Syria, Day 23 of 85: More political anger

Here's an English translation of Assad's speech. And some Syrian stats. And I'm sorry, but I'm not done talking about this...I'll post pictures of babies and kitties the next time I post, I swear.

I've been a news junkie the past few days, absorbing almost anything I can find on Syria and reactions to the speech. You know, one thing I haven't seen mentioned much is the fact that Syria isn't just being cornered by America, it's (at least unofficially, if not officially) being cornered by the Islamic militants. In case, uh, EVERYONE hasn't noticed, if you're a Middle Eastern country that's trying to get along with America, some terrorist comes and blows you up for being a traitor. Didn't Jordan suffer like that? The "new" Iraq? And although it's less clear who's behind the Lebanon attacks, they're no stranger to bombings, either. Syria has been mercifully spared terrorist attacks, and I don't doubt that's at least partially because Assad is staunchly against Israel and hasn't let himself become an American puppet. He's helped fight terrorism before, and he's complied with America on many occasions, but he's not America's lapdog.

Oh, and let's be clear--Israel is a huge, huge issue over here. And if I hear one more person write it off with, "Oh, the Middle Eastern countries blame Israel for everything," I'm going to tear out my hair. Yes, plenty of people blame Israel for more stuff than it deserves to be blamed for. Yes, far too many Palestinians have blown themselves up to kill innocent Israelis (and killing innocent people for any cause is never okay). But y'know what? Israel pulls so much shit--SO MUCH SHIT--that countries like Syria have every reason to be pissed at it. Do you want Syria to accept you and Israel, America? Because they're not buying Israel, with their illegal settlements, their tanks running down neighborhoods, their convicted-war-criminal Prime Minister. They have every reason to hate it for moral reasons, and since Bush is so bent on "doing the moral thing," he should understand that. Oh, wait! His morals are the only ones that count. Because trying to slip Christian values into a religion-free government and making everyone do what he, a born-again, thinks is right has nothing in common with the religious fundamentalism he hates so much.

We can't let terrorists run our lives. We can't let people think terrorism is a valid way of getting a point across--remember Spain, and how a bombing changed the outcome of an election? A little piece of me died that day, and I think the world is now a worse place because of it. But at the same time, we can't ignore the fact that terrorism is terribly prominent these days. Since 9/11, for all of Bush's efforts to "stop terrorism," things have gotten far, far worse. Putting a new government in Iraq? Oh, that's worked. America's plans and goals and missions to make the Middle East a better place have worked about as well as throwing a chunk of sodium and a gallon of chlorine into the local lake to make it saltier.

So pretend you're Assad. You don't do what the UN wants and what America keeps yelling at you to do, and you risk sanctions...and a possible invasion from America down the line, since they've been known to pull that crap. You do whatever America says, let them spread their influence in Syria, let them push for government reform...and you've got BORDERING COUNTRIES potentially pissed at you for selling out. Bush keeps yelling at Syria for letting terrorists pass from Syria to Iraq, so he obviously believes terrorists are on Syrian territory a fair share of the time. Doesn't he realize that Assad has to think of that? That Assad can't just do everything America says, because these terrorists despise the American government and pass right on through Syria? Giving America too much too soon puts innocent Syrian people at risk for retaliation from angry psychos.

It's easy to talk about clean-cut justice from the air-conditioned White House. But the reality is that terrorists are running around the Middle East, and it doesn't take much these days to get them to come after you. Assad has to balance the West crushing him from one side with the militants crushing him from the other. Oh, on that note, a fun little fact--Assad isn't a fundamentalist, nor is he even Muslim.

Assad's already said he wants to cooperate with the Hariri investigation, but he wants to compromise. The White House, of course, is pissed that he's not just bending over. Can the US please, PLEASE at least tone down its international bullying and its condescending language? I don't know Assad's intentions, obviously, but I wish the White House would get its collective head out of its collective ass and realize that pushing any Middle Eastern country into reform can lead to a lot of blood and a hell of a lot of hate. Why do you think the US is so scared of Iran? Why do think Iraq is on the brink of civil war?

God, these posts are making me angry.