Word: assad
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...demonstration's message was both confusing and crystal clear. Was it pro-Syria? The demonstrators carried photos of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Was it pro-democracy? The demonstrators carried Lebanese flags. Hizballah was cleverly announcing its ability to either thwart or support the "liberation" of the country, depending on the hand it was dealt in the negotiations for a new government. It was also announcing that it was, by far, the largest and best-organized political force in Lebanon...
...determined that Hizballah will help control its destiny. Hizballah's show of force has emboldened Syria and its allies to reassert their influence. Emile Lahoud, Lebanon's pro-Syria President, announced the reappointment of Prime Minister Omar Karami, who had resigned during the freedom protests. Syrian President Bashar Assad gave U.N. envoy Terje Roed-Larsen a timetable late last week for pulling all Syrian forces out of Lebanon. While that assurance may temporarily placate U.S. demands, President George W. Bush has vowed to keep up the pressure on Syria...
...will ride out this wave of popular discontent and mobilization. We do, however, think that those brave souls in Beirut’s Martyrs’ Square are right when they chant that the “time is up” for unresponsive strongmen such as Bashar al-Assad...
...Hizballah has a deep well of popular support to see it through the coming political storms, the same can't be said for its strategic ally in Damascus. The Lebanese crisis has simply highlighted the extent to which Bashar Assad finds himself caught between his own people and the security establishment on which his power depends. Assad last week concluded an exclusive interview with TIME by emphasizing, "I am not Saddam Hussein; I want to cooperate." Assad's words may be true in ways he never intended, however. He's nothing like Saddam, personally: An accident of history...
Even Arab rebuke wasn't enough to force Assad out of Lebanon, which signals to some longtime observers that his grip on power could be in jeopardy. He has not been as gifted as his father in handling hard-liners who oppose compromise with the Lebanese or Israelis, much less the Americans. Asks Dennis Ross, the retired Middle East envoy for the past two Presidents: "Will he use the moment to sweep away the Old Guard and put Syria on a new path? Or will the Old Guard move against...