To Joshua Landis

Dear Joshua:

I am writing to express my unhappiness with Syria Comment. Since we established our group the Syrian Democratic Forum/Platform last February, the only news that was published on SC regarding our group was under the title “Two different Syrian Opposition organizations expressed their own formulations of the Kurdish question in Syria”. Although our vision of Syria as a multi-national state, from which our group’s view for the question Kurd arises, is an original one, I believe this is not the most significant contribution of our group to the political and civil life in Syria.

First, the idea of our group is a creative one. Indeed, our group is not a political organization per se. It is “a political, civil and democratic forum. It is a platform for critical appraisal, knowledge exchange and field activities”, as it has been defined in its identity statement released on Feb 18, 2012. Our group’s mission is the advancement of the Syrian society and public life at all levels, including political, intellectual and social.
Second, the plan of actions that we have set for our group is an audacious one. One of the major goals that we have set for our group is to unify the infamously fragmented Syrian opposition, as it has been stated in The Declaration of the Proceedings of the General Assembly of the Syrian Democratic Forum, released on April 17th, 2012. In this declaration, our goal to unify the opposition has been expressed as follows: “Indeed, the SDF perceives that one of its tasks is to launch a plan to unite the Syrian opposition of all spectra, accompanied by mechanisms and timetable for its implementation, through the formation of internal and external committees for cooperation and consultation. These plan and mechanisms are to be put into effect as soon as possible; with the reaffirmation that what is meant by unity of the opposition is to have a common vision, program, and political will; and taking into account that the basis for the indispensable unity of the opposition is the unity of purpose. By this purpose, we mean bringing the regime down; building a democratic civil state based on equal citizenship; clearly specifying the path leading to the future of Syria after the fall of the regime; and providing a clear vision for the new Syria. In this regard, it is the responsibility of the committee elected by the General Assembly to put this into practice.”

For all the reason mentioned-above, I invite Syria Comment to cover more actively the activities of the group. Please find attached our group’s “Identity Statement”, “Statement of Principles” and “The Declaration of the Proceedings of the General Assembly of the Syrian Democratic Forum”, and a video that represent an interview conducted with me by the Egyptian satellite TV channel, Nile TV, in which I explain our plans to unify the opposition.

Best regards

Haytham

P.S. This was an e-mail sent to Joshua Landis on May 6, 2012.

The Syrian Opposition Should Unite to Fight the Regime

Dear all:

Rami Makhlouf’s statements to the NY Times today are a declaration of an open war on the Syrian people. In fact, I was not surprised; this regime is inherently evil. Therefore, the Syrian people’s combat with this regime should be relentless. Regarding this matter, I think I can provide some help. I have some ideas that I can discuss with you. I can lay them out to you.

Furthermore, I think the most important blow (and hopefully the final) to the regime would be to bring the opposition together (at least on the common goal of ousting this nefarious regime). I can help with that, too. I am used in my work to bring people together to do common projects, even if they have different opinions. Furthermore, since I am a new face with no political past and a neutral person as regard the different opposition groups and I have no future political ambitions, maybe I am in a good position to carry out that task. I have some ideas as how to approach this matter that I can share with you, too. I can try that, even if there are deep differences between the different groups. I think this is something that is worthwhile to do at this juncture, at least for the sake of the Syrian people.

I feel the urgency to do something, because I feel that this regime won’t hesitate to literally kill all the Syrian people in order to survive. Indeed, I am particularly sensitive to losses in human lives.

Best regards,

Haytham

This message was sent by e-mail to Dr. Radwan Ziadeh, Dr. Najib Ghadbian and Mr. Ausama Monajid (on May 10, 2011) in order to explore the possibility of unifying the Syrian opposition efforts to fight the nefarious regime.

How Ferocious and Unrelenting the War with the Murderous Regime Should be

Dear Dr. Ziadeh:

First, I would like to thank you for the service that you are delivering for our beloved Syria; what you are doing for the country is significant and highly appreciated.

The regime is vicious, resistant to any repair and extremely insecure. One important thing about highly insecure people (that applies to insecure political systems) is that they can't live with others in normal and respectful relationships. Deep in their mind, they believe that in order to live they should kill all "living" people around them (please refer to the analysis of Hitler personality in "Anatomy of Human Destructiveness"). They want people around them to be either completely subdued (spiritually dead) or physically dead. For this reason, the Syrian people's struggle with the regime is a war of existence.; either the regime demises or the people "die".

Consequently, stepping up the fight to make an overwhelming pressure on the regime to break up is important at this point; here comes to my mind Collin Powell's war strategy of using overwhelming force. I understand the limitations that Syrian people and the Syrian opposition have in their fight with the regime. However, I am trying to describe how ferocious and unrelenting the war with the regime should be in order to be fruitful. Also, exploring all options at any time is another important strategy to follow. Thus, your fight with the regime is a war, for which you need a command committee and a virtual "command room"; I know how difficult that is. I am not trying to put more pressure on you (I know how pressured you already are), but I am aiming through these words to support you morally. Indeed, I am happy to help; at least, I can provide moral help. As I mentioned in my previous e-mail I have no intention to work in politics or return to Syria. However, I feel certain obligation to help in order to do not let the blessed blood that the Syrian people has been shedding  go in vain.

Finally, I would like to thank you as a person for the effort that you have made two weeks ago in the UN Human Right Council to bring the decision condemning the Syrian regime. Indeed, I know the extent of your personal contribution in that matter.
All my sincere feelings and wishes are with the Syrian people in its fight with the regime; in fact, this fight still requires a lot of pain and sacrifices to be won.

God bless you.

Haytham

P.S. This message  was sent via e-mail to Dr. Radwan Ziadeh on May 8, 2011.

Response to the National Initiative for Change

Dear signatories of the National Initiative for Change in Syria:

Toronto, April 30, 2011

Plato once said “One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors”. For this reason, I always do my best to exert my political rights and responsibilities. Consequently, as a good Syrian citizen, I carefully read your initiative and formulated my input about it, which I will lay out in this message.

Indeed, your initiative came in a very critical moment in the history of Syria. The developments on the ground, people’s discontent and demonstrations, are ramping up very fast. In the meantime, there is severe lack in the political process that can lead this unrest to produce its favorable results. This lack of political process is from both the government and the opposition. The government tried to make some “reforms”, but these “reforms” came too little, too late. Further, they appeared timid, unconvincing and hypocritical. This means that the government will undoubtedly fall sooner or later under the public pressure. Here comes the important question. Where is the political initiatives of the opposition?!. Without any political alternative, the country will go into chaos, enormous unrest and maybe civil war. Thus, your initiative came to fill up to certain measure the lack of serious political process in Syria. However, I have some comments on this initiative.

First, in your proposal you are counting on the president to understand the reality and to step down now for the sake of the country. Unfortunately, I think this won’t happen. I know Bashar personally. I know well what type of personality he is. Bashar was a “nice” person, however superficial and has no good understanding for real life. Consequently, Bashar could have had good wishes, when he started his presidency, but he has had no ability to achieve them. This failure is inherent in his character that lacks charisma and social intelligence. Thus, he has not been in control and he won’t be; he has had no courage, and he won’t have shortly. In brief, he is immature and has no personal assets that permit to him to have appropriate psychological growth. As you know, people when they can't progress personally, they regress (please refer to Karen Horney in “Neurosis and Human Growth”. In other words, they become worse, more dysfunctional and consequently more evil. This particularly applies to immature people in power, because during their reign they become extremely entitled, arrogant, narcissistic, ruthless and paranoid (please refer to Eric Fromm in “Anatomy of Human Destructiveness”). Bashar is no exception. He by now believes that he was born to be president; even, he is the best of them all. He is the savior of Syria and probably the whole Arabic World (as his father used to believe). Do not think that for them these are empty words, they simply try to bluff us with. Not at all, these are deep beliefs in their minds; they are called in psychology self-delusions (please refer to Cordelia Fine in "A Mind of its Own"). However, he knows inside himself that without presidency he is nothing; nobody will respect him; nobody will glorify him; nobody will adore him. Therefore, do not count on him to quit the presidency merely for the sake of the country. He won’t leave the presidency easily. He won’t give up before reaching the point of psychological breakdown (I can elaborate more on this point, if you wish). On the other hand, he will quit at the end when the demonstrations grow up. He will give in not because he loves the country, but because of his psychological breakdown.

Second, before the president steps down officially, encouraging any army officer, even if it is the Defence Minister or the Chief of Staff, to take any political move seems to me reckless, because such move will lead to a schism in the army. It will result in a civil war similar to the Libyan one. As you know, in the army there are many units that are loyal to Maher al-Assad, which will obey him till the end. Maher will not relinquish his position easily, even if Bashar steps down. As long as Bashar is still officially in power, Maher’s units will be legitimate and will fight till the end to keep the status quo. On the other hand, when Basher resigns these units will be rogue, if they do not obey the person who then will be then the Commander in Chief. In brief, If any of the highly-ranked officers attempts any political move in the current status, we will see situation similar to that occurred in 1984 when Rifa’at Al-Assad put his tanks in the street of Barzza (Damascus) confronting the tanks of the rest of the Syrian Army. Furthermore, I do not prefer, personally, any participation of the army in the political process. I believe firmly that Bashar will resign due the increasing public demonstrations, leading to his psychological breakdown.

For all the above-mentioned reasons, I feel that your proposal is not a viable solution for the current crisis, although it stimulated our minds and made us think about the political dimension of the crisis. Do I have any alternative proposal?!. The answer is simply “no”. But, I have some ideas to exchange with you:
1. We (I am talking from my position as a common Syrian citizen) need more ideas and proposals from you and the other opposition groups. I hope these groups will share their ideas with other opposition groups and the Syrian people (at least through the media outlets that reach most of them) till there is a certain consensus among a reasonable percentage of the opposition groups on a common plan of action.
2. The opposition groups should start to lay out not only their views regarding how to resolve the current crisis, but also their visions for the future of the country. This should include what happened wrong in the past (of course, without accusations or blames) to avoid them in the future. This exchange of ideas, if civilized, will accelerate the demise of the regime, fortify the opposition, encourage the Syrian people in their revolution and make the coming transition period much easier.
3. If the situation continue for more than a couple of months like it is now with everyday bloodshed, the opposition groups should meet together and try to start a common vision for the country. They should do this with unofficial meetings first and finally in an official conference. A unified opposition will break the regime down and accelerate its demise. I know how difficult such meeting would be. In fact, my knowledge about the opposition groups in Syria is very limited.

4. At the end, if the people continue their demonstrations and the government pursue its crackdown without any political solution in the horizon, the opposition should form a government in exile, which would gain the recognition of all the western governments. At that time, the regime will lose all its legitimacy and fall sooner than we think. Further, that would make the transition much easier and the people more confident in their struggle.

I am sending these ideas to you as a common Syrian citizen who cares about performing his duties and taking the opportunity to practice his rights. I have no political inclinations. I am a physician and researcher; indeed, this is the only work through which I feel I can fulfill my human potential.

Best regards,

Haytham Khoury

P.S. This was my answer to the National Initiative for Change. It was sent by e-mail to Dr. Radwan Ziadeh, Dr. Najib Ghadbian and Mr. Ausama Monajid on April 30, 2011, the one day after they published their initiative on "http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=184086641639119&comments". Furthermore, since my initial response to the initiative, I gained more knowledge regarding the situation of the Syrian opposition and changed my opinion as to the viability of the establishment of a government in exile.