Hanin Ghaddar

Is Bashar al-Assad that foolish? Doesn’t he know that the brutality he has unleashed for almost five months against peaceful protesters will only lead them to demonstrate more and escalate their demands? Can’t he see that killing, torturing and humiliating the Syrians made them realize that the only thing they want is dignity and freedom?  Is it sheer stupidity, or is he playing a dirty game?

After Sunday’s massacre in Hama and other towns in Syria, it has become clear that August will be a bloody month.
The Muslim holy month of Ramadan also falls in August, but in Syria this month has gained a different meaning. It is now the month of toppling the regime, as every night will witness vast demonstrations after the Ramadan prayers, which take place in mosques, the only natural gathering place left in the country.
As of this morning, tanks are deployed in the streets of towns and villages where large demonstrations have taken place. Assad wants to make sure the people will not be able to demonstrate. But he seems to have forgotten Daraa.

The first spark of the revolution started in Daraa, and the regime sent security forces to besiege the town in order to stop the demonstrations. Gradually, and despite the ongoing crackdown there, the people of Daraa managed to defy the security forces, risking their lives by going back out onto the streets.
 
Each time a town comes under attack and its people are killed, arrested and humiliated, more people in other towns join the movement. It has become very obvious that they are ready to pay the highest price for their dignity. And the price has already become too high for anyone to remain silent. Almost 3,000 people have died and 30,000 been arrested, not counting those tens of thousands who have disappeared without a trace. 

But instead of retreating, the protesters keep returning to the streets. So why does Assad keep upping the ante, pushing himself further toward his own fall?
According to Syrian activists, there are two reasons: because he cannot act otherwise, and because he is playing a dirty game.

Assad inherited power from his father, who taught him that the Syrian people can only be controlled with an iron fist. He got used to not sharing his wealth or power with the people, despite the fact the Baath regime calls itself a socialist entity.

He came to believe that he, like his father before him, should be treated like a god and that the Baath party is a scared body that cannot be challenged. He was spoiled by other regional dictators, who, whether they agreed with his politics or not, accepted the fact that he is the sole decision maker in the country.
 
When a group of Muslim Brotherhood activists rose up against the regime in 1982, his father ordered one of the bloodiest crackdowns the Middle East has ever seen, and the world said nothing. Assad is betting the same will happen today. And so far, the international community hasn’t done anything significant enough to push him to change his brutal strategy.

This is all part of Assad’s dirty game. He is betting that the more he pushes the protesters, the more blood he spills, the more demonstrators who disappear, the people who have been taking to the streets will eventually resort to violence themselves.

In that case, the story Assad has been trying to sell the world for the past five months will turn out to be true; the protesters will end up a security threat, nothing more than armed gangs sowing strife in the country. This would be ideal for Assad, who will be able to garner the world’s sympathy and crush them without reprimand.
Apparently, Assad does not know his own people. He thought they would resort to revenge, something commonly sanctioned among tribal cultures. He thought they could never last under his iron fist.

The Syrian people have impressed the world with their courage and determination. They have taught all of us the true meaning of freedom and dignity. They have seen their loved ones gunned down in front of them. They could have resorted to violence long ago if they wanted to. However, they have defied their own traditions that permit taking revenge and decided on the mature political strategy of peaceful protests.
The Syrian people are more politically aware than he thought they are, and that’s why Assad has no chance.
Now it is just a matter of time before he officially loses his throne and receives his sentence.

Hanin Ghaddar is managing editor of NOW Lebanon