Once again, Bashar's speech, at a time when his policies have taken Syria to the brink of collapse, is completely devoid of realistic solutions to the present crisis. He rehashed old pseudo-reform ideas that were unacceptable at a time when the revolution was peaceful and are patently unrealistic at this juncture. Not even the clever visuals, likely the work of a well paid Western PR firm, could overcome the alarming lack of substance in his speech. Moving the speech to the larger opera house instead of the cramped parliament allowed for for the presence of a larger number of his supporters; however, at this point their cult-like devotion of the eternal leader only makes him seem more pathetic. Moreover, the backdrop of his speech, an oversized Syrian flag made up of pictures of the dead, was cynical and offensive for all who have lost family members in the last 22 months. What is new in the speech is the indirect admission, despite the bluster, that he is quickly losing ground. Here following specific quotes from his speech as published in the Daily Star followed by my comments
"Today we meet and suffering permeates Syrian land and there is no place for joy in any corner of the country while security and safety are absent from its streets and alleyways." A clear admission that he is loosing ground and that the revolution has reached every corner of the country.
"We meet today and there are mothers who have lost their finest children and families who have lost their providers, children who have been orphaned and brothers divided among the martyrs, the refugees, and the missing." An enraging cynical twisting of the reality on the ground. It is troops under his command as president that have caused the vast majority of the casualties and physical destruction not to mention the hundreds of videos that "allegedly" show the abuse suffered by common citizens at the hands of the regime's various security forces.
"Syria will only exit this calamity by converting this energy into a total national mobilisation to save the country from the clutches of a crisis which has no precedent in this region." Translation: I have lost control of most of the country and need your help.
"Terrorists holding the views of al Qaeda who call themselves jihadists are the ones running the terrorist operations here and we are fighting them. It is not impossible to destroy them if we have the courage." The old canard trotted out again but still seems to be effective in keeping the West and the rest of the world guessing as to what should be done as the country and its people are systematically destroyed. Here again, the wording: "not impossible to destroy" projects a sense of weakness and impotence.
"Whoever talks solely of a political solution only is turning a blind eye to the facts and he is either ignorant or has been fooled into selling his people and the blood of martyrs for free and we will not allow this." Translation: a political solution on my terms and I reserve the option to continue the military option. In fact, this statements renders all subsequent statements about dialogue and reform null and void.
"We will have dialogue with all those who opposed us politically and all who have rejected our positions as long as their positions were not based on trying to destroy our principles and national foundations." A non sequitur: the "principles and national foundations" he is talking about are the ones of the Baath party as interpreted by the rergime and which all his political opponents reject; hence he has no one to dialogue with.
"We will have dialogue with all parties and individuals that did not sell our country to the foreigner." Never mind that the regime has sold the country to the Iranians and the Russians.
"The political solution will be along the following lines." He goes on to describe a three stage solution for stopping the armed conflict, having a national dialogue, establishing and a new constitution and government. The problem is that this plan is to be implemented by the present discredited government, with their own preconditions and with their own definitions. This is a non-starter and completely unrealistic.
In effect the president's plan is a delusional farce and except for the brain-washed devotees at the opera hall, most Syrians will come to the depressing realization that Bashar, even at the height of this crisis, is incapable of any grand gestures that will help spare the country and its citizens from further death and destruction.
