Why Are the Syrians So Gullible?

A Short Comment

By Tony Sayegh

Perhaps with all the suffering the Syrian people have endured, and continue to endure, the time might not be best for self-criticism. However, I believe it is critical to do so if the Syrians are to accomplish their goal of liberation while minimizing their losses.

From the beginning, the Syrians have suffered from lack of a unified and effective leadership. Without such leadership, the Syrians went on a wild-goose chase, believing any con man and impostor. In the beginning they even believed that Obama will be their liberator; can you believe such gullibility?

Their "representatives", who changed faster than Imelda Marcos changed shoes, went from one "Friends of Syria" conference to another, chasing mirages. They really believed that the US and Europe will help them!

Next came Turkey. To tell you the truth I am not particularly impressed by the Turkish military. They seem to be inept and a handful of Kurdish rebels appear to be more than a match. 

Erdogan huffed and puffed and in the end produced nothing. Yet so many Syrians really believed that Turkey would intervene and help topple Assad. A no-fly zone came and went. A safe border region for the refugees came and went. Now it is clear that Turkey's priority is to fight the Kurds, whom the US supports. Erdogan has not even attempted to defy the US on any decision concerning Syria.

Next came Qatar and Saudi Arabia. The Syrians jumped for joy because liberation was finally close. What with all the advanced weapons supplied to the Syrian rebels, Assad would last only weeks! Alas, that was another mirage. Now Qatar and the Saudis have their hands full fighting the Houthis in Yemen, and who knows how many years that is going to last.

Next came Putin's Russia. Syrian representatives performed the Hajj to Moscow and swallowed the Russian bait. They were so sure that a joint US-Russian solution was in the works. And if the Syrians still believe that then I have a bridge I would like to sell to them.

Now we know that everyone is pursuing their interests in Syria and those interests were never the interests of the Syrian people. Overall, the objectives remain the same: destroy the country and make sure that it would not recover for generations, and have everyone kill everyone else until exhaustion. 

Israel could never be more delighted. It is already proclaiming that Syria no longer exists as a state and Israel is demanding that the world recognize its annexation of the Golan Heights.

The last thing I heard is that Secretary Kerry now believes that a "new" solution will be worked out with Russia this coming week at the UN. I guess Kerry never runs out of snake oil to sell.