Hot Air From Bashar

Bashar’s speech today was full of smokescreens. The real purpose of it was to talk peace with Israel.

Stiff face, stiff speech

What was Bashar thinking? In one breath, he attacked Arab Leaders, the Americans and The Israelis and called the Lebanese March 14 forces Israeli agents. The speech was so hard-line that the German foreign Minister cancelled his trip to Syria in protest.
You can’t shoot at everyone when you’re as weak as the Syrians. Where’s the catch?

A shallow reading of Bashar’s speech makes you conclude that he made up his mind regarding his country’s strategic direction: He would forever break from the “Arab fold” and join the Iranian hardliners in a holly matrimony that would eventually wipe Israel off the map. But is that really the case?

In his carefully choreographed speech (random children popping up from an elderly crowd interrupting him with poetry and praise) he seemed convinced that the “culture of resistance” is the next big thing in the Arab world and he wanted to associate himself and his regime with Hezbollah’s “victory”. He wants to send the message that he's siding with an Arab moral high ground (unlike “defeatist” regimes who “call themselves realists”)

The speech, as usual, was very insulting to the Lebanese people, but this blogger won't care less about what comes out of that man’s mouth and will focus on its significance.

Bashar is simply listening to his friend Ahmadinejad’s advice: “listen buddy. With the Americans and Israelis, the stronger you are, the noisier you are, the more attention you will get.” Mr. Assad uttered the word “peace” at least 10 times in his speech. One political analyst said that Assad was emboldened by the many voices in the American commentariat who are calling for Bush to talk with the Syrians.

The Israelis got the message. Emir Peretz, the Israeli Defense Minister suggested today that one of the outcomes of this war could be diplomatic talks with Syria.

Sorry, I will make this one short. The Israelis are not paying as well as they used to.

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