Dialogue between dead bare chests and live bullets

“Any people anywhere, being inclined and having the power, have the right to rise up, and shake off the existing government, and form a new one that suits them better. This is a most valuable – a most sacred right” : Abraham Lincoln.

One can make analysis of  two scenes in Damascus this week , although there is a dominant third scene in the back ground :
a- Scene no. 1 the presidential palace – Damascus :   All of a sudden US congressman  Kucinich appeared in Damascus Tuesday   and met the Syrian leaders .This is a message that the USA will continue to recognize the legitimacy of the regime.
It seems to me that, on advice of Ambassador Ford (US ambassador to Syria) , the Obama’s administration has made its choice and chose its horse ( who by the way has become a lame horse ). It will tacitly support the Syrian regime to ensure stability in this instable area (which will be the Disney land of fanatics should the Arab revolt fail due to repression and world’s appeasement). It wants it however to use less violence, shed less cheap blood of the poor  underprivileged protesters  , finish the military mission quickly , make modest reforms, and most important  to start dialogue between the live bullets of the regime and the bare chests of the peaceful protestors.

b- Scene no. 2 . Semiramis hotel – Damascus: 200 distinguished Syrians held a controversial opposition conference on June27. I did not look at that meeting in a skeptical manner. Just like there were factions in the French revolution (Mounier, the reformer, Robespierre the radical, and Mirabeau at the center), the Syrian revolution needs diversity as well. But there are two problems:
1- The above conference has not a real weight in the street. What I saw in Barzeh (northern Damascus which has lost 13 innocent victims so far), Midan (Southern Damascus ), and in other areas in that holy city is mainly 15-25 years old protestors who are determined to topple the regime . They have their local leaders that the regime will have to reckon with if it seeks serious dialogue , they have no confidence in the regime, and some of them ( but only  in Barzeh )   look with apprehension even  at a strange face appearing in their area  after all the experiences they have had with the  games of the regime, and its thugs.
2- The regime benefited from that conference, and the mild international pressures on it have been further reduced.
c- But there is  a third a third scene that cant be understood by bureaucrats in Washington  ,dictators in the Arab world  , or holy egoists in Iran , it is the scene of the  Syrian people . They are like a legendary hero who keeps stepping back into the ring despite pain and  lack of serious international support ( except from Europe ) . This scene is the decisive element which will determine the future of Syria and the future of democracy in the Arab world

Basel Adnan- Damascus