Syria's Road to Damascus?

Fire of Liberty

Dean Godson, a research director of the independent UK think tank Policy Exchange, has a wonderful piece in the September 10, 2005 issue of The Times on the future of the Assad regime in Syria. It seems like the regime's hold on power is slowly slipping and Assad is scared of leaving Damascus to go to the UN General Assembly for fear of being indicted on charges of murder of the late Lebanese PM Rafik Hariri not to mention he's fearful of losing his seat to a coup if he leaves his country for a extended time frame. That's what I like to see, an Arab dictator fearful of leaving their country for the UN or elsewhere. I'd say he's in a box so now we can follow through with the Syrian Accountability Act and help the Syrian people finding a more worthy government. In fact, Godson points out that the US is forging ahead in finding various alternative leadership models like this:

Instead, the Administration seems likely to pursue a middle way between neo-conservative interventionism and the "“realism"” of career Arabists at the State Department. It also now feels it needs to know more about alternatives to the Baath regime: that is why Michael Doran, senior director on the National Security Council staff for the Near East, recently met Farid Ghadry, a foremost dissident and leader of the Reform Party of Syria.

Ghadry is proposing to set up a provisional parliament-in-exile to negotiate a "“Bremer-less"” transition out of Baathism. He is anxious not to repeat what many think to be the errors of Iraq, namely backing a ruling minority into a corner: he would allow the Alawites to remain in the armed forces pending a new democratic constitution.

I just hope Ghadry and the folks in the Reform Party will rethink their whole idea of including the Baathists and Assad's Alawite clan in the government. Don't forget, these folks are the main reason why Syria is in the shape that it is in. If you want to end such a tyranny then these folks will have to go because as long as their is a possibility that the Baathists or Alawites are awaiting in the wings to return to power thus threatening to drown Syrian democracy in its mere beginnings. Aside from that, I like the whole idea of pushing Assad off his throne.