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| Syria-Lebanon |
| Syrians Worry About Their Baath Party |
| 2003-05-13 |
| EFL Despite three decades of hostility between the rival Baath parties of Syria and Iraq, the Syrian Baathists are watching with concern how the party that ruled neighboring Iraq under Saddam Hussein has been crushed and dissolved by the U.S. forces in Iraq. "This is illegal. In principle and according to international law, an occupation force does not have the right to dissolve a country's political organizations," said Mehdi Dakhlallah, editor-in-chief of the Syrian state-run Baath newspaper and a member of Syria's ruling Baath party. Funny, I must have missed that law. No one seemed to be too upset when we dissolved the Nazi Party. On Sunday, U.S. Gen. Tommy Franks, commander of coalition forces that led the Iraq war, issued a statement saying Saddam's Baath party, which ruled Iraq for 35 years, "is dissolved." The Syrian official Baath newspaper made no mention in its Monday edition of Franks' statement. But the unseating of the party next door has been unnerving for the Syrians to watch, though the two rival wings have been bitter adversaries for years. Syrian analysts say that dissolving the Iraqi Baath party would not have a direct effect on Syria's branch of the party, which broke ranks with the Iraqi Baath in 1966 amid political infighting over party principles and issues of Arab unity. Haitham Kilani, a retired Syrian general and former diplomat, said there was no way to compare the Syrian party to the Iraqi party, "which produced a dictator and led the country to disaster." "Hey, you can't compare our dictator with their dictator! You don't see us making war on their neighbors, supporting terrorists , or hiding weapons of mass d....oh, never mind." "Unfortunately, the Americans do not realize these important differences and this is causing disasters in American political thought and hence the accusations against Syria," he said. "This is something that we are going to have to deal with." Unfortunately for Syria, we don't see that many differences and that is what they are going to have to deal with. Perhaps feeling the winds of change, Syria — which the United States also accuses of sponsoring terrorism — has been trying to soften its image in recent months. Parliamentary elections in March saw the election of many new faces and a record number of women. Despite Baath's continued dominance, the elections reflected a significant shift in Syria's rigid political landscape and took place in a climate where, for once, opposition supporters could voice criticism of the establishment. Approved opposition voicing approved criticism. Around 1.5 million of Syria's 18.5 million population are members of the Baath party. Last month, Syria changed its military-style school uniforms, opting for light pink and blue instead of the khaki outfits they had worn for decades. How cute you look in your pink and blue uniforms with matching bomb belts. The Arab Socialist Baath Party was founded as a secular Arab nationalist party in Syria in the 1940s by a small group of French-educated Syrian intellectuals led by Michel Aflaq, a Greek Orthodox Christian. French-educated Syrian intellectuals-need we say more? Founded with the aim of reasserting the Arab spirit in the face of imperialism, it spread quickly around the Arab world, promoting Arab superiority and Arab unity with a violent, Soviet-style party structure. Enough, we know they're Arab, OK? It took power in Syria in 1963 and created branches in many Arab countries — including Jordan, Lebanon and Yemen — but the original spirit of the party declined in later years as branches bitterly squabbled both with established governments and rival, communist revolutionaries. So much for that Arab "Unity". The last Baath party convention was held in June 2000 to appoint Bashar Assad as its new party leader, paving the way for him to succeed his late father, Hafez. Cuz that's what dictators do. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #3 Yeah, Scooter, but there's a fatwah out on the duck now for ditching the commercial in Las Vegas to attend that immoral floor show. |
| Posted by: Hodadenon 2003-05-13 16:36:41 |
| #2 In other [fake] news, Michel Aflaq, a Greek Orthodox Christian, made millions selling "supplimental insurance" in the USA. It's television ads featured a cute duck that repeatedly quacked it's founder's name. "Aflaq!" |
| Posted by: Scooter McGruder 2003-05-13 14:45:12 |
| #1 Yeah, Scooter, but there's a fatwah out on the duck now for ditching the commercial in Las Vegas to attend that immoral floor show. |
| Posted by: Hodadenon 5/13/2003 4:36:41 PM |