AT ISSUE DEBATE: Do You Support or Oppose Syria’s Bashar Al-Assad?

After listening to the debate and reading all the comments below, and especially those of Dr. Ali Muhammad, I cannot believe such a person could be a doctor of anything. He is clearly defending a vicious murderer and a liar and he is clearly at lost for words to justify his crimes and there is no doubt he is liar like him. He is a disgrace for his family and country.

After listening to the debate and reading all the comments below, and especially those of Dr. Ali Muhammad, I cannot believe such a person could be a doctor of anything. He is clearly defending a vicious murderer and a liar and he is clearly at lost for words to justify his crimes and there is no doubt he is liar like him. He is a disgrace for his family and country.

Who in hell appointed Barbara Walters or elected her to represent Americans before the Syrian president?  Why doesn’t she confine her activities to her daily girlie talk show where her type rightfully belongs?
When she whined that Assad was president and therefore should be aware of the allegations against his country, he should have retorted, Yes, I am president, and exactly what are you? Her arrogance is always in plain view as is her ‘holier than thou’ attitude.  She has no business speaking for the American people and should simply STFU. We have enough problems of our own without her stirring the pot in the Middle East or anywhere else.

Who in hell appointed Barbara Walters or elected her to represent Americans before the Syrian president?  Why doesn’t she confine her activities to her daily girlie talk show where her type rightfully belongs?
When she whined that Assad was president and therefore should be aware of the allegations against his country, he should have retorted, Yes, I am president, and exactly what are you? Her arrogance is always in plain view as is her ‘holier than thou’ attitude.  She has no business speaking for the American people and should simply STFU. We have enough problems of our own without her stirring the pot in the Middle East or anywhere else.

Ali Muhammad is a perfect example of a blind Assad Thugs supporter who is concentrating on individual case and generalize it on the whole revolution. To Ali Muhammad: Go and ask any resident of Banyas about how many people RANDOMLY killed (sniped) by your hero Nidal Jannoud just because they were trying to get food and water to their besieged families by your president thugs “Shabiha”.

Ali Muhammad is also a perfect example of Assad cruelty in answering the questions avoiding firm, direct and clear answers.

I believe that the majority of Syrians and Arabs are fed up with this dirty iranian-style cruel diplomacy, that has only brought to us isolation, instability  and unnecessary wars.

Syria will turn -in spite of all obstacles- into a democratic country for every human being who lives on its soil, and Assad, his thugs and his supporters will go once and for good into the history bin of dust.

شكرا مدام جوجاتلي..يعني الدكتور علي محمد عم يعترف انوالجيش والشبيحة قاموا بالاقدام على قتل المتظاهريين السلميين…لو فرضنا جدلا انو في متظاهريين  حملوا سلاح ليدافعوا عن المتظاهريين السلمينن- طيب قتل الالوف من المتظاهريين السلميين ماهو سبب لحالو مشان تقوم ثورة كاملة …ماهو سبب يخلينا نقلوا لبشار الكلب بيكفي حاج…هل الاقد دام الانسان السوري رخيص عندك…

We know that they will delete the ideas that  opposed to their Zionism policy  against our country and our president …
On the other hand we do not want opinion from  anyone living in the lap of the country that destroyed and displaced millions  and they are now trying to destroy the security of our country and our people ….  by claiming the revolution and Change ….
We live in Syria and see what happens and how the gunmen  Slaughtered members of our military … our children … and young people without any mercy …. So my friend do not worry we all know  the policy of the West is against us …. We are so  proud of you Ali ….MaIs

I’d like first to thank Voice of America for allowing us to hear Dr Muhammad representing how millions of Syrians feel!**Of course, Ms Jouejati chose her words carefully; the protests were largely peaceful! If that is so, how come hundreds of army and security personnel have been killed (I think the figure was 1100 last time I checked)? It’s also a common knowledge that most of them were killed in COLD blood- hardly a case of “self defence” state!!
 
**Who is killing protesters? In most videos (the genuine ones anyway..), we see injured or dead people; we never see who shot at them!! There is no hard evidence that the killings were all committed by army and security forces. Snipers have been behind many reported cases and many believe they belong to a third party that wants to inflame the situation. It should be highlighted that he main force behind the “revolution” has been the loss of Syrian lives and the call to take revenge for them. To the contrary, the killings only brought trouble to the Government!! Another point; recently and since the so called “Syria Free Army” was formed, reports from the opposition claimed its members to be behind the attacks against the army and security forces, when the army would retaliate in an attempt to restore law and order, the opposition then tends to report “civilian” casualties!! So, the figure of 4000 includes opposition armed militants (SFA) who are killed in clashes with the army.
As for the defectors’ witness statements, most of them are supporters of the “revolution” and so cannot be considered as an independent party, and their statements need to be independently verified!
 
Also, it is unreasonable to publish figures announced by one source that lacks credibility and cannot be described as independent; it is the “Syrian Observatory of Human Rights”! The figures provided by this centre (led by Rami Abdul Rahman from the opposition) are not verified by any a third independent party.
 
**The revolution/ opposition in not viewed favourably by millions of Syrians. The main reason behind that is its lack of credibility, while fiercely, attacking the credibility of the regime!!! The opposition failed to acknowledge and denounce the killings committed by armed “revolutionaries” since early April, when Nidal Jannoud (who was mentioned by Dr Muhammed) as well as Colonel Qashour with a group of his soldiers were all ambushed and killed in cold blood.

-Syrians were told that soldiers and security died when they attempted to “defect” (in Jisr al Shogour for instance when 120 members of security forces were attacked and killed).
-Also when armed extremists were filmed throwing the bodies of five dead security personnel in the Orontes River, the opposition claimed it was “staged” and the bodies of “peaceful protesters” were thrown by the security men into the Orontes River!!
-The Syrian opposition assured us that the Guy Girl from Damascus was a real person and her stories that were followed by many thousands including journalists, were all real including her “arrest” by the Syrian security.
-There was also the shocking story of Zeinab al Hosni where her mother “identified” her in the hospital and details of her mutilated body were sent to Amnesty International and other Human Rights organisations to show the “crimes” committed by the regime.. However, when Zeinab was found and interviewed by the Syrian TV, the opposition blamed her identification on the security when it was clear in the statement of AI on her case that it was the mother who “found” her in the mortuary of the hospital while identifying the body of her brother!!**The American Bush family ruled the democratic United States for 20 years! George Bush the father and George Bush the son launched three wars between them and killed hundreds of thousands of people (the Iraq war in 2003 was regarded as illegal by many in the West for being all based on the lie of WMD)!! Torture of Iraqi “insurgents” was widely reported. Yet, in a country that embraces democracy, George W Bush was never asked to step down for the killing and torture committed under his watch- even though many Iraqis and Afghanis would have wanted him to!!
 
**Finally, the majority of Syrians want to avoid the destruction of their country and the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives that will be triggered by foreign intervention in an attempt to overthrow the regime. Unlike what Navi Pillay of the UN Human Rights Council suggested, the civil war will be, in fact, the certain outcome of a regime change imposed on Syrians by outside power.
 
Regime change should be introduced through peaceful reforms and a transition period that would allow the opposition to establish itself within Syria and win the support of Syrians in order to get into power, rather than establishing itself outside Syria and asking for the support of the Arab and Western rulers- all in the name of “democracy”!!
 
**Because the majority know the reality in Syria is very different from what is portrayed in the International media, Bashar al Assad still has the confidence of many millions of Syrians to lead this transition period and apply the political reforms he has committed himself to in his latest speeches. The alternative that can lead to Islamists coming in power will take Syria back in the dark ages and will take away social freedom that minorites and seculars highly appreciate in Syria!!
 
 

To ArabiSouri

I disagree with you. It all boils down to the simple question of “pro” or “anti”.

Yes the topic bears much more complexities including potential alternatives and so on, but the bottom line of the entire problem goes back to seeing Assad as a read patriot whose aims at political reformation or not.

It is a absolutely clear that the vast majority in Syria know that he is just a gangster who believes he was born with a golden spoon in his mouth inherited from the bigger dictator, his father; and he is no way ready to compromise on this free gift even if half his people are the scapegoats.

And if you want another dimension of  the problem, it’s the sectarian one. I have no doublet you’re either Alawit or Shia. And your motive in defending Assad regime is pure hatred toward other sects. Perhaps your fear is mixed with some legitimate concerns related to potential terrorism, but nothing justifies such blind support to this dictator and nothing substantiates this stupid denial of the clearly evidenced claims of the UN and international committee against Assad regime.

One side of the problem is that pro-Assad sectarian minority loses it when it comes to logic. You want what you call “proves” of regime crimes in Syria while your regime is blocking international media and refusing unarmed observatories by Arab League and United Nations. Not just that, when your criminal regime plays its maneuvers claiming to accept auditing just to gain more time for killing more people, you do not hesitate to accusse chosen personalities to enter Syria of spying, connection with Israel, working with CIA and such crap!

It adds to the stupidity of your argument is that you confess that nothing can substitute Assad regime but Nato attacks. Meaning “I am here and no one will take this golden spoon from my mouth but power.” This really makes sense because it was taken by power first place and all elections and voting games were hollow scams that could food no one even in its earliest days.

I don’t understand why it never occurs in your mind of in your Assad mind that a peaceful resignation from his illegally inherited position along with supervising elections of new regime can solve the issue all tighter and help the country escaping a sectarian war and Nato intervention.

My advice to you and everyone who thinks like you is to prepare an escape plan. You guys are going to be all caught and charged in international courts, nothing different than what happened to Ghaddafi and his sons.

I am sorry but Ms. Jouejati is merely repeating the
same old stories over and over again. I did not hear her say anything
about the Syrian future but the cliché at the end, it is all about
emotional blackmail and repeating media fabrications.

Mr Ali Mohammad attempts to claim that there is no association between Assad’s fate and Syria’s fate stating the exact opposite of what every single pro-Assad rally goes out to portray. If it were more important that Syria’s future be put on the spotlight than to have to focus on the accountability of the president, then why does EVERY proAssad rally raise as many Assad posters as Syrian flags???? It seems to be just as important to keep Assad in power (which by the way Assad admitted not having when he stated that he has no power over ‘the government’s’ forces) as it is to try to show that they care for the stability of Syria and it’s future.

It is really funny and sad at the same time that Mr. Mohamad clearly said that he did not know who is saying that Al-Qaeda, Islamists, french, Americans, and others are invloved in the inciting of the uprising in Syria. Mr. Mohamad, obviously did not read at anytime Al-Thawra, Tishrin, Baath newspapers, nor did not watch the Dunia or listened to the government run radio. They all claim on  a daily basis what Mr.Mohamad is denying to have heard. Let me remind everyone that Mr. Mohamad works in an online pulication but did not know, see or heard it.
Enough is enough. Give me break.
Rafif, your position was eloquent and factual. You are a true professional.

Rafif all the way

I have to say Ms. Jouejati won this debate, hands-down. Mr. Mohamed failed to answer many of the questions and did not have a clear grasp of the facts. Relying on his brother a the sole witness disputing the thousands of eye witnesses and he handful of journalists was not terribly compelling.