Word: assad
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...small irony that as President Bush and Assad met in Geneva last week, both men found themselves under attack at home for the get-together -- the American for cozying up to a dictator who has never been reluctant to use terrorism to achieve his goals, the Syrian for dealing with the U.S. Posters of Assad have been defaced. Anonymous leaflets criticizing the alliance with the West have quietly circulated and, according to diplomats, have resulted in arrests in southern Syria. Authorities have confided to foreign dignitaries that an estimated 85% of the public opposes Syria's gulf policy. Even Syrian...
...Assad is hardly concerned about winning a popularity contest. As he once said, "It is not public opinion that makes government but government that makes public opinion." Nonetheless, Damascus has fired up its propaganda machine to assure the public that Assad has not completely changed course -- and in so doing has underscored some of the problems confronting the coalition against Saddam in the gulf. The state-controlled media continue to attack the U.S. bitterly for its support of Israel. In addition, Damascus officials have asserted that the 3,000 Syrian troops in Saudi Arabia will defend the desert kingdom...
...Assad's allies profess not to be worried. "It's what the Syrians do, not what they say, that counts," says a Western diplomat. That point was emphasized earlier this month, when the first of 300 Syrian tanks and other armored vehicles arrived at the Saudi port of Yanbu. Assad had agreed to the shipment in September but claimed that transportation problems had delayed the deployment. Though Western diplomats initially dismissed that excuse, they now believe Assad and are confident that Damascus will honor its original commitment to send its entire 9th Armored Division, totaling...
Meanwhile, the Syrians are exasperated by the aid Washington has promised Israel. For the first time the U.S. is to supply Jerusalem with Patriot missile systems, which will greatly strengthen Israel's antiaircraft defenses. Such unqualified U.S. support for Jerusalem makes Assad's alignment with Washington all the harder to sell at home. But at least one diplomat in Damascus believes Syrian authorities may be inflating their assessments of the domestic opposition to convince Washington of the need to downplay relations with Israel. Damascus has asserted that if Jerusalem gets involved in any conflagration in the region, it will quickly...
...will be toppled," says a government official. "If there is peace, Saddam will be in trouble internally because the Iraqis will demand to know why he pushed them into Kuwait just to give it up. Either way, he will not come out of this as strong as he was." Assad may well prefer the first outcome, especially if his soldiers are not called upon to do any fighting. "If there is war and we do not approve it beforehand," says an official, "we will not be responsible for the results." Being happy with the results is another matter...