The Butcher of Damascus

By: Charles Jalkh (Freedom Fighter)

Syria's bloody dictator Hafez Assad, is currently visiting France. This is Assad's first visit outside the Middle East in 23 years. He has good reasons not venture outside his dungeons. The Great Jailer is hated by millions and has a long history of blood on his hands.

Assad's Syria is in shamble today. There were no significant human, social, cultural, or economic achievements during the last 30 years. Syria is still a backward and underdeveloped country governed with an iron fist. Dissent is not tolerated, and Syrians citizens are arrested and tortured based on the whim of the security forces. The regime relies on 15 separate intelligence bodies who often monitor each other in addition to the people.

In the image of the political system, the Syrian economy is also centrally planned and executed. Assad's economic policy has impoverished Syria and caused high unemployment. Its economic resources are misallocated, and private enterprise is stifled. Its banking system is not free and is unsophisticated. Its capital market is virtually non-existent. The Syrian people never developed the dynamism of the Lebanese people. The only viable economic sector in Syria today is "The Pillage of Lebanon". Over a million Syrian workers in Lebanon send 4 billion dollars a year back to Syria to shore up its economy. Also Syrian contractors and firms compete directly on the Lebanese market taking away contracts. The latest agreement imposed on the Beirut puppet regime eliminates tariffs between the two countries within 4 years. Already Syrian products flood the Lebanese market and have forced many Lebanese factories into bankruptcy. Syria's exports to Lebanon are 10 times its imports. Syria also directly runs the Drug Trade in Lebanon. New Syrian entrepreneur working under the protection of 40,000 Syrian occupation troops manage Cocaine and Opium refinement plants in the Bekaa valley and maintain distribution centers throughout Syria shipping the drugs around the world.

For decades, Human rights organizations around the world have reported wide scale abuses against the Syrian people in Syria and against Lebanese, Palestinian and other international citizens throughout the world. The US State Department yearly reports have consistently described the police state apparatus in Syria and its violations of human rights. All press and media is controlled and dissent is not tolerated. Democracy is an alien concept. Sham elections are conducted for form only, and Assad often "receives" 99.99% of the popular vote. Throughout the state, all appointments are made based on political patronage, affiliation with the ruling "Baath" party, and membership the Alaouite sect.

For three decades, Syria's foreign policy seems to have one single exclusive objective; and that is to maintain its occupation of Lebanon. Assad has proven that he is willing to resort to any tactic to keep his control over Lebanon, including assassinations and outright bombardment of Lebanese residential districts. To keep his regime in power, Assad has been willing to make 180 degrees and turn against the same people whose cause he claimed to champion. Assad liquidated the last remnants of Palestinian resistance in Lebanon and forced Arafat into exile in Tunis. Every thing that Syria does today is geared towards the maintenance of the dictatorship and its occupation of Lebanon.

The Syrian people's accomplishments are minimal and insignificant on the world scene. Their cultural, economic, and scientific achievements are very poor. Have you ever heard of any Syrian winning any of the Noble prizes? You don't hear of Syrian doctors discovering new cures or establishing new surgical techniques. No Syrian scientist, economist, journalist, or businessman has shined on the world scene. No wonder. A society ruled by a bloody dictator for 30 years cannot show human achievements. A society based on the murder of its people and the occupation of its neighbors is not grandiose. The Syrian people have not been taught the values of honest and hard work, rather they have been encouraged to take what's not theirs and kill and steal from their neighbors. The example set at the top is that of fear, theft of public funds, pillage of Lebanon, and murder. Simply it is a culture of thieves, murderers, drug lords, and destroyers of Civilization. A regime based on fear breads lies.

Assad is not a great statesman and does not deserve to be received as such. He is a war criminal. He has committed crimes against humanity and has killed thousands of Lebanese, Palestinians and Syrian citizens, as well as hundreds of international citizens. His security services maintain a terrorist and drug networks that have been involved in numerous bombings and assassinations in Lebanon and elsewhere. For the Lebanese people, he is our Hitler.

Long Live Free Lebanon