Clueless in Damascus!

Catherine has a point. The Syrian opposition and dissident movements do not know how to organize. This has been their problem all along. They often fail to invite enough members of the press to their improvised sit-ins, and they have shown clearly that they have no stomach for clashes with security officers.

As for the Street, the boiling that is taking part is setting people against each other, not against the authorities in any direct manner – at least, not at this stage. We have already seen this happen in Suweida, Qamishly, Hassakeh, Misyaf. But more importantly, such incidents are taking place on a daily basis these days. True, their scale is too small for them to be widely noticed, that is, we are not talking about recurring open riots here, but about scuffles. Still, these scuffles are happening along ethnic or sectarian lines and they are happening frequently. This means that central authorities are absent or too weak and ineffectual to prevent such developments. These are the basic ingredients for the boiling I am talking about.

The root causes of all this are indeed socioeconomic in nature. But coming up with the necessary team that can chart policies to help control the situation and resolve the problem cannot take place unless radical political changes are adopted.

I am talking to a lot of “average citizens” these days, and what they have to say is astounding. They do like the President, but they also believe he is weak and ineffectual. Weak and ineffectual. In a dictatorship people don’t respect a weak and ineffectual leader, no matter how much they sympathize with his situation, no matter how likeable he happens to be. Indeed, clueless leaders cannot maintain their hold on power for long.

But our leaders are clueless, and they will not be able to produce the necessary political changes required of them. Meanwhile, the world is not simply watching, it is actively dabbling. Hence the impending the implosion.

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Thanks to Proud Syrian for these additional contacts:


Prime Ministry: Fax +963 (11) 2237842
Parliament: Fax +963 (11) 3712104 beefs@parliament.gov.sy, info@parliament.gov.sy

Ministry of Economy: Fax +963 (11) 4420435
Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Fax +963 (11) 3327620
Ministry of Information: Fax +963 (11) 6665166
Ministry of Interior: Fax +963 (11) 2223428, email somi@net.sy. Civil Affairs section: admin@civilaffair-moi.gov.sy
Ministry of Expatriates: Fax +963 (11) 3134301. Email: moex@mail.sy
Ministry of Culture: Email info@culture-sy.org
Ministry of Communication and Technology: Email admin@moct.gov.sy Authority of Radio and

TV: Fax +963 (11) 2234930
Syrian TV Director: Fax +963 (11) 2249307
Tishreen Newspaper: tnp@mail.sy
Al-Thawra Newspaper: Fax +963 (11) 2232017. Email: thawra@net.sy

Syrian Embassy in Germany: info@syrianembassy.de, Fax +49 (30) 50177311
Syrian Embassy in Sweden: Fax +46 86608805
Syrian Embassy in Belgium: Fax +32 (2) 6464018
Syrian Embassy in Greece: Fax +30 1 6716402
Syrian Embassy in Pakistan: Fax +92 51 279472
Syrian Embassy in the UAE: Fax +971 2 4449387
Syrian Embassy in Turkey: Fax +90 312 4385609
Syrian Embassy in France: Fax +33 1 47059273
Syrian Embassy in Romania: Fax +40 1 3129554
Syrian Embassy in Brazil: Fax +55 61 2232595
Syrian Embassy in Czech Republic: Fax +24 24317911
Syrian Embassy in China: Fax +86 (10) 65321575. Email sy@syria.org.cn
Syrian Embassy in Serbia: Fax +381 11 4446590
Syrian Embassy in Hungary: +36 1 2008048
Syrian Embassy in Argentina: +54 11 48143211
Syrian Embassy in Tunisia: +216 71 887989
Syrian Embassy in Indonesia: +622 1 5202511
Syrian Embassy in Saudi Arabia +966 1 4826196
Syrian Embassy in Algeria: +213 2 912030
Syrian Embassy in Sudan: +249 11 471066
Syrian Embassy in Tanzania: +255 51 115860
Syrian Embassy in Qatar: +974 832139
Syrian Embassy in Morocco: +212 7 757520
Syrian Embassy in Italy: +39 6 6794989
Syrian Embassy in Chile: +562 2311825
Syrian Embassy in Libya: +218 21 3339030
Syrian Embassy in Iran: +982 1 2059409
Syrian Embassy in Japan: +81 3 35868979
Syrian Embassy in Jordan: +962 6 4651945
Syrian Embassy in Austria +43 1 5334632
Syrian Embassy in Egypt: +20 2 3358232
Syrian Embassy in Kuwait: +965 5396509
Syrian Embassy in the UK: +44 171 2354621
Syrian Embassy in Spain: +34 91 4202681
Syrian Embassy in Russia: +7 095 9563191
Syrian Embassy in Oman: +968 603895 syria@omantel.net.com
Syrian Embassy in Mauritania: +222 25 9922
Syrian Embassy in India: +91 11 6143107
Syrian Embassy in Cyprus: +357 2 756963
Syrian Embassy in Poland: +48 22 491847
Syrian Embassy in Cuba: +53 7 242829
Syrian Embassy in Senegal: +221 8249007
Syrian Embassy in Nigeria: +234 9 5238337
Syrian Embassy in Canada: +1 (613) 5693800 ambassador@syrianembassy.ca, consular@syrianembassy.ca , culture@syrianembassy.ca, economic@syrianembassy.ca

Consulates:
Istanbul: +90 212 2302215
New York: +1 212 983 4439
Geneva: +41 22 7384275
Dubai: +971 4 2698277
Jeddah: +966 2 6603186