Gotta Love Baby Bashar

The President of Syria, Baby Bashar, has lodged a number of complaints about the West in one of his latest interviews. Nothing terribly surprising about that, or about the complaints themselves. They just go to show the depth of the fantasy world in which some of these Arab "leaders" are operating.

He begins by questioning the very existence of al-Qaida. He goes on the claim that since bin Laden "cannot talk on the phone or use the internet" that it would be impossible for the big cheese to even be leading such a phantom organization.

Short of the incredibly delusional, no one is denying the existence of al-Qaida. Even the mildly delusional, as represented by such luminaries as Sen. Graham and Gov. Dean, acknowledge that al-Qaida exists. To take it a step further, even much of the Arab leadership admits (and fears) the existence of al-Qaida.

Besides, bin Laden doesn't need to talk directly to the members of al-Qaida via telephone or internet. He has messenger lackeys to do it for him. Some of the messengers will be individuals; some are the news media (think he hasn't tried to use Al-Jazeera a few times to get messages out?). Just as Baby Bashar doesn't call Hezbollah every time he needs a distraction along the Israeli border, bin Laden doesn't make the calls himself. He has someone else, who can communicate more freely, do it for him.

The distractions along the Israeli border bring us to the second complaint of Bashar: that he has to deal with Israel.

Baby Bashar doesn't like having to deal with Israel. He believes that the US is the true power in the region and that as such he should be able to deal directly with us instead of having to work with the Israelis, which would mean taking Israeli concerns into account.

He believes that he shouldn’t have to deal with Israel because they are occupying "our land." And he's right; Israel has taken over the Golan Heights. Israel won the fight; his country lost. If he wants to discuss the territorial issue, then he will have to take Israeli concerns into account. Israel has the right of demand in these negotiations, not Syria - that is part of being the victor in a war.

Baby Bashar knows this. He knows that Israel will put conditions on the return of the Golan to Syria - conditions that are unacceptable to Hezbollah. But he also knows that there is a large contingent in the US that would sell Israel down the river in a heartbeat, if they thought it might bring peace. So Bashar tries to drive a wedge - to separate the US and Israel. A clumsy sort of divide and conquer scheme (except that it ignores the reality that the Israeli military can still take over Damascus before the Syrian military could even begin to see the city of Jerusalem).

Bashar is starting to act as if the pressure is getting to him. The more the focus of the US centers on Syria (and Iran) the more unhinged he starts to act. Just since the end of the fighting in Iraq, he has gone from pretending to sound reasonable to irrational ranting.

I think it might be time for him to take a cue from bin Laden and quit talking. His mouth will only cause him more problems.