Opposition leaders despair democracy has passed over Syria

[ECH1969]

DAMASCUS, Syria - (KRT) - Syrian opposition leaders are watching with a mixture of jealousy and despair as voters in other Arab countries cast ballots in elections hailed as the slow march of democracy throughout the Middle East.

Initially hopeful that reforms in Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt and the Palestinian territories would lead to an opening in their own country, opposition figures say it now appears change will again pass them by.

The Baath Party regime led by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is adapting just enough to survive under intense international scrutiny, Syrian dissidents said in recent interviews. The change is not nearly enough to make a real difference in the lives of a population now in its fourth decade under authoritarian rule.

Haitham Mullah, a vocal opposition figure who spent seven years in prison after calling for change, described the regime as performing a "striptease for the Americans," shedding just enough authoritarian rules to stave off a U.S.-led attack.

http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/news/world/11929839.htm

[longship]

1. Maybe CuckooBananas can move them to the front of the line.

Murica -- Bringing Freedom and Mocracy to the World.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

2. Oh, Syria, don't dispair! As long as the NeoCon Junta is in power,....

...sovereign nations are always going to be on the target list!