February 21, 2006

After hearing that the US has earmarked $5 million to promote democratic governance and reform in Syria, the Syrian regime should really feel secure now, in spite of the obligatory noise it made. "It is interference in our internal affairs. We reject it totally,” said the new Minister of Foreign Affairs, who has perhaps not heard of the adage about stones and glass houses. Then again, he also said that Syria's stances are credible, so who are we to argue and wonder about his own government's interference in other people's internal affairs?

Be that as it may, it seems perfectly clear now that America is not bothered with regime change in Syria, for the moment at least (which has been my hunch); had it been even remotely interested, it would have disbursed more than those peanuts. This amount merely allows the Syrian regime to complain about it without worrying, and to demonstrate that American designs are less than honorable. European designs, however, seem perfectly acceptable to the regime, apparently. Or is it simply because some human rights for Syrians could eventually, one day, be tolerable as long as Syrians don't dream of democracy and reform?

When the US really wants to push for something, it does - not that it helped in any significant way. After all, Ahmad Chalabi's Iraqi National Congress alone received at least $340,000 every month for years (some claim it actually received $8 million a year since 1998), as part of the $97 million reserved for Iraqi opposition groups (including the INC and SCIRI) by the Iraq Liberation Act of 1998. The INC was said to have received up to $100 million in covert funding from the CIA during the 90s, before the Iraq Liberation Act came into effect. In the end, the US invaded and was surprised to see a different reality from the one painted by the INC. I can save the US a lot of money by telling them they will certainly not be welcomed with flowers and open arms in Syria.

So far, the Syria Liberation Act is being held up at Congress and the American government feels the Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act (whose danger the Syrian regime totally ignored until it became law) largely suffices. But if it does pass, it will have a lot more provisions, and Syrians will have to worry.

In any case, even with the measly $5 million, few Syrians will be walking willingly into this trap; after all, the last time a Syrian activist - Kamal Labwani - merely met with American officials in Washington, he was welcomed at Damascus airport by the secret service and has been under arrest since then. (By the way, why do we still call them the "secret" service? There's nothing secret about them, especially in Syria. Same goes for "intelligence." But I digress again.) Obviously, the only Syrians allowed to take money from foreign sources (cutbacks, "development" aid, etc.) or allowed to hold talks with foreign parties (overtly or covertly, and there are a few of those) belong to the Syrian regime.

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