Word: assad
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Early risers in Damascus these days are treated to what is ordinarily an unthinkable sight in the Syrian capital: antigovernment graffiti. LONG LIVE SADDAM HUSSEIN, one scrawler proclaimed recently in a bold protest against President Hafez Assad's participation in the U.S.-led alliance against Saddam. The inscriptions are quickly erased, but government authorities know that all the whitewash in the world cannot obliterate the sentiment they express. "To be anti-U.S. and pro-Arab nationalism is what people in Syria have been groomed for, and it's very difficult to shake off," says a Western diplomat in Damascus...
...Persian Gulf crisis remains unresolved, but it has already produced its first clear-cut winner: Syrian President Hafez Assad. By crushing Aoun's 11- month rebellion once and for all, Assad has expanded his already considerable influence over his western neighbor. Under ordinary circumstances, an extension of Syrian hegemony in Lebanon would have provoked alarm in several foreign capitals, especially Washington and Jerusalem. But by strongly supporting the U.S.-led alliance against Saddam Hussein, Assad has won a wide berth for exercising his might. While denying speculation that Washington acquiesced to Syria's raid on Aoun's forces...
...Hrawi asked Syria to help him rout his rival, General Michel Aoun, from his stronghold in Beirut's Christian enclave, thus giving Damascus the opportunity to complete its control of Lebanon at a moment when the world is distracted by other events in the Middle East. Syrian President Hafez Assad ordered thousands of troops to Beirut to beef up the 10,000 Syrian soldiers already there. On Friday a lone gunman shot twice at Aoun, missing the general and wounding an aide instead...
...apparently had advance knowledge of the attack, and had already taken refuge in the French embassy. By noon, Lebanese forces loyal to Hrawi had taken over Aoun's fiefdom and the French were negotiating safe passage out of the country for the general. Aoun's defeat not only offered Assad unprecedented control over Lebanon but also gave him the satisfaction of defeating a man who had once got his weapons from the Syrian leader's most implacable foe: Saddam Hussein. All of which served as a reminder that while the occupation of Kuwait may be the most pressing issue...
...longer cared that government informers might overhear him. "Listen to me," he demanded, urgently tapping a Westerner on the knee. "Any time an independent Arab leader looks strong," he boomed, "the West beats him down. They did it with Nasser. They have run a vilification campaign against Assad. And look what they did to Arafat. It dates from the Crusades, and it will never change." The man, a retired printer, paused. "Saddam will not win this war," he said, "but we hope he gives the West a hard time trying...