they do not want to be his slaves. He has made little effort to liberate the Golan Heights that his father lost in 1967, when he was Defence Minister. Later on, as President, el-Assad Senior refused to follow Sadat's example and negotiate peace. Saudi Arabia has withdrawn its Ambassador from Syria and the Kuwaiti Parliament has asked its Government to do the same, while the Western economic sanctions on the Syrian regime are becoming tighter day after day. The Russian Ambassador to NATO has plans for military intervention in Syria. Turkey has called on retired officers to come out of retirement for service near the Turkish-Syrian border, in order to be ready for the worst-case scenario. It seems that Syria could be attacked, invaded or divided, if Bashar does not change his ways. If he continues to use his artillery and tanks against his cities and their inhabitants, the international community will take harsher steps against Bashar. He could ask the Iranians and their allies Hizbolluh to send him more troops to fight against his own people. Syria could become an Iranian governorate, boosting Iran's strategic aim of extending its empire to the Mediterranean Sea. But Turkey cannot afford an influx of Syrian refugees. At the same time, there is no guarantee that the Syrian Kurds won't get weapons from their Iraqi and Iranian counterparts and even work with the Turkish Kurds; this could exacerbate the Kurdish problem. This would be a huge headache for Turkey and its army would find it very hard to keep the Turkish State together. This war could drag in Iran, Iraq and Syria and of course Turkey, and Balkanisation might extend all the way from Yemen to Central Asia. War without victory may destroy the economy of a vast region and lead to borders changes reflecting the distribution of ethnic groups. New countries could be born, hostile to their neighbours. In Egypt, those who have been raising the Saudi flags in Tahrir Square should be told that enough is enough. They should realise that in Saudi Arabia there is no democracy and the opposition have few rights. The Army should deal harshly with any sector that is financed by foreigners to serve their own interests not Egypt's interests.
